Practical Movements: Kinetic rituals in the Ancient Western Mediterranean

Scholars have studied the long-distance movements of people and goods in Phoenician and Punic society between the eighth and the second centuries BC in considerable depth. However, little attention has been paid to travelling, walking and sailing as common activities in their daily lives. it was through living in and moving through landscapes and seascapes that people constructed their sense of place. Sacred places may have been nodal points in these settings and everyday movements may well have become ritualized. This article develops the idea that journeys to shrines might be considered as pilgrimages and stresses the kinetic aspect of these practices. I suggest that trips to shrines were…

Animal agency in Iron-Age Sicilian art (VIII-VI BCE): Interaccion between bovines and man

El objetivo del presente artículo es el análisis de las relaciones entre bovinos y humanos bajo la perspectiva de la agencia animal a través de varios objetos artísticos encontrados en el asentamiento de Polizzello (Sicilia occidental), datados entre los ss. VIII-VI a. C. Concretamente, presentamos un conjunto de jarras cerámicas decoradas con bucráneos, así como también representaciones de bovinos y seres híbridos en distintos soportes cerámicos como son vasos de almacenamiento, de consumo y servicio de alimentos. En primer lugar, nos centraremos brevemente en explicar el contexto histórico y social de la isla en la Edad del Hierro, haciendo especial énfasis en sus tradiciones artísticas. …

Miniatures from domestic contexts in Iron age Iberia

AbstractThis article reviews a set of miniatures from domestic contexts in Iron Age eastern Iberia, and interprets them in terms of their role in forging social personae. After an introduction to the historical case under consideration, the miniatures are described in terms of their typology and their contexts of provenance are outlined. Though not abundant, they tend to occur in central places in the landscape; specifically, they are often found in houses of the powerful. The vast majority are miniatures of pottery and tools, though some miniature weapons are recorded. We contend that these objects were used as a means of enculturation and for the learning of values and norms. It is no coi…

Art, Types of

Music, gender and rituals in the Ancient Mediterranean: revisiting the Punic evidence

Abstract Music, playing instruments and performing rituals are bodily activities and as such they can be studied stressing their corporeal features. Music and sounds are usually essential elements in rites, and bodies play an essential role in bringing together music and rituals. We explore these issues focusing on Punic terracotta figurines playing musical instruments recovered from the island of Ibiza (fifth to third centuries bc).