This volume comprises twelve papers, the core of which were given at a conference in Rome in 2012, and which aim to question some of the dominant narratives that have become established in scholarship on anatomical votives. In particular, the editors argue that both the emphasis on the continuity of votive practice over time and space, and the relatively uncomplicated healing intention ascribed to anatomical votives are in need of revision. In their introduction, D. and G. make explicit appeals to new approaches that are being applied to this body of evidence, including ‘body theory, sensory experience and material religion, art and gender, [and] “Romanisation” and cultural interaction’ (p. 13). This volume is therefore a valuable contribution to wider movements within the field of ancient religious studies, which are refocusing attention away from institutional forms of worship and onto the impact of religious belief and practice on the daily lives of individuals. In terms of anatomical votives, this volume argues that such approaches can reveal important variations in the understandings, meanings and practices of votive rituals, depending on context. The coincidence of both the publication of this volume and J. Hughes's Votive Body Parts in Greek and Roman Religion in the same year is hardly accidental. Hughes contributed to both the original conference in Rome and this volume, and also runs the research network The Votives Project with G. It is clear that fertile space has been created for the study of ancient votive practice, and that these publications are welcome outcomes of this.
For the most part, the papers live up to the promises of the introduction, providing stimulating challenges to established interpretations of anatomical votives. Although many of the contributions focus on specific types of votive, they go beyond the construction of typologies to ask deeper, more interesting questions of intention and meaning. J. Potts's paper is a provocative case in point, as it transgresses the boundaries between anatomical votives and other categories of religious objects, in this case the ‘confession stelai’ from Lydia and Phrygia. By critiquing the artificial divisions that scholars place between types of artefacts, Potts argues for the presence of strong influences within shared cultural milieus that affected all aspects of religious expression. Dissolving typologies in this way can only go so far, but nevertheless Potts's consideration of the role of divine punishment in anatomical votive rituals is a refreshing perspective.
G.’s paper centres assessment on ‘the body’ and teases out the relationships between anatomical votives and the bodies of the dedicants who left them. Using ideas of fragmentation and enchainment, she argues that anatomical votives not only created permanent relationships between humans and the gods, but also made manifest the power of the gods in the real world and therefore were instrumental in the creation and maintenance of religious knowledge. This paper is full of ideas, while it is securely grounded in solid applications of theory to the evidence.
O. de Cazanove presents new finds of stone votives, excavated at Alesia in 2011, which include numerous body parts and fragments of two swaddled babies. These votives are then put within the context of other finds from Gaul and finally compared with the much more numerous Republican Italian evidence. By doing so, de Cazanove revises the seemingly wide chronological gap between votive practice in Italy and Gaul, and emphasises that the appearance of such offerings seems to coincide with the spread of Roman political and cultural influence. The argument for continuity of practice is surprising and seemingly at odds with the wider aims of the volume.
D.’s paper goes beyond the objects found by archaeologists to consider more ephemeral, perishable offerings, in the form of real and false hair. D. surveys the ample literary evidence for the importance of hair in ancient religious ritual and points especially to offerings of real hair given to ensure good health or to request a cure. D. considers offerings of real hair alongside representations in stone as well as other objects connected to hairdressing. This paper is an excellent example of the volume's aim to go beyond simplistic readings of votive offerings, as D. explores the possibilities of hair to communicate messages about gender, age, status, profession and so on, pointing out the huge range of personalisation within votive depictions of hair.
Papers by R. Flemming and F. Glinister continue this aim, exploring the multiple possible meanings behind models of wombs and swaddled infants respectively. Both connect the objects they study to wider social concerns over fertility, childbirth and the formation of new citizens, and point out that it is impossible to know exactly at what stage an anatomical votive was left. In her discussion of the size and shape of votive wombs, Flemming's paper is one of the few in the volume that directly engage with ancient medical knowledge, which is a marked departure from much existing scholarship on anatomical votives. However, the focus is not on attempting to diagnose the illnesses possibly suffered by the dedicants, but instead on revealing the concerns of prospective parents or pregnant women over the flexibility and stability of the uterus. Glinister cites Soranus on the benefits of swaddling infants, and links the firming of infant bodies to the proper formation of a good Roman citizen. She then argues that swaddled infant votives could be a celebration of the removal of swaddling bonds and the infant's entry into the community.
