Fragment from the statue of a kouros

The erection of this kind of statue at the head of a grave was customary in the Arcahic period. This sculptural fragment comes from a kouros that once stood in a cemetary of Byzantion. A kouros is the modern term given to free-standing ancient Greek sculptures which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and represent nude male youths. In Ancient Greek kouros means youth, boy, especially of noble rank.