DOI article:
Buck, Carl Darling: Discoveries in the Attic Deme of Ikaria, 1888
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8678#0124
DISCO VEEIES IN THE ATTIC DEME OF IK ARIA, 1888.
SCULPTURES.*
[Plates VII, VIII.]
The following sculptures, found at Ikaria by the American School,
and described under numbers i-xxv, are, perhaps without exception,
of Pentelic marble.
I.—Colossal head of the archaic period (Fig. 1), found beneath the
front wall of the church. Length from crown of head to bottom of
fracture, 0.41 m.; greatest width, 0.35 m.; average thickness from
front to back, 0.21 m.; distance from hair to base of nose, 0.065 m.;
width of nose at base, 0.027 m.; perpendicular depth from bridge of
nose to interior angle of eye, 0.03 m.; diameter of largest curl, 0.055 m.
The back of the head has been entirely chiseled away, and the sug-
gestion has therefore been made (Wolters, Mitth. Inst.Athen, 1887, p.
390), that the head could not have belonged to a statue, but was to be
classed among masks which were built into -walls.1 But, if not the head
of a statue, it is more likely to have been fixed on the top of a pillar,
instances of which have come down to us.2 But the present form is
not necessarily original. The back may very well have been cut away
later, to secure a flat surface for some purpose. The dowel-hole is
evidence against immuring ; moreover, the surface at the back differs
from the surface under the point of the beard, where the chiseling is
not so rough as on the bade of the head, though worked less smoothly
than it would have been if intended to be seen.
The head is of a very archaic type, and can be counted among the
most ancient bearded heads which have been found on Greek soil. A
* Dr. Waldstein has given me the henefit of his opinion on the most important
objects in our collection of sculptures. The following notes are based upon his
remarks; and I owe him an additional acknowledgment for his kindness in going
over this paper with me and making some valuable suggestions. I have made some
additions since his departure from Athens, and it would not be just to hold him abso-
lutely responsible for every view expressed here.
The plates and figures are from photographs taken by Mr. S. B. P. Trowbridge
and Mr. Louis Dyer.
1 Cf. Pausanias, i. 2. 5. 8 Of. Botticher, Baumkultus der Hellenen, fig. 43.
109
SCULPTURES.*
[Plates VII, VIII.]
The following sculptures, found at Ikaria by the American School,
and described under numbers i-xxv, are, perhaps without exception,
of Pentelic marble.
I.—Colossal head of the archaic period (Fig. 1), found beneath the
front wall of the church. Length from crown of head to bottom of
fracture, 0.41 m.; greatest width, 0.35 m.; average thickness from
front to back, 0.21 m.; distance from hair to base of nose, 0.065 m.;
width of nose at base, 0.027 m.; perpendicular depth from bridge of
nose to interior angle of eye, 0.03 m.; diameter of largest curl, 0.055 m.
The back of the head has been entirely chiseled away, and the sug-
gestion has therefore been made (Wolters, Mitth. Inst.Athen, 1887, p.
390), that the head could not have belonged to a statue, but was to be
classed among masks which were built into -walls.1 But, if not the head
of a statue, it is more likely to have been fixed on the top of a pillar,
instances of which have come down to us.2 But the present form is
not necessarily original. The back may very well have been cut away
later, to secure a flat surface for some purpose. The dowel-hole is
evidence against immuring ; moreover, the surface at the back differs
from the surface under the point of the beard, where the chiseling is
not so rough as on the bade of the head, though worked less smoothly
than it would have been if intended to be seen.
The head is of a very archaic type, and can be counted among the
most ancient bearded heads which have been found on Greek soil. A
* Dr. Waldstein has given me the henefit of his opinion on the most important
objects in our collection of sculptures. The following notes are based upon his
remarks; and I owe him an additional acknowledgment for his kindness in going
over this paper with me and making some valuable suggestions. I have made some
additions since his departure from Athens, and it would not be just to hold him abso-
lutely responsible for every view expressed here.
The plates and figures are from photographs taken by Mr. S. B. P. Trowbridge
and Mr. Louis Dyer.
1 Cf. Pausanias, i. 2. 5. 8 Of. Botticher, Baumkultus der Hellenen, fig. 43.
109