The large size of this head suggests that it once belonged to a cult statue of a goddess. The veil she is wearing and the mature character of the face might make her Demeter, Hera or Cybele, inviting comparison with the Demeter of Knidos.

We know enough to be sure it it a Greek original, not a later copy, and one thing we can tell about its discovery is that it was found lying left side down — the right half of her face and neck are marked by about twenty small gashes made by the discoverer’s pickaxe