Abundance and splendour: textiles of Archaic Greek\ud statues of young women (korai)

The statues of young women in 6th century BCE Greece are remarkable for their elaborate textile clothing.\ud Despite this, the evidence from representations of textiles is frequently dismissed because the clothing portrayed\ud is considered too unreliable and confusing to interpret. This paper seeks to redress this issue by identifying the\ud type, number and quality of textiles represented as garments on these famous statues. It considers the history\ud of research that led to this lack of clarity and assesses the textiles on statues in the light of the archaeological\ud evidence. The results demonstrate the quality and quantity of textiles worn in these outfits and lead to a wider\ud discussion of the significance of these abundant and splendid materials.