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Papers by Marina Prusac-Lindhagen

Research paper thumbnail of Reclaiming Illyria: The Notorious Usefulness of Archaeology to Communism and Nationalism Alike in Yugoslavia and After

Reclaiming Illyria: The Notorious Usefulness of Archaeology to Communism and Nationalism Alike in Yugoslavia and After

Nationalism and the Politicization of History in the Former Yugoslavia, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century

Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century

Research paper thumbnail of Orpheus in Love, Death, and Time

Orpheus in Love, Death, and Time

Mirrors of Passing, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Personifications ofEudaimonia,FelicitasandFortunain Greek and Roman Art

Personifications ofEudaimonia,FelicitasandFortunain Greek and Roman Art

Symbolae Osloenses, 2011

... The last example of a representation of Eudaimonia – on a volute-crater from Ruvo in ... In S... more ... The last example of a representation of Eudaimonia – on a volute-crater from Ruvo in ... In Salomon Reinach's antiquated repertoire of Greek and Roman statues from the early twentieth century ... sea was always a happy event, considering the many dangers of maritime trade.35 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Negotiating the Memory of Palmyra

Negotiating the Memory of Palmyra

Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Svein Mønnesland: Dalmacija očima stranaca. Dalmatia through foreign eyes

Svein Mønnesland: Dalmacija očima stranaca. Dalmatia through foreign eyes

Nordisk Østforum

Research paper thumbnail of I de nakne atleters tid

Research paper thumbnail of Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, Introduction

Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, eds. Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series in 4º, 64, 2020

Beginning of chapter: There is a fresh interest in the role that emotions have played in historic... more Beginning of chapter: There is a fresh interest in the role that emotions have played in historical processes and past events. Revolutions have for example not only been driven by ideologies, but also by societal demands for changes, fuelled by collective emotions. Religious transformations have often derived from dissimilar readings of holy texts, but also from collective experiences of disappointment and hope. Political sympathies have been nurtured and emotions have been manipulated in public as well as in the private sphere. The more we understand of the role that emotions have played in the past, the better equipped we will be at understanding the functions and forces of emotions in present-day cultures and societies. Throughout history, visual and textual media have been used to convey messages or as tools for ideological, political, religious, or other cultural and social purposes. The material culture of ancient Rome is a potential gold mine of information with regard to emotions when socially and affectively contextualized. This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in ancient Rome. Approaches to the study of ancient emotions and how they were culturally specific, appreciated and understood have recently come to the centre of attention, but not so much in the visual as in the literary culture. One of the reasons may be the imminent danger of drawing arbitrary conclusions on the basis of individual interpretations of what something may “look like” or “seem like”. Fear of subjectively drawn conclusions has discouraged psychological studies of art, and rightly so...

Research paper thumbnail of Dronningen i vikingtid og middelalder. Scandinavian Academic Press, 2017.

Dronningen i vikingtid i middelalder.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac-Lindhagen, M. Through the Looking Glass. Collective Emotions and Psychoiconography in Roman Portrait Studies

Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen (eds) Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series in 4º, 64, 2020

The history of emotions offers a new approach to Roman portrait studies. Emotions are here unders... more The history of emotions offers a new approach to Roman portrait studies. Emotions are here understood as collective, with modes of expression that are shared and recognizable to members of a society. Earlier research on the psychology of Roman portraits was influenced by the 20th century’s arbitrary interpretations of facial expressions, and ancient sources relating to famous individuals and their character. Emotion historical perspectives differ from the individual character descriptions as they rather provides a theoretical framework for the understanding of how the imperial portraits responded to the collective emotions of the people. Collective emotions were expressed by shared reactions to changes in society that for example could be caused by political events or ideological and religious transformations. In the portrait arts, some of these reactions can be viewed as physically manifested, or as frozen facial expressions responding to collective emotions. The Roman imperial portraits can be seen as the mirror images of what the people longed for.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac-Lindhagen, M. The Kosmētai Portraits in Third Century Athens. Recutting, Style, Context and Patronage

Acta ad Archaeologiam et Artivm Historiam Pertinentia 30: 16, 2018

Portraits of a group of thirty kosmētai, public philosophy teachers in Athens, were found among t... more Portraits of a group of thirty kosmētai, public philosophy teachers in Athens, were found among the fill in the Valerian Wall by the Roman Agora in Athens in 1861. From the Hellenistic period onwards, the kosmētai had taught the philosophy of Aristotle, though with time, the teaching became more varied. In the first century AD the number of students had a peak of three hundred a year. In the third century, when the portraits were buried in the Valerian Wall, the number of students had decreased, much as it had in other pedagogic institutions. The activity of the kosmētai ended about AD 280, when the Valerian Wall was built. The dating of the Valerian Wall is based on coins with the portrait of emperor Probus (AD 276-282), which have been found among the building debris. What we know about the kosmētai from the written sources leads to several questions, such as why the kosmētai portraits were used as building material at a time when the identity of the sitters could still be remembered. Why were some of the portraits recut into those of other individuals shortly before they were put into the wall? Some of the kosmētai portraits were produced, recut and discarded during the span of a few decades. This paper discusses the portraits of the kosmētai and their significance in Roman Athens, and explores questions related to the disposal of them, as well as to context, style, workshop and patronage.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac Lindhagen, M. Dronningforbildet fra Romerriket. In Kjesrud, K. & N. Løkka (eds) Dronningen i vikingtid og middelalder, 2017, 67-98.

