Signe Barfoed
I have participated in several archaeological fieldwork projects in Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, South Italy and Denmark. Since 2011 I have been involved in the Kalydon Archaeological Project (KAP), a collaboration between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Aitoloakarnania and Lefkada, under the auspices of the Danish Institute at Athens. From 2013-16 when KAP was organised as a field-school for Danish university students, I was directing the finds registration. Currently, I am involved with the publication of the pottery from Kalydon’s Hellenistic theatre published in August 2023, and the publications of the excavations of a 2nd century BC private house located on Kalydon’s Lower Acropolis (in the preparation stage).
In 2016 I initiated a research project ‘Rediscovering Artemis’ concerning the unpublished finds (pottery, votives, small finds) from the 1920-30s excavations in the Artemis Laphria sanctuary in ancient Kalydon, Aitolia. The permit to study and publish this material was kindly granted by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in 2016, and funded by the Carlsberg Foundation in 2017-19, as well as supported by grants from the Norwegian Institute at Athens Travel Stipend (2017), Engineer Svend G. Fiedler and Wife Foundation (2017) and The Elisabeth Munksgaard Foundation (2016).
The main task of this project is to carry out a detailed study of the finds which will subsequently be published. Additionally, a goal is, of course, trying to understand how the excavations were conducted in the 1920-30s, and the archaeological contexts to the extent it is possible. Research questions are, naturally, related to the Artemis cult, how the sanctuary was used and how it was connected to other sanctuaries in the area, e.g. Thermon, as well as the region of Achaea across the gulf from Kalydon. A preliminary report was published in 2019, and the project is also described on the webpage of the Carlsberg Foundation (see the ‘links’ section).
From 2019-22 I hold a joint postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oslo and the University of Reading on the project ‘Cult, Memory, and Civic Identity in Kalydon’ supported by the Research Council of Norway (3.3 mil. NOK).
Address: University of Oslo, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History
Niels Henrik Abels vei 36
Blindernveien 11
0851 Oslo, Norway
signe.barfoed(at)iakh.uio.no / barfoed.signe(at)gmail.com
In 2016 I initiated a research project ‘Rediscovering Artemis’ concerning the unpublished finds (pottery, votives, small finds) from the 1920-30s excavations in the Artemis Laphria sanctuary in ancient Kalydon, Aitolia. The permit to study and publish this material was kindly granted by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in 2016, and funded by the Carlsberg Foundation in 2017-19, as well as supported by grants from the Norwegian Institute at Athens Travel Stipend (2017), Engineer Svend G. Fiedler and Wife Foundation (2017) and The Elisabeth Munksgaard Foundation (2016).
The main task of this project is to carry out a detailed study of the finds which will subsequently be published. Additionally, a goal is, of course, trying to understand how the excavations were conducted in the 1920-30s, and the archaeological contexts to the extent it is possible. Research questions are, naturally, related to the Artemis cult, how the sanctuary was used and how it was connected to other sanctuaries in the area, e.g. Thermon, as well as the region of Achaea across the gulf from Kalydon. A preliminary report was published in 2019, and the project is also described on the webpage of the Carlsberg Foundation (see the ‘links’ section).
From 2019-22 I hold a joint postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oslo and the University of Reading on the project ‘Cult, Memory, and Civic Identity in Kalydon’ supported by the Research Council of Norway (3.3 mil. NOK).
Address: University of Oslo, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History
Niels Henrik Abels vei 36
Blindernveien 11
0851 Oslo, Norway
signe.barfoed(at)iakh.uio.no / barfoed.signe(at)gmail.com
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Edited volumes by Signe Barfoed
Papers by Signe Barfoed
This article reviews the water supply to the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea in the Archaic period and considers the importance of water in the site’s history and sacred rituals. The so-called Rawson Deposit, a votive deposit excavated outside the Sanctuary of Zeus in Ancient Nemea preserves the remains of a small shrine, likely associated with a nearby spring. It has been suggested that the recipients of the cult were Demeter and Kore, and other deities are also possible, but the nature of the deposit suggests that the nymph of the source was worshipped there. The cult connected to the spring shrine, and the myths and literary sources connected to Nemea provide further insight to the importance of water supply and the diversity of ritual practices in the area in the formative period of the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea.
