A life-size marble statue of Antinous was unearthed, literally, in Delphi on 13 July 1894 – 130 years ago – by a team from the École française d'Athènes. (Fun fact: Antinous died in the year A.D. 130) To the archaeological team's stupefaction, it was found upright and almost intact, pedestal included. How was this possible?The most plausible explanation for the state in which the statue remained for centuries seems to me to be this: it was not left there to endure the ravages of time, but was deliberately buried. Hidden, in a word. Four points make me lean towards this hypothesis.1. To believe the statue was left to the ravages of time would mean believing that the statue would have b...