Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The earliest dolls were made from available materials such as clay, stone, wood, bone, ivory, leather, or wax.

Wooden paddle dolls have been found in Egyptian tombs dating to as early as the 21st century BC.

Like children today, the younger members of Roman civilization would have dressed their dolls according to the latest fashions.

Wooden Kokeshi dolls have no arms or legs, but a large head and cylindrical body, representing little girls.

Examples of such magical devices include the European poppet and the nkisi or bocio of West and Central Africa.

It resembles a stereotypical witch or crone and is displayed in residential kitchens as a means to provide good luck[8] and ward off bad spirits.

[12] La última muñeca, or "the last doll", is a tradition of the Quinceañera, the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America.

[16] Beginning about the 15th century, increasingly elaborate dolls were made for Nativity scene displays, chiefly in Italy.

[17] Dolls with detailed, fashionable clothes were sold in France in the 16th century, though their bodies were often crudely constructed.

[18] The German and Dutch peg wooden dolls were cheap and simply made and were popular toys for poorer children in Europe from the 16th century.

[20] Through the 18th and 19th centuries, wood was increasingly combined with other materials, such as leather, wax and porcelain and the bodies made more articulate.

The low cost, ease of manufacture, and durability of plastic materials meant new types of dolls could be mass-produced at a lower price.

A typical antique china doll has a white glazed porcelain head with painted molded hair and a body made of cloth or leather.

They are made of white porcelain similar to china dolls but the head is not dipped in glaze and has a matte finish.

Small celluloid Kewpie dolls, based on illustrations by Rose O'Neill, were popular in the early 20th century.

Madame Alexander created the first collectible doll based on a licensed character – Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind.

Early dollhouses were all handmade, but, following the Industrial Revolution and World War II, they were increasingly mass-produced and became more affordable.

They differ from earlier rag dolls in that they are made of plush fur-like fabric and commonly portray animals rather than humans.

Golliwogg was a children's book rag doll character in the late 19th century that was widely reproduced as a toy.

The doll has very black skin, eyes rimmed in white, clown lips, and frizzy hair, and has been described as an anti-black caricature.

[45] Fashion dolls and action figures are often part of a media franchise that may include films, TV, video games and other related merchandise.

[47][48] Asian ball-jointed dolls (BJDs) are cast in polyurethane synthetic resin in a style that has been described as both realistic and influenced by anime.

[52][53] Since ancient times, dolls have played a central role in magic and religious rituals and have been used as representations of deities.

Artist Hans Bellmer made surrealistic dolls that had interchangeable limbs in 1930s and 1940s Germany as opposition to the Nazi party's idolization of a perfect Aryan body.

[54] East Village artist Greer Lankton became famous in the 1980s for her theatrical window displays of drug addicted, anorexic and mutant dolls.

Action figures that represent traditional masculine traits are popular with boys, who are more likely to choose toys that have some link to tools, transportation, garages, machines and military equipment.

Dolls for girls tend to represent feminine traits and come with such accessories as clothing, kitchen appliances, utensils, furniture and jewelry.

[63][64] Psychologist Ernst Jentsch theorized that uncanny feelings arise when there is an intellectual uncertainty about whether an object is alive or not.

[65] Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori expanded on these theories to develop the uncanny valley hypothesis: if an object is obviously enough non-human, its human characteristics will stand out and be endearing; however, if that object reaches a certain threshold of human-like appearance, its non-human characteristics will stand out, and be disturbing.