Résumé
Cet article analyse l’alimentation en eau du sanctuaire de Zeus à Némée à l’époque archaïque et évalue l’importance de l’eau dans l’histoire du site et de ses rituels. Ledit Dépôt Rawson, un dépôt votif fouillé à l’extérieur du sanctuaire de Zeus dans la Némée antique, conserve les vestiges d’un petit sanctuaire, vraisemblablement associé à une source proche. On a proposé que les destinataires de ce culte aient été Déméter et Koré, d’autres divinités sont également possibles, mais la nature du dépôt suggère que la nymphe de la source ait reçu un culte à cet endroit. Le culte lié à la source fournit un éclairage supplémentaire sur l’importance de l’approvisionnement en eau et la diversité des pratiques rituelles du secteur durant la période de formation du sanctuaire de Zeus à Némée.
The articles in this volume are now available via Open Access here: http://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-11
This article publishes a votive deposit, located near the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea, which was excavated in 1925. The votive deposit consists predominantly of Corinthian miniature pottery, but it also contained Argive, Attic, and local wares. The occurrence of Corinthian miniature offering trays, and other shapes, may suggest that Demeter was the recipient of the cult, but without preserved inscriptions, we cannot know for certain who was worshipped here. Nevertheless, the study of this material represents a significant contribution to the scattered evidence for cult in the area and attests to the presence of an important Archaic rural shrine in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Zeus.
The purpose of this article is to cast further light on the religious cults of the city and Kalydonian ritual behaviour. The renewed excavations have produced a substantial amount of miniature votive pottery, and in drawing attention to this hitherto rather overlooked aspect of material culture, I will argue that it must play an important role in our understanding of religious practice in ancient Kalydon. Within the last decade, miniature pottery has attracted considerable scholarly attention, which has produced insight that may be applied to the evidence from Kalydon. The author has been involved in the work at Kalydon since 2011 and has been able to study both published and unpublished miniature pottery found since 2001. Meticulous searches through the finds in the storerooms have led to the identification of more than 200 fragments of miniature pottery. Both published and unpublished miniature pottery is contextualized, and the cult related to the miniature votives is re-examined. Kalydon’s most famous cult is to Artemis Laphria, but two additional cults have been identified during the recent excavations: a shrine on the central Acropolis, and the cult in the Peristyle House in the Lower Town.
Can also be downloaded here (as well as the rest of the articles in this volume): https://tidsskrift.dk/pdia/article/view/115341
Miniature pottery is omnipresent in the ancient Greek world, especially in sanctuaries, from the Prehistoric to the Hellenistic period. This article will present and discuss a significant absence of miniature pottery in one of the best-known sanctuaries in Greece, the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia during the Archaic period. The reasons behind this scarcity are at one level clearly related to the pan-Hellenic character of the sanctuary. However, by comparing the assemblages at Olympia with other sanctuaries, largely in the Peloponnese, it becomes clear that the roles of miniature pottery may be quite complex. This absence in at least some pan-Hellenic contexts, in combination with the kinds of shapes that are most common in particular assemblages, suggests that miniature pottery has significance that goes beyond the ‘votive’, as traditionally construed by Classical archaeologists, to include commemorative and possibly ritual roles.
PhD Thesis by Signe Barfoed
The chronological time frame of the thesis is limited to the Archaic to the Hellenistic period, and its core is three case studies with different themes and different geographical locations in focus (Kalydon, Olympia, Kombothekra, various sites in South Italy, and other sites for comparison). The thesis addresses also issues relating to, for instance, miniaturisation, imitation and models, the functionality, and non-functionality of small votive objects, agency, trade, and colonization.
