Representation of the Human Musculature in the Bronze Age Aegean

Bronze Age sculptures range from abstract to realistic, but how accurate are the realistic sculptures? To answer this question, it is useful to compare three pieces of artwork: Prince of Lilies from Knossos, Kouros from Palaikastro, and the Boxer Rhyta from Ayia Triadha to a musculature replica. These pieces originate from the Bronze Age in the Aegean. What this comparison will tell us is how much the ancient peoples were studying the human body, along with the reasons as to why these sculptures were portrayed with such realistic characteristics. To accomplish this goal this paper takes the artifacts background into consideration, while measuring the length of several muscle groups and comparing them to an anatomical representation.

The results showed varied accuracy with how the artifacts compare to anatomical models. One of the artifacts is shown to be almost identical to the anatomical replica. Other conclusions involve the backgrounds of the sculptures which range from religious reasons to possible images of royalty. Each provides insight into the life of the Bronze Age Aegean. In addition, a further study into the Prince of Lilies from Knossos, showed that the artifact was reconstructed, and that there are some controversies surrounding the reconstruction.