Local Responses to Colonization in the Iron Age Meditarranean by Tamar Hodos

Author:Tamar Hodos [Hodos, Tamar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Archaeology
ISBN: 9781134182817
Google: fSg1s22QPqcC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2006-09-27T03:38:35+00:00

A limestone sculpture of a cavalryman was found in Castiglione in the monumental chamber tomb with the decapitated burials (see above) of secure early sixth-century date (Figure 3.38) (Cordano and Di Salvatore 2002). The figured scene in the middle represents an armed warrior with a shield on a horse that is facing left. The oversized head of the warrior is in the round and frontal, while the profile horse and frontal shield are in low relief. The head of a sphinx facing outward is carved in the round on the left side of the stone, while the head of a bull is similarly positioned and worked on the right. On the underside of the limestone is the profile of a horse in relief; as this would have been visible only from the bottom, it suggests that the entire piece might have been part of an architrave or tympanum decoration. The position of the horse and warrior with his panoply of armour suggest social and military status, enhanced by the image of the bull protome, a long-standing symbol of Sicilian cult. The sphinx implies a chthonic sentiment, although it is a figure of Near Eastern origin and thus may be an orientalizing influence.

Figure 3.38 Limestone sculpture from Castiglione (after Cordano and Salvatore 2002: fig. 18).

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