The study of ancient Greek dedicatory practices within the scholarship of Classical Studies tends to concentrate on votive statues, religious architecture, inscribed metal dedications, and stelai. Little attention has been paid to less extravagant dedications even though these groups of material have been found in abundant amounts in sanctuaries throughout Greece. Moreover, in those cases where this material has been published interpretation and thoroughly analyses are often lacking. As a result, this study makes important contributions to two large questions within Classical studies: how did the Greeks view their gods and how did the Greeks interact with the gods. Miniature pottery contributes to our understanding of ancient Greek ritual practice as well of specific rituals. The work presented in this thesis accentuates that miniature pottery’s material meaning and symbolic importance can no longer be dismissed.
MA Dissertation by Signe Barfoed
Talks by Signe Barfoed
The shape repertoire of the ‘Elian Style’ pottery is limited: plates, bowls, oinochoai and two-handled drinking cups (kantharoi, skyphoi). The preferred decorational scheme is the polychrome style seen from ancient Pylos in Elis that John E. Coleman and Katherine Abramovitz called ‘dark-on-light’ decoration. The date of the fragments from the Artemis Laphria assemblage is therefore suggested to span the 7th-6th centuries BCE, as the parallels from Pylos in Elis indicate.
A few oddities are found in the Artemis Laphria assemblage that might suggest that the possible imported Elian pottery was imitated locally. One example is a plate with a broad rim and banded ‘dark-on-light’ decoration which is made in a soft strong orange clay that might be a local Kalydonian fabric. It will be discussed whether such fragments were skilled local craftsmen or perhaps a travelling potter from the region of Elis. Furthermore, ‘Elian Style’ pottery has also been found elsewhere in Kalydon, and in this paper, comparisons will be made to ‘Elian Style’ pottery from an Archaic shrine assemblage found at Kalydon’s Central Acropolis.
Abstract:
In this paper, I will discuss Homer’s Warrior Ethos and attempt to relate specific examples to the evidence from the archaeological records and the finds from these tombs, such as so-called warrior tombs dating to the Mycenaean period from various sites in Greece. The Kalydonian boar-hunt will play a central role in this paper and based on newly discovered evidence from Kalydon, I will argue that the site was settled already in the Mycenaean period, prior to previous belief, which could indicate that beautiful heroes once roamed the land of Kalydon.
Abstract:
Ancient Kalydon in Aitolia, western Greece, is the site where the famous myth of the Kalydonian boar-hunt described by Homer in the Iliad took place. Despite a long tradition of Greek-Danish archaeological work at the site, very limited archaeological evidence has been found from the period of the myth and the corresponding early source. In this paper, I will present current work in progress concerning the recently discovered Mycenaean pottery from the area of the Artemis Laphria sanctuary in Kalydon, the find context, and the possible connected architectural remains. Furthermore, recent analyses of the unpublished finds from the Geometric period cast light on the origin of the sanctuary and its important Pan-Aitolian function.
Wednesday 10 February 2021, 15-17 on Zoom
Abstract:
The role of miniature pottery in ancient Greek ritual practice has gained increased scholarly attention and interest the past decade, and a recent increase in publications of miniature pottery from various sites now enables us to propose new frameworks for the practical use of miniatures vessels in sanctuary contexts. Miniature vessels are often understood as symbolic and non-functional votive offerings, but they might also have served as receptacles for the dedication of small perishable consumables, such as wheat and barley grains associated with the dedication of first-fruit offerings. Such suggestive interpretations could potentially result in novel hypotheses concerning the participants and the specifics of the rituals. In this paper, I will use Corinthian miniature pottery and terracotta figurines found in ancient Kalydon in Aitolia as a starting point for developing a new conceptual framework for the distribution and function of miniature pottery in the ancient Greek world.
In this paper, I will attempt to trace the historical outline back to Homer’s description of the Kalydonian boar-hunt, and survey whether the connection to the famous myth was also used in earlier periods as a marker in the creation of identity. Homer is thought to describe a heroic past, so is it possible that Kalydon, as Homer described it as a fortified town, seat of Oenoes and his son Meleagros who fought the Kalydonian boar, have existed?
