This volume is a valuable contribution to a growing sub-discipline that scrutinises material culture and archaeological contexts for evidence of ritual behaviour. Developed from a workshop held at Olympia, supported by the Finnish Institute at Athens and the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, this collection of papers focuses on Greek religion of the Late Bronze Age to the Early Archaic period. Two of the papers examine deposits at Kalaureia. Other sites discussed include Olympia, Tiryns, Asine, Eretria, Ephesos, Sta Lenika (Elounda), Phaistos and Gortyn.
The papers are divided into two parts. The first section, ‘Cult and Material: Tradition, Theory and Materiality’, focuses on methodologies and theoretical approaches to understanding symbolic activities through material remains. J. Siapkas's opening paper discusses the multidisciplinary interpretative frameworks through which ancient Greek religion has been examined, and the impact of other fields on archaeological studies of ancient votives.
Pakkanen draws on ‘garbology’ and New World examples to demonstrate means of distinguishing between secular waste and cult deposits. She then applies that conceptual model to an analysis of two deposits in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia and shows that both are related to ritual feasting, but in different ways.
Bocher brings elements of the first two papers to her study of votives and sacrificial debris in ‘black strata’ at Olympia and Eretria. Such strata, dark from ash and charcoal, have been defined at numerous Greek sanctuaries, especially from the Geometric period, attesting to cult activity before permanent altars were constructed. Faunal remains show interesting variations in sacrificial practices for example, and metal dedications were deliberately cut up or folded, rendering them useless to humans. Bocher explores modes of inquiry, analysis and interpretation for understanding the human behaviours that caused the formation of ‘black strata’.
Case studies are presented in the second section, ‘Time and Material: Perspectives to Early Cult’. M. Vetters notes that the long-recognised division between official cults and popular cults in the Mycenaean world breaks down in the Post-Palatial period, and suggests that it is useful to shift the focus from social stratification to the spaces in which rituals were carried out. Through a study of figurine distribution during the Post-Palatial period at Tiryns, Vetters discerns remarkable differences between assemblages in private and publicly accessible places. Figurines in domestic settings are mostly zoomorphic, with find-spots suggestive of protective magic. In spaces suggestive of communal cult on the other hand, figurines are predominantly large and female, with wear-patterns that suggest they were frequently carried by hand.
G. Klebinder-Gauß analyses finds found below the sixth-century bc ‘Croesus Temple’ at Ephesos. She argues that most are gendered votives, predominantly female, associated with marriage and childbirth.
L. Sjögren challenges the assumption that dedications in Early Iron Age and Archaic sanctuaries reflect competition for power and esteem in the nascent polis societies of Crete. She points out that some items previously considered ‘prestige votives’ are more likely cult equipment, and makes a good case that others were collective offerings.
B. Wells's contribution, the final paper, was edited posthumously. Wells compares certain eighth-century bc deposits at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia and the sanctuary possibly already dedicated to Pythian Apollo on Barbouna Hill at Asine. She argues that these early deposits provide evidence that cult-related drinking and feasting in the Early Iron Age precede the construction of rectilinear buildings at each sanctuary. Also of note: among the ceramic finds at Kalaureia are fragmentary Attic Late Geometric vases by the Hirschfeld Painter and the Dipylon Workshop.
This well-edited collection will be of interest to many. The quality of the research is very high, and the arguments are clear. Some of the plans in the text sections are printed at a scale that is too small, but are reproduced in a more accessible format in the colour plates at the end of the book. All the papers provide valuable contributions, and theoretical concerns thread through to bind them as a cohesive unit.