G. Petridou and S. Chiarini both question the dominant curative interpretation of anatomical votives by examining those that were left in temples with no healing associations. Petridou argues for more abstract meanings behind votives of eyes dedicated at temples to Demeter and Kore, perhaps acting as mementos of divine visions, participation in religious rituals or as metaphors for the lifting of spiritual blindness. Similarly, Chiarini explores the less obvious meanings behind votive feet, suggesting that they could be thanks offerings for safe journeys or pilgrimages, or could commemorate an individual's presence in a significant place. Both chapters ground their interpretations in the literary evidence, which strengthens their arguments about the significance of these body parts in ancient culture, but at times risks straying back into arguments of long-term, cross-cultural continuity. However, both these papers maintain the volume's focus on individuals acting in their own specific contexts and so still question some of the older interpretations.
The final three papers, by L. Haumesser, E. Adams and J. Grove, deal with the reception of ancient anatomical votives in the modern world, especially in terms of the legacy of the doctors and medical history collectors who discussed them in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Haumesser and Grove explore the ways in which anatomical votives were used by such scholars as evidence for the development of ancient medical knowledge and even as teaching aids. They both make interesting points on the varying ways that modern audiences have reacted when confronted by these objects, especially when they involve gory or sexual imagery. In doing so, both Haumesser and Grove continue to challenge the dominant medical interpretations of anatomical votives by raising questions about how such understandings have developed. Of particular note is Grove's analysis of the unease among early scholars when they discussed the elements of ancient medicine they saw as ‘irrational’ or ‘superstitious’. Objects such as votive genitalia might seem to betray the ‘primitive’ aspects of Classical Greek and Roman culture, which is normally hailed as the wellspring of rational European civilisation. The legacy of this contradiction is still being felt today, and so Grove's chapter stands as a much-needed contribution to the debate. Similarly, Adams's exploration of ancient and modern attitudes to disability reveals the influence that Classical art and ideals still have on modern understandings of the body, especially regarding the body in fragments. By contrasting the responses to anatomical votives and broken Classical sculptures, such as the Belvedere Torso and the Venus de Milo, with modern views on the disabled, Adams convincingly challenges ideas of beauty and ‘wholeness’. One of the most stimulating parts of her argument is the suggestion that in the ancient world anatomical votives could have been interpreted as something akin to ritual prostheses, in that they symbolise an attempt to use a physical object to render the body whole and healthy and to achieve an ideal normality.
The afterword, written by Hughes, evocatively captures more of the contemporary resonances of votive ritual by pointing to the rise in anatomical imagery in modern art. She poses a number of interesting questions about the intersections between art, history, religion and science that exist in approaches to anatomical votives, and provides some thoughts on the directions in which the study of these objects might go.
As befits a project related to the sensory experience of objects, all the papers are well illustrated, although in black and white. The bibliography is extensive, providing an excellent jumping-off point for research into these objects, which in the past have not always been easily accessible, even to the specialist scholar. There is also a good index, which makes tracing continuities across the papers much easier.
The volume sets out with an ambitious intention to reconsider ancient anatomical votives in the light of a range of new approaches. Although not all the papers are totally successful in escaping from older interpretations of votive practice, the volume as a whole is a significant advancement in the field. The scope of the volume is relatively unrestricted in terms of chronology and geography, but where previous scholarship would have found bland continuity, the contributors here reveal dramatic variety, by considering how votive ritual impacted on the lives of those who dedicated them.