Recent research has revealed that Mycenaean pottery was discovered near walls of building at the Laphrion plateau, as well as the remains of a possible Mycenaean entranceway, so Homer might have been correct in his description. The fact that Kalydon is mentioned in Homer’s warrior epos, the Iliad, might suggest that Kalydon, on top of being an important place at the time, was known for its warrior mentality. Boar-hunting, as depicted on Mycenaean frescoes and seal stones, is thought to be an elitist activity. One can imagine prestigious feasting events held following such hunts where chieftains from neighbouring regions dined together.
In the Geometric period in Kalydon, both Geometric pottery (some imported from the region of Achaea) and an apsidal building have been discovered; it is possible that this building was the seat of a local chieftain which then ruled at the time when Homer wrote the Iliad. It is conceivable that the location for the Artemis Laphria cult, which is believed to have its origin in the Geometric period, was chosen based on Kalydon’s prominence as the setting for the famous boar-hunt. Excavations have yielded boar-tusks, animal bones, and antlers in larger number, some found with bronze arrowheads, which suggest that boar was hunted throughout the history of Kalydon. In this paper, I will explore the indications that Kalydon’s famous myth was prominent in the minds of the Kalydonians from a very early time onwards throughout the city’s history.
This article reviews the water supply to the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea in the Archaic period and considers the importance of water in the site’s history and sacred rituals. The so-called Rawson Deposit, a votive deposit excavated outside the Sanctuary of Zeus in Ancient Nemea preserves the remains of a small shrine, likely associated with a nearby spring. It has been suggested that the recipients of the cult were Demeter and Kore, and other deities are also possible, but the nature of the deposit suggests that the nymph of the source was worshipped there. The cult connected to the spring shrine, and the myths and literary sources connected to Nemea provide further insight to the importance of water supply and the diversity of ritual practices in the area in the formative period of the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea.
Résumé
Cet article analyse l’alimentation en eau du sanctuaire de Zeus à Némée à l’époque archaïque et évalue l’importance de l’eau dans l’histoire du site et de ses rituels. Ledit Dépôt Rawson, un dépôt votif fouillé à l’extérieur du sanctuaire de Zeus dans la Némée antique, conserve les vestiges d’un petit sanctuaire, vraisemblablement associé à une source proche. On a proposé que les destinataires de ce culte aient été Déméter et Koré, d’autres divinités sont également possibles, mais la nature du dépôt suggère que la nymphe de la source ait reçu un culte à cet endroit. Le culte lié à la source fournit un éclairage supplémentaire sur l’importance de l’approvisionnement en eau et la diversité des pratiques rituelles du secteur durant la période de formation du sanctuaire de Zeus à Némée.
The articles in this volume are now available via Open Access here: http://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-11
This article publishes a votive deposit, located near the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea, which was excavated in 1925. The votive deposit consists predominantly of Corinthian miniature pottery, but it also contained Argive, Attic, and local wares. The occurrence of Corinthian miniature offering trays, and other shapes, may suggest that Demeter was the recipient of the cult, but without preserved inscriptions, we cannot know for certain who was worshipped here. Nevertheless, the study of this material represents a significant contribution to the scattered evidence for cult in the area and attests to the presence of an important Archaic rural shrine in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Zeus.
The purpose of this article is to cast further light on the religious cults of the city and Kalydonian ritual behaviour. The renewed excavations have produced a substantial amount of miniature votive pottery, and in drawing attention to this hitherto rather overlooked aspect of material culture, I will argue that it must play an important role in our understanding of religious practice in ancient Kalydon. Within the last decade, miniature pottery has attracted considerable scholarly attention, which has produced insight that may be applied to the evidence from Kalydon. The author has been involved in the work at Kalydon since 2011 and has been able to study both published and unpublished miniature pottery found since 2001. Meticulous searches through the finds in the storerooms have led to the identification of more than 200 fragments of miniature pottery. Both published and unpublished miniature pottery is contextualized, and the cult related to the miniature votives is re-examined. Kalydon’s most famous cult is to Artemis Laphria, but two additional cults have been identified during the recent excavations: a shrine on the central Acropolis, and the cult in the Peristyle House in the Lower Town.
