Marble Figurines from Ayia Irini in Keos

Abstract

E XCAVATIONS at Ayia Irini in the years 1960-1969 produced fragments of 36 marble figurines, chiefly of well-known Cycladic types. All came from the area of the settlement on the promontory, none from graves. They were found in many parts of the site and at many different levels, stratigraphically associated with pottery and other objects of the Early, Middle, and Late Bronze Ages. It is not a large collection, but some of the pieces have an intrinsic interest and the group as a whole is not without significance. The catalogue which follows is descriptive rather than analytical. In it are recorded: the field inventory number in parentheses; the place of finding, by area (capital letter; see plan, Fig. 1) and by room if any ( surface means that the object was found on or near the surface of the ground or in earth dumped from the site at some time, disturbed and mixed); the relative date of associated architectural remains and objects (for the sequence of periods at this site and for notes on the chronology, see the commentary following the catalogue); the color and texture of the stone, in layman's terms ( micaceous means only that there is an obvious glint from particles or facets of the material) ; the state of preservation; the dimensions as preserved (height, width from side to side, thickness from front to back); a description of features which may be of interest, and occasional references to studies of similar figurines, for clarification.