Early Phrygian Sculpture : Refining the Chronology

Abstract

The chronology of Phrygian sculpture has always been difficult to determine with certainty because of the lack of historical data or secure archaeological contexts in Phrygia. This paper examines the chronology of Phrygian sculpture during the Early Phrygian period, integrating data based on the new, higher chronology of the Gordion Destruction Level with that drawn from datable orthostate reliefs from Neo-Hittite centers in southeastern Anatolia, which exerted a strong influence on early Phrygian visual representations. It can be shown that material from the late ninth century BCE Gordion Destruction Level corresponds well with the chronology Neo-Hittite relief sculpture. Archaeological evidence from Gordion also supports an eighth century date for the introduction of the anthropomorphic image of the Phrygian Mother goddess. The paper urges caution in proposing a sequence of chronological development for Phrygian sculpture from subsequent periods when archaeological or historical data are absent.