Can also be downloaded here (as well as the rest of the articles in this volume): https://tidsskrift.dk/pdia/article/view/115341
Miniature pottery is omnipresent in the ancient Greek world, especially in sanctuaries, from the Prehistoric to the Hellenistic period. This article will present and discuss a significant absence of miniature pottery in one of the best-known sanctuaries in Greece, the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia during the Archaic period. The reasons behind this scarcity are at one level clearly related to the pan-Hellenic character of the sanctuary. However, by comparing the assemblages at Olympia with other sanctuaries, largely in the Peloponnese, it becomes clear that the roles of miniature pottery may be quite complex. This absence in at least some pan-Hellenic contexts, in combination with the kinds of shapes that are most common in particular assemblages, suggests that miniature pottery has significance that goes beyond the ‘votive’, as traditionally construed by Classical archaeologists, to include commemorative and possibly ritual roles.
The chronological time frame of the thesis is limited to the Archaic to the Hellenistic period, and its core is three case studies with different themes and different geographical locations in focus (Kalydon, Olympia, Kombothekra, various sites in South Italy, and other sites for comparison). The thesis addresses also issues relating to, for instance, miniaturisation, imitation and models, the functionality, and non-functionality of small votive objects, agency, trade, and colonization.
The study of ancient Greek dedicatory practices within the scholarship of Classical Studies tends to concentrate on votive statues, religious architecture, inscribed metal dedications, and stelai. Little attention has been paid to less extravagant dedications even though these groups of material have been found in abundant amounts in sanctuaries throughout Greece. Moreover, in those cases where this material has been published interpretation and thoroughly analyses are often lacking. As a result, this study makes important contributions to two large questions within Classical studies: how did the Greeks view their gods and how did the Greeks interact with the gods. Miniature pottery contributes to our understanding of ancient Greek ritual practice as well of specific rituals. The work presented in this thesis accentuates that miniature pottery’s material meaning and symbolic importance can no longer be dismissed.
The shape repertoire of the ‘Elian Style’ pottery is limited: plates, bowls, oinochoai and two-handled drinking cups (kantharoi, skyphoi). The preferred decorational scheme is the polychrome style seen from ancient Pylos in Elis that John E. Coleman and Katherine Abramovitz called ‘dark-on-light’ decoration. The date of the fragments from the Artemis Laphria assemblage is therefore suggested to span the 7th-6th centuries BCE, as the parallels from Pylos in Elis indicate.
A few oddities are found in the Artemis Laphria assemblage that might suggest that the possible imported Elian pottery was imitated locally. One example is a plate with a broad rim and banded ‘dark-on-light’ decoration which is made in a soft strong orange clay that might be a local Kalydonian fabric. It will be discussed whether such fragments were skilled local craftsmen or perhaps a travelling potter from the region of Elis. Furthermore, ‘Elian Style’ pottery has also been found elsewhere in Kalydon, and in this paper, comparisons will be made to ‘Elian Style’ pottery from an Archaic shrine assemblage found at Kalydon’s Central Acropolis.
Abstract:
In this paper, I will discuss Homer’s Warrior Ethos and attempt to relate specific examples to the evidence from the archaeological records and the finds from these tombs, such as so-called warrior tombs dating to the Mycenaean period from various sites in Greece. The Kalydonian boar-hunt will play a central role in this paper and based on newly discovered evidence from Kalydon, I will argue that the site was settled already in the Mycenaean period, prior to previous belief, which could indicate that beautiful heroes once roamed the land of Kalydon.
Abstract:
Ancient Kalydon in Aitolia, western Greece, is the site where the famous myth of the Kalydonian boar-hunt described by Homer in the Iliad took place. Despite a long tradition of Greek-Danish archaeological work at the site, very limited archaeological evidence has been found from the period of the myth and the corresponding early source. In this paper, I will present current work in progress concerning the recently discovered Mycenaean pottery from the area of the Artemis Laphria sanctuary in Kalydon, the find context, and the possible connected architectural remains. Furthermore, recent analyses of the unpublished finds from the Geometric period cast light on the origin of the sanctuary and its important Pan-Aitolian function.
