Nancy Bookidis

This Volume is devoted to the large-scale, freestanding terracotta sculpture from the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth. Approximately 944 fragments of sculpture were found, extending in date from the late 7th through the 4th century B.C. These fragments represent a minimum of 132 full-figure statues, and perhaps as many as 147. These are, for the most part, statues of young males, both draped and nude, although females and seated infants appear as well. Two particularly well-preserved statues, a draped figure of the later 6th century and a similar figure of the last quarter of the 5th century B.C., illustrate the prevailing type. All of the sculptural dedications presented here were made locally in Corinth. At Corinth, where marble was not readily available but good quality clay was, clay was the dominant medium for sculpture in the Greek period. Despite the fragmentary condition of the material presented in this volume, its importance cannot be emphasized enough. It is the largest body of Greek sculpture recovered from Corinth, and one of the largest bodies of terracotta sculpture yet found anywhere in the Greek world. This volume broadens our understanding both of the manufacture of terracotta sculpture and of cult practices at the site, and greatly expands our knowledge of the sculptural history of Corinth.

The Terracotta Sculpture

The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore

Elizabeth G. Pemberton

This volume continues the publication of excavations conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore on Acrocorinth. It incorporates two bodies of material--Greek lamps and offering trays. The lamps include those made from the 7th through 2nd centuries B.C., together with a few Roman examples not included in Corinth XVIII.2. They served to provide light and to accompany the rites of sacrifice. The offering trays differ from the liknon-type offering trays published by A. Brumfield; they support a variety of vessels rather than types of food and had a symbolic function in the Sanctuary rituals. They are extremely common in the Sanctuary and only rarely attested elsewhere.

The Greek Lamps and Offering Trays

The fifth part of the Corinth volume dedicated to the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore publishes the large-scale terracotta sculpture found in the sanctuary. Ranging in date from the late 7th through the 4th century B.C., the sculpture consists of fragments from 132 to as many as 147 statues, from half- to nearly life-size. These are, for the most part, statues of young males, both draped and nude, although females and seated infants appear as well. Several introductory chapters discuss the types represented, the findspots and possible original placement of the sculptures, and the techniques involved in their construction. This volume greatly expands our knowledge of the history of Corinth, broadening our understanding both of cult practices at the site and of the manufacture of terracotta sculpture.

Gloria S. Merker

Ronald S. Stroud

When the Roman tourist Pausanias visited Corinth around A.D. 160, he saw many shrines and buildings high up to the south of the city, on the slopes of Acrocorinth. This booklet describes excavations at one of these, the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone (Kore). The details of religious rites revealed are of particular interest since the cult of the two goddesses, also celebrated at Eleusis, is one of the most mysterious in antiquity, and no literary testimony exists to explain what may have happened behind the high walls. Terracotta dolls, ritual meals of pork, and miniature models of food-filled platters hint at a vigorous religious tradition associated with human and agricultural fertility.

Nancy Bookidis

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