Volume 91, 2016

In southern Italy, the period between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age saw profound changes, including increasing social complexity, economic and demographic growth, and the process of Greek colonisation. Some of these changes can be associated with new developments in the scale and organization of agricultural production. In this paper, we aim to investigate the connection between agricultural production and social organisation by focusing on grape and olive cultivation. Archaeological and archaeobotanical datasets are integrated to investigate whether and how changes in food production and consumption relate to changes in the social organisation of ancient communities.

In 1899, nearby the modern village of Palaikastro in eastern Crete, two remarkable stone moulds were found by chance. These moulds, which were mainly intended for the manufacture of small cult objects, are considered by many as products of the Late Minoan III period (ca 1420/10-1075/50 BC). This is due to the resemblance between the female figures who are holding up attributes on both moulds and the large well-known terracotta figures from Late Minoan III shrines at Knossos, Gazi, Karphi, etc. For stylistic and iconographical reasons, it is argued in this paper that these moulds should be dated much earlier, to Middle Minoan II or III (ca 1875/50-1700/1675 BC).

Only in recent years have there been attempts to view the various scenes on the Chigi vase as a unified whole. A major issue of interpretation concerns the scene with Paris, whether it is to be understood allegorically in an otherwise non-mythological programme, or whether it may be part of a broader mythological sequence.

The necropolis of Ripacandida in northern Basilicata is used as an example for the reconstruction of the social structure, age and gender identities of a small indigenous community in the 6th-5th century BCE. In the course of the two centuries of its use, some changes in the composition of the grave clusters as well as in the combination of grave goods can be observed. This points to the conclusion that the community was not static, but developing during the time under study. It seems that within this short time major social changes occurred, gradually leading from egalitarian, family based units to the development of more powerful (male) individuals, separated from the core families and equipped with standardised, special symbolic goods, maybe supplied by higher, regional authorities as indicators of their elevated status.

One of the most extraordinary renderings of various sea creatures is the well-known and often-published Caeretan hydria now in the Niarchos Collection. In contrast to the accurately rendered seal, which is rare in Greek art of all periods, octopus, and dolphins, the central creature that dominates the scene is usually considered as an imaginary sea monster, a ketos. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the central creature is no sea monster, but a fairly accurate representation of one of the most elusive creatures of the sea: an oarfish, of the family Regalecidae.

The present paper examines the classical Attic grave reliefs of deceased mothers depicted with their infants or children, thus identifying the iconographical differences between reliefs in which the emphasis lies solely on the death of the young women, while the presence of their children merely serves to indicate their maternal status, and reliefs that do not focus on the death of these women alone, but also emphasize the orphaned state of their offspring. Special attention is assigned to the latter, since their iconography succeeds in highlighting both the maternal role of the deceased females and the tragic consequences of their death. The iconography of the reliefs under consideration enhances the sadness for a mother’s loss through the touching scenes of dead women responding to their offspring’s gestures for the last time, interacting with them, or handing over their infants to a living female, as well as the depiction of children struggling in vain to attract their deceased mother’s gaze.

This article aims to cast light upon the mindset of the Praenestine elite during the second half of the 4th century BC by focusing on the engraved scenes on 206 pear-shaped mirrors and 90 cistae (toiletry boxes). Mauro Menichetti’s paideia theory implying that cista scenes show rites of passage of men and women will be examined, also with reference to the mirror scenes. It will be shown that in both media Dionysiac, bathing-, victory-, and love themes are the leitmotifs rather than rites of passage. The paper also includes several new interpretations of images. Appendix I lists the cistae and Appendix II the mirrors.

The Cavaspina groups with one character pulling a thorn from the other’s foot are one of the most popular ancient motifs. They were depicted in all genres of ancient art from the Hellenistic Age to Late Antiquity. Especially popular was the combination of a satyr and Pan, rendered in 18 statuettes and on 16 Dionysian sarcophagi from the Roman Imperial Age. In addition, there are Cavaspina groups made up of two satyrs, a satyr and an old woman, or two peasants, represented in different media of ancient art. These different variations of the group are analysed in the following article and collected in a catalogue. Since all depicted figures belong to the Dionysian sphere, by evaluating ancient literary sources, the Cavaspina group is interpreted as a votive sculpture illustrating the pain from which Dionysus can release his followers.

Herakles plays an important role in the myth of foundation and in the private cults of Pompeii. Despite this, the existence of a public cult of the demigod is not demonstrated. The paper questions the attribution of the sanctuary of the Triangular Forum to Herakles and Athena. A consolidated tradition of studies in fact attributes the Doric Temple to the couple: this theory is usually supported by several elements including the presence of an off-axis base in the cella, and the subject of the architectural terracotta of the Samnite period. The most important evidence however is the identification of the enclosure in front of the temple as a heroon of Herakles. Starting from a new analysis of the archaeological data, the present study aims to reconsider the function of the so-called heroon, proving its destination as an altar.