Wednesday 10 February 2021, 15-17 on Zoom
Abstract:
The role of miniature pottery in ancient Greek ritual practice has gained increased scholarly attention and interest the past decade, and a recent increase in publications of miniature pottery from various sites now enables us to propose new frameworks for the practical use of miniatures vessels in sanctuary contexts. Miniature vessels are often understood as symbolic and non-functional votive offerings, but they might also have served as receptacles for the dedication of small perishable consumables, such as wheat and barley grains associated with the dedication of first-fruit offerings. Such suggestive interpretations could potentially result in novel hypotheses concerning the participants and the specifics of the rituals. In this paper, I will use Corinthian miniature pottery and terracotta figurines found in ancient Kalydon in Aitolia as a starting point for developing a new conceptual framework for the distribution and function of miniature pottery in the ancient Greek world.
In this paper, I will attempt to trace the historical outline back to Homer’s description of the Kalydonian boar-hunt, and survey whether the connection to the famous myth was also used in earlier periods as a marker in the creation of identity. Homer is thought to describe a heroic past, so is it possible that Kalydon, as Homer described it as a fortified town, seat of Oenoes and his son Meleagros who fought the Kalydonian boar, have existed?
Recent research has revealed that Mycenaean pottery was discovered near walls of building at the Laphrion plateau, as well as the remains of a possible Mycenaean entranceway, so Homer might have been correct in his description. The fact that Kalydon is mentioned in Homer’s warrior epos, the Iliad, might suggest that Kalydon, on top of being an important place at the time, was known for its warrior mentality. Boar-hunting, as depicted on Mycenaean frescoes and seal stones, is thought to be an elitist activity. One can imagine prestigious feasting events held following such hunts where chieftains from neighbouring regions dined together.
In the Geometric period in Kalydon, both Geometric pottery (some imported from the region of Achaea) and an apsidal building have been discovered; it is possible that this building was the seat of a local chieftain which then ruled at the time when Homer wrote the Iliad. It is conceivable that the location for the Artemis Laphria cult, which is believed to have its origin in the Geometric period, was chosen based on Kalydon’s prominence as the setting for the famous boar-hunt. Excavations have yielded boar-tusks, animal bones, and antlers in larger number, some found with bronze arrowheads, which suggest that boar was hunted throughout the history of Kalydon. In this paper, I will explore the indications that Kalydon’s famous myth was prominent in the minds of the Kalydonians from a very early time onwards throughout the city’s history.
Since the beginning of the 20th century archaeologists have been searching for the exact location of Homer’s Kalydon, but throughout the many years of the Danish- Greek collaboration in Kalydon only a few sherds of the Mycenaean period have been discovered at the site.
The new research project “Rediscovering Artemis” concerns the study and publication of the finds from the excavation of the Artemis Laphria sanctuary in Kalydon carried out by Konstantinos A. Rhomaios, Frederik Poulsen and Ejnar Dyggve in the 1920-30s. The publications of these explorations included the architecture, topography and architectural terracotta, but did not include the pottery and small finds, which were all meant to be published by Poulsen, who did not finish the work before his death in 1950.
Recently Mycenaean pottery was rediscovered in the large find assemblage from the 1920-30s excavations, and this talk is the first presentation of this Mycenaean material. The findspot of the Mycenaean assemblage will be discussed and contextualised, and it will be suggested that Kalydon now can be counted among the sparse Mycenaean settlements in the region of Aitolia.
The written sources, such as Pindar, Euripides, and Pausanias, provide us with information about both the topography and the myth related to origins of the Pan-Hellenic games at Nemea. Euripides might have staged the fatal myth of the baby Opheltes and his premature death, which lead to the initiation of the Nemean games, at the Adrasteia spring at Nemea.
The objects from the shrine’s votive deposit 700 m east of the Zeus sanctuary predates the buildings of wells in the sanctuary, and the spring related to the Archaic rural shrine might indeed be the only available water source in the area. In the Classical period this spring is known to have provided water for the bath building in the sanctuary testified by both architectural remains and orthostates from an aqueduct leading to the Sanctuary of Zeus.
