Conclusions
Overall, It is difficult to rely completely on either science or connoisseurship to establish the authenticity of a piece like the Getty kouros. The sample size of archaic kouroi available to modern researchers is small, so an anomaly would not be out of the question. Yet the fact that the kouros's features are so odd, that it is essentially unique among kouroi in its conglomeration of features, makes it difficult to accept into the group of established ancient pieces. There is evidence for both sides of the case, but too many details of the statue do not quite adhere to the expected archaic model. This, coupled with the lack of proper provenance, would suggest that the Getty kouros is indeed a modern forgery. This cannot be completely proven, however, without more evidence. The possibility that the kouros is authentic remains, and with it, the likelihood that it is a stolen artifact, trafficked from its place of origin after the 1970 UNESCO convention. If more time had been initially spent researching and relying on provenance rather than solely relying on science or connoisseurship, perhaps the truth of the statue's authenticity could already have been discovered.