The Bioarchaeology of Ritual and Religion by Alexandra Livarda Richard Madgwick Santiago Riera Mora

Author:Alexandra Livarda,Richard Madgwick,Santiago Riera Mora
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: SCI008000; SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Biology
ISBN: 9781785708299
Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
Published: 2017-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

Cultic practices in the sanctuary: local aspects and social implications

The detailed and contextual analysis of terrestrial and marine faunal remains indicates both similarities and differences between the archaeological data and the practices testified in ancient texts and iconography. The main correspondence is the preference for domestic animals, especially sheep and goats, species that have been associated with Apollo.

However, the discrepancies are many more. The variety of species identified archaeologically that can be interpreted as remains of ritual meals is notable, although it is unclear if these animals played an active role in the ritual performance. So, for instance, the offering of such a large variety of foods to the god(s), some maybe as aparchai, during theoxenia and/or trapezomata rituals could be the result of an anticipation to create closer bonds with the god(s), of the worship of different divinities or it was simply a mechanism to increase the amount of meat eaten. Furthermore, there is evidence for the consumption of particular parts of the animal skeleton (thighs) that could have been offered to the priests as honorary portions and to the worshippers along with meat from wild animals and molluscs. Remarkably, the total burning of the osphys during the thysia may be potentially extended to as early as the Archaic period. Moreover, the observed preference for the consumption of scallops could be related to the maritime nature of Apollo, but possibly also to Aphrodite. Finally, the several beach-worn marine shells that could represent votive offerings highlight the variety of products and artefacts dedicated to the god(s). Therefore, the zooarchaeological data point towards ritual meals with various ingredients and different kinds of votive offerings that may be taken as indicative of local traditions, folk beliefs or group interests, which, though hard to reconstruct, shed light on the complexity and the polymorphism of ancient Greek cultic practices, while also highlighting the particularities that emerged from mixing local and colonial rituals.

In the sanctuary of Apollo at Zone, animal sacrifices, possible secondary rituals, such as theoxenia, and ritual meals and offerings would have created a terrain of social interactions, but also they could have helped promote the interconnectedness of people from various backgrounds, contributing to the exchange of traditions and ideas from across the Aegean. Furthermore, the range of votive items, including prestigious artefacts and ‘humble’ marine shells, allows insights into the performance of the cult through their accumulation and display. The diversity of the offerings, a form of both sacrifice and a gift that was not so rule-bound as the sacrifice, may indicate the active construction of cult and the shaping or challenging of social categories, thus providing a framework of action (Antonaccio 2005, 100–2). The variety in ritual practices and performance, similarly also for example to the persistence of local traditions in iron-working and the Thracian inscriptions in Greek letters (Blakely 2013, 160–2), could be taken as indications that local cultural conditions and colonial ideologies were entangled.

To conclude, this zooarchaeological assemblage provided a rare opportunity to discuss the creation and performance of ritual activity in a Greek colony during the Archaic period.

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