Excavations by the University of Berkeley in the 1970s have revealed evidence of an early stream-bed in the course of the spring leading to the sanctuary, and the construction of wells in the Sanctuary of Zeus did not begin until 100 years after the Early Temple of Zeus was constructed in the 6th century BC, which means that for a long period the sanctuary must have acquired their water from elsewhere.
The location of the spring shrine in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of Zeus on a low ravine, the assemblage of votives and plain-ware vessels, and the topography of the area suggest that the spring shrine may have had flexible ritual functions and have served to accommodate many different kinds of cultic purposes in the area that being fertility related to agriculture and womanhood, as well as rites of passages for boys and girls on the brink to adulthood. The importance of clean water for both domestic and ritual used cannot be underestimated for the population in rural Nemea. The relationship of nymph worship, the spring shrine, and the Zeus’ sanctuary’s water supply discussed in this paper has not been previously explored.
An analysis and comparison of the miniature pottery from Area XI is presented in order to shed some light on the type of rituals were associated with the structure; most of the miniature pottery pertains to kotyliskoi or other kinds of miniature cups, which could indicate libation or some kind of liquid offering. Some of the miniature pottery is of local clay, but the fabric and decoration reveals that the majority of the miniature pottery was made in Corinth. Why are such large amounts of Corinthian miniature pottery found in this structure? Why did the inhabitants import such a large amount of miniature pottery? Or were the Corinthian miniature pottery dedicated by Corinthian visitors to the sanctuary at the summit of the Acropolis in Kalydon?
The analysis of miniature pottery at Kalydon in Aitolia, as evidence for worship, sheds new light to cult and religious practices, as well as emphasizes the importance of miniature pottery in archaeological research."
Miniature pottery is known from sacred, domestic and funerary contexts at the majority of ancient sites in Greece. Its importance has often been neglected or overlooked in favor of more glamorous finds of architectural structures, statues, metals and terracotta objects. The large production and diffusion of miniature pottery do, however, attest to its great importance especially in the sanctuaries and in various rituals.
Greek miniature pottery was made from the pre-historic period onwards, but the production intensified in the 6th century BC. In the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth, miniature pottery dating to the 10th century BC has been found, i.e at the time of the foundation of the city. In the 6th century BC miniature pottery was commonly used as votives, a practice that continued, although on a smaller scale, until the destruction of the city in 146 BC.
Larger amounts of miniature pottery have been found at sites in Magna Graecia, such as Siris-Heraklea, Metapontum and Taranto. Interestingly, the first miniature pottery from these sites dates to the 6th century BC, which coincides with the peak in the use of miniature pottery in mainland Greece thus indicating a connectivity of cult practice.
Miniature cups are found in religious contexts at Messapian sites, such as Vaste, Monte Papalucio (Oria) and Timmari. Additionally, miniature Messapian two-handled cups have been discovered in graves at such places as Rutigliano, Montescaglioso and Miglionico, and this type of indigenous miniature cup may portray a specific symbolic significance similar to the indigenous trozzella shape. The well-known statue of Zeus Ugento, most likely produced in Tarento shows a direct transmission of a divinity from the Greeks to the indigenous environment, but the use of indigenous Messapian miniatures in a fashion similar to that known from Greek sites suggests a transmission of religious practices.
In this paper I will evaluate whether the usage of miniature pottery in mainland Greece and such Greek colonies as Metapontum, Siris-Heraklaia and Taranto are indicative of homogenous cult and dedication practices, as well as how the use of miniature pottery at indigenous sites relates to the usage at Greek colonial sites? These questions may also reveal different kinds of networks of official and religious character, as well as a religious connectivity of cult in the Greek mainland and the Greek colonies.
The deposit was discovered in a field on a low hill about 700 m east of the Sanctuary of Zeus. Even though no architectural remains were found, the votive deposit indicates the presence of a shrine or small sanctuary in the area.
The Archaic deposit predates the use of the wells, which are associated with the classical Sanctuary of Zeus, so the spring near the deposit may have been a water source for the sanctuary during the Archaic period. The location of the deposit suggests that this shrine was of great importance and probably contributed to the water supply of the Sanctuary of Zeus during the Archaic–Classical periods.
