Abstract

Use of the drill in Archaic sculpture : the technique of the running drill. In most works treating the techniques of ancient Greek sculpture, the date of appearance of the running drill varies between the beginning of the second half of the 5th c. and the third quarter of the 4th c. B. C. No mention of a use in the Archaic period is made and the technical definitions are often unclear, going as far as confusing the tool with the manner of its use. The study of tool marks, undertaken within the framework of research on the techniques of Archaic Greek sculpture, shows that the running drill appears to have been in use toward the middle of the 6th c. at Samos, then in a more sustained manner at the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th c. at the Athenian Akropolis and at Delphi.