[00:03.09]
An unknown goddess[00:11.70]
How did the archaeologists know that the statue was a goddess?[00:19.68]
an interesting discovery was made by archaeologists on the Aegean island of Kea.[00:26.10]
An American team explored a temple[00:29.79]
which stands in an ancient city on the promontory of Ayia Irini.[00:35.03]
The city at one time must have been prosperous,[00:38.56]
for it enjoyed a high level of civilization.[00:42.07]
Houses--often three storeys high--were built of stone.[00:47.60]
They had large rooms with beautifully decorated walls.[00:52.01]
The city was even equipped with a drainage system,[00:55.42]
for a great many clay pipes were found beneath the narrow streets.[01:00.83]
The temple which the archaeologists explored[01:04.64]
was used as a place of worship from the fifteenth century B.C. until Roman times.[01:10.85]
In the most sacred room of the temple,[01:13.34]
clay fragments of fifteen statues were found.[01:17.74]
Each of these represented a goddess and had,at one time, been painted.[01:24.68]
The body of one statue was found among remains dating from the 15th century B.C.[01:31.76]
Its missing head happened to be among remains of the fifth century B.C.[01:37.96]
This head must have been found in Classical times and carefully preserved.[01:44.15]
It was very old and precious even then.[01:48.20]
When the archaeologists reconstructed the fragments,[01:51.70]
they were amazed to find that the goddess turned out to be a very modern-looking woman.[01:58.42]
She stood three feet high and her hands rested on her hips.[02:03.29]
She was wearing a full-length skirt which swept the ground.[02:07.93]
Despite her great age, she was very graceful indeed,[02:12.27]
but,so far,the archaeologists have been unable to discover her identity.