[byoo-krey-nee-uh
m] 
[-nee-uh] . | (in classical architecture) an ornament, esp. on a frieze, having the form of the skull of an ox. |
[byoo-kreyn] .
ni(on) an ox-head, equiv. to Gk bou- (s. of boûs) ox + krāníon cranium bucranium
decorative motif representing an ox killed in religious sacrifice. The motif originated in a ceremony wherein an ox's head was hung from the wooden beams supporting the temple roof; this scene was later represented, in stone, on the frieze, or stone lintels, above the columns in Doric temples.
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