Head of a kore

This head was found in the sanctuary of Ptoan Apollo in Boeotia. It is the work of a local artist. The kore is the female equivalent of the kouros. These standing statues of either nude youths or draped women were very common in the Archaic Greek period and paved the way to the refinement of Classical sculpture in the 5th century B.C. They were dedicated to gods and erected at the entrance of sacred places or as a part of monumental tombstones.