Cycladic art attained maturity during the Early Cycladic II period (ca 2700 B.C.) with the creation of the distinctive figurine type that was to hold sway for the next five hundred years. This type has been called "canonical" because it displays constant morphological canons and artistic conventions, such as the folded arms above the abdomen (with the left arm always over the right one), slightly flexed knees, backward tilt of the head and slanting feet. Researchers have distinguished five different varieties of the "canonical" type. The "Kapsala variety", named after the Early Cycladic cemetery on Amorgos where it was first identified, is the earliest and has been dated to the early phase of the Early Cycladic II period.

 Experts recognise several variations of the normal type.

The most ancient of these is the Kapsala variety, which owes its name to the homonymous Early Cycladic cemetery of Amorgos. Its main characteristics are the plastic rendering of the volumes, the curved contours on all sides and the almost complete absence of engravings.