Systematic study of the activities of painters’ workshops is of great importance, not just because it sheds light on how ancient paintings were produced but because it adds to our understanding of the socio-economic system that underpinned this type of production. On a strictly economic level, its huge scale is clear and it can be characterized as a form of ‘mass production’. The examples from Pompeii and Herculaneum demonstrate that painters’ workshops were organized as big businesses, run by redemptores, perhaps in the employ of socially and politically influential patroni. Since they were big businesses, these workshops used numerous teams of decorators capable either of working together on the site of a large public building or separately on multiple sites. At a local level these painters’ workshops were able to control large parts of the market, to continually secure new commissions. More rarely these workshops were able to function on a regional or inter-regional basis.

This paper addresses the question of why the world-famous site of Pompeii was nearly absent in the Italian imagination during the Risorgimento of the 19th century. It is argued that the close association of the excavations of Pompeii with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was a major obstacle to a full appreciation of the site by those who favoured Italy’s unification. Moreover, from its rediscovery in the 18th century onward, Pompeii was regarded as a Greek city. For these reasons Pompeii was hardly suited to the ‘grand narrative’ developing during the Risorgimento: all ‘new’ Italians were encouraged to identify with the Romans as their common ancestors. Only after the unification and the birth of the kingdom of Italy (1861) was Pompeii valued: as a Roman city.

In this paper two marble bas-reliefs are examined that have adorned the courtyard of Palazzo Rondinini in Rome since the 18th century; these sculptures represent the arrival of the serpent of Aesculapius on the Tiber Island and the docking of the ship bringing the Mother of the Gods to the Latium coast. An attempt was made to show the origin of the two Tiber Island bas-reliefs, in particular from the excavations carried out by Thomas Jenkins in the area of the church of San Bartolomeo where, in Roman times, the shrine of Aesculapius was probably located. Therefore, a historical-religious assumption is determined and the cultural context that, during the reign of Antoninus Pius, in a particularly successful phase of the cult of Aesculapius and the metroac religion, induced authoritative patrons to commission two bas-reliefs with a rather peculiar iconography. This was on the occasion of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the birth of Rome, in the context of a more general propaganda operation intended to recall collective events and important protagonists of the primodia Urbis. The cults of Aesculapius and the Magna Mater, of primary importance in the Pergamum pantheon, contributed to the exaltation of Rome’s Trojan lineage and the imperial family’s ancestors, the centuries-old syngeneia between Rome and Pergamum.

The end of paganism has traditionally been explained as a result of the rise of Christianity. In recent scholarship, the romantic image of an epic battle between pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity has been significantly altered and corrected. According to the new interpretative model, pagans and Christians lived amicably side by side well into the fifth century, as paganism petered out in a natural way. At the micro-level of the Mithraea of Rome, however, the archaeological record contains clear signs of religious hatred that challenge this revisionist model. The present article discusses how, when, and why the Mithraea in Rome ceased to exist, and it elaborates the question of how these data impact our current understanding of Christian attitudes towards paganism in Late Antiquity.

Einer der bedeutendsten Klassischen Archäologen der Nachkriegszeit, Nikolaus Himmelmann, starb im Jahr 2013. Als sein Schüler versuche ich, im Lichte meiner persönlichen und fachlichen Erinnerungen dem akademischen Lehrer und berühmten Wissenschaftler hier ein kleines Denkmal zu setzen. Seit seiner Promotion im Jahre 1954 arbeitete Himmelmann – später auch als Professor an der Bonner Universität – bis zu seinem Tode für sein Fach. Die vielen internationalen Ehrungen weisen auf seine Anerkennung als Archäologe hin und die zahllosen Publikationen zeugen von der eminenten Bedeutung als Wissenschaftler. Kaum ein zentrales Thema der antiken Kunst und Kultur, zu dem er sich nicht geäußert hätte. Im Zentrum seiner Arbeit stand aber immer die Bedeutung der griechischen Religion für die jeweilige Kunst- und Lebenswelt, die Reflektion archäologischer Methodik und vor allem die Darstellung des Menschen von der homerischen Zeit bis zur Gegenwart. Hierbei interessierte ihn zum einen die realistische Darstellungsweise des antiken Menschen in der Kunst, etwa als Sklave und Handwerker, wie auch die idealisierende künstlerische Darstellung von Athleten, Intellektuellen und Politikern. Die Ausstellung ‘Herrscher und Athlet’ im Akademischen Kunstmuseum Bonn aus dem Jahr 1989 bedeutete für ihn, dem die Arbeit mit dem archäologischen Gegenstand von besonderer Bedeutung war, einen Höhepunkt. Zweifellos war Himmelmann von seiner fachlichen Ausstrahlung ein kosmopolitischer und zugleich deutschdeutscher Archäologe, der auch von seiner akademischen Herkunft wie auch von seinem Selbstverständnis her, die bedeutenden Traditionen der Archäologie durch den Eisernen Vorhang nicht unterbrochen sah. Seine kulturkritischen Überlegungen zur utopischen Vergangenheit der Archäologie in der modernen Kultur aus dem Jahr 1976 sollten eine über die Fachgrenzen hinaus wirkungsmächtige Veröffentlichung werden. Hier zeigt er sich als Gelehrter, der die politischen und kulturellen Veränderungen seiner Zeit sensibel wahrnahm und interpretierte. Zentraler Leitsatz für sein Schaffen war: ‘Theoretische Überlegungen werden in der Archäologie immer eine dienende Rolle haben und können der konkreten Problematik der Denkmäler nur folgen’.