Plato and Pausanias both associated shrines with nymphs, and the setting of the shrine near a spring suggests that this rural shrine may have belonged to Nemea, the water nymph who in myth was closely connected to the area through her father Zeus.
The research project "Rediscovering Artemis. A comprehensive re-examination of the Artemis Laphria Sanctuary in Kalydon, Aitolia" features study and dissemination of the results of archaeological excavations at Kalydon, comprising both recent results and hitherto unpublished archaeological material from the Danish-Greek excavations in the 1920s. The project investigates the city of Kalydon's community formation until the 8th century BCE, before the development of the polis ("city-state"); constructs a synopsis of the geopolitics of this important ancient Aitolian city in western Greece; and includes a diachronic study of the cult of its goddess Artemis, her role in local myth and a consideration of her worshippers.
As Assmann suggested, cultural memory is imbued with an element of the sacred, which could be expressed in a religious festival. The ceremony of a festival keeps the past alive and provides a basis for identity creation for the participating groups. Consequently, according to Assmann, such planned ceremonies and repetitive events, which also include texts, dances, and images, help shape memory.
The aim of this session is to explore how/if myths can function as a model for religious identity and how this might be recognized in the archaeological record. Can ancient Greek myths serve as a framework for understanding the specific ritual behaviour in local and regional cults? How can we perceive religious identity of specific ethnic or civic groups in the face of changing group affiliations and flexible ritual behaviour?
Speakers are invited to present on topics related to the interconnectivity of myth, cultural memory, and religious identity, for example by looking at:
- aspects exploring the connection between theory and mythology
- cultural memory as embodied in ritual/cult (foundation deposits, ritual breakage of votives, etc.)
- cult related to and expressed in specific myths
- civic and/or ethnos identity
- material and iconographical analyses relating to (regional/local) myths
- any combination of the above
WORK CITED:
Assmann, J. 2011. Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
NEW ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MINIATURIZATION
Miniaturization is a cognitive and manufacturing process widespread among human societies. However, only in recent years has attention been paid to the significance of smaller objects within the field of archaeology and anthropology. Previous studies have underestimated miniaturization, considering their products only as mere simplifications, as means of ritual and cultic practice, or as cheap reproductions of normal-sized objects.
Objects in a reduced scale are however tangible products of social activities; cognitive and physical experiments conducted by active and conscious agents.
We encourage papers covering different periods, from late prehistory to present-day societies. We are interested in advancing the theoretical and practical study of miniaturization, both in anthropology and in archaeology, beyond the boundaries of disciplines.
The theme of this session, “Myths as theoretical models for religious identity in ancient Greece”, concerns the relationship between Cultural Memory theory and mythology. Based on Jan Assmans’ proposition that, “cultural memory transforms factual into remembered history, thus turning it into myth” (Assmann 2011, 38), the topic of this session will address how this theoretical framework can be related to ritual behaviour, practices, and identity in ancient Greece.
As Assmann suggested, cultural memory is imbued with an element of the sacred, which could be expressed in a religious festival. The ceremony of a festival keeps the past alive and provides a basis for identity creation for the participating groups. Consequently, according to Assmann, such planned ceremonies and repetitive events, which also include texts, dances, and images, help shape memory.
The aim of this session is to explore how/if myths can function as a model for religious identity and how this might be recognized in the archaeological record. Can ancient Greek myths serve as a framework for understanding the specific ritual behaviour in local and regional cults? How can we perceive religious identity of specific ethnic or civic groups in the face of changing group affiliations and flexible ritual behaviour?
Speakers are invited to present on topics related to the interconnectivity of myth, cultural memory, and religious identity, for example by looking at:
- aspects exploring the connection between theory and mythology
- cultural memory as embodied in ritual/cult (foundation deposits, ritual breakage of votives, etc.)
- cult related to and expressed in specific myths
- civic and/or ethnos identity
- material and iconographical analyses relating to (regional/local) myths
- any combination of the above
WORK CITED:
Assmann, J. 2011. Cultural Memory and Early Civilization: Writing, Remembrance, and Political Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.