Kouroi and statistics

Jane B. Carter, Laura J. Steinberg

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

In a well-known series of articles, Eleanor Guralnick undertook statistical studies to compare the proportions of Greek archaic kouroi with one another and with the proportions of the Egyptian second canon; she concluded that Greek sculptors used the Egyptian canon sporadically for proportioning kouroi during most of the sixth century B.C.E. Here, we examine the results of Guralnick's analyses against the backdrop of current statistical method. While we do not believe that her analyses convincingly demonstrate any Greek use of the Egyptian system, we agree that the analyses do distribute the kouroi included in the studies into two main groups. We argue that this division results from the influence of regional styles, rather than from the use of standardized proportional systems. We also examine Guralnick's methodology in cluster, principal components, and z-score analyses and demonstrate that her studies do not provide statistically significant evidence for similarities among Greek kouroi or between kouroi and the Egyptian canon, in part because of the limitations of the statistical techniques employed and in part because of problems in her procedures and data. Thus, we disassociate archaic Greek kouroi from a dependence on the Egyptian standardized proportional schemes and argue instead that the development of regional styles best explains the proportional similarities documented by Guralnick.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)103-128
Number of pages26
JournalAmerican Journal of Archaeology
Volume114
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2010

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Archaeology
  • Archaeology

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