Intentionality of the stylobate crown’s location

Determine whether the placement of the Parthenon stylobate’s maximum elevation—computed from the interpolated surface of measured curvatures and occurring near the wall between the cella and the opisthodomos—was an intentional design decision or a coincidental outcome.

Background

Using least-squares fits to measured elevations of the Parthenon stylobate, the paper interpolates the full surface and identifies a single maximum (the “crown”) located at approximately (x=13.9 m, y=37 m).

This maximum lies on the wall separating the cella and the opisthodomos, raising the historical-design question of whether that alignment was deliberate or incidental.