Archaeologist: How did the Parthenon' s stonemasons manage to carve columns that all bulged outward in the center in precisely the same way? One hypothesis is suggested by the discovery of a scale drawing of a column etched into the stone of a Greek temple at Didyma. The drawing is a profile view of a column surrounded by a grid, which makes it possible to determine the correct width at every height of the column. The stonemasons who carved the Parthenon' s columns may have relied on a drawing like the one at Didyma.
The statement 'Modern attempts to recreate columns like those at the Parthenon have only been partially successful' adds the most support for the archaeologist's hypothesis.