Historien om Helena og hennes sønn, keiser Konstantin den Store, er historien om seieren, korset,... more Historien om Helena og hennes sønn, keiser Konstantin den Store, er historien om seieren, korset, kappen og tronen, og om forholdet mellom keiser-og keiserinne-makt og religion. Det er også begynnelsen på historien om den rollen keiserinner og dronninger har spilt som religiøse forbilder og idealer i politisk kultur, og om hvordan de har kommunisert gjennom symboler og praksiser. Fremfor alt handler denne historien om en dronnings rolle i en av de største transformasjonene som har funnet sted i Europas historie: overgangen fra gresk-romersk hedensk til kristen tid. Dette kapitlet handler med andre ord om Helena i rollen som dronningidealet fremfor noe annet, som har påvirket ideen om hva en dronning er, og skulle vaere, fra antikken og frem til i dag. Hun fikk en unik posisjon som moren til Konstantin, keiseren som gjorde kristendommen lovlig. Helena som karakter, hennes politiske autoritet, og den religiøse fromheten hun brukte som et politisk virkemiddel, dannet grunnlaget for europeiske dronninger gjennom middelalderen, slik mange av bidragene i denne boken viser. I virkeligheten var hun sannsynligvis datteren til en vertshuseier. Figur 1. Sittende statue av Helena fra Kapitolmuseet i Roma. Portrettet er omarbeidet fra et tidligere portrett av keiserinne Faustina den yngre, fra det andre århundre. Portrettet av Helena er fra det fjerde århundre e. Kr. Gjenbruket av skulpturen var ikke tilfeldig. Faustina den yngre var keiser Marcus Aurelius' hustru, og sammen utgjorde de et godt likt par, som var kjent for sin fromhet.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. I ritratti del V e del VI secolo. In Santa Maria Antiqua tra Roma e Bisanzio, 2016.pdf

COMUNICATO STAMPA Roma, 16 marzo 2016 Dopo oltre trent'anni riapre al pubblico con una mostra San... more COMUNICATO STAMPA Roma, 16 marzo 2016 Dopo oltre trent'anni riapre al pubblico con una mostra Santa Maria Antiqua, la basilica nel Foro Romano scoperta nel 1900 alle pendici del Palatino. La chiesa conserva sulle pareti un patrimonio di pitture unico nel mondo cristiano del primo millennio, databile dal VI al IX secolo, quando fu abbandonata a seguito dei crolli del terremoto dell'847.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Friends, Foes and Hybrids. The Transformation of Burial Ritual in Roman Dalmatia, 2015.pdf

This paper will examine changes in burial ritual from the perspective of the evolving cultural id... more This paper will examine changes in burial ritual from the perspective of the evolving cultural identities which appeared in Illyria/Dalmatia in the early Roman period. Different cultural identities were expressed through burial customs among Illyrians and Romans respectively in the earliest period of Roman rule, and later mainly through the iconography of grave stelae and sarcophagi. The variation in cultural identities in Illyria, especially in the imperial period, probably reflects a similarly rich spectrum of religious beliefs and therefore also different burial rituals. Numerous grave stelae from Dalmatia illustrate the combination of indigenous iconography and Roman epigraphic tradition, which was a hybrid result of the encounters between Illyrian and Roman funerary cultures. Hybrid elements reveal that memories of the indigenous past were transformative and individually manageable cultural values. Over time, however, burial customs changed into a predominantly ‘Roman’ style, as also seen in other parts of the Roman Empire, but they were not ‘standardized’. In the following it is argued that the changes and adjustments in burial rituals that took place during the ‘Romanization’ of Dalmatia allowed for new expressions of individual ideas about the afterlife.

Keywords
Illyria, Dalmatia, burial ritual, changes, cultural encounters, hybrid memories

Research paper thumbnail of Illyriske pirater mellom myter minner og fortolkninger 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Non-Formative and Transformative Memories in the Constantinian Reconstruction of Jerusalem, 2015 .pdf

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Presence and the Image Controversies in the Third and Fourth Centuries AD.pdf

From the introduction: Late Antiquity is usually considered to have begun in the third century, a... more From the introduction: Late Antiquity is usually considered to have begun in the third century, around the same time that Plotinus (c. AD 205–70) introduced a new system of theory, Neoplatonism, which derived from a metaphysical way of thinking. Plotinus’ writings, the Enneads, were collected and edited by his pupil Porphyry and published around AD 300. They included ideas about statue animation, which built on earlier ideas about divine presence in images, and became highly influential in Late Antiquity, when Christianity included many conflicting factions, not least with regard to religious images and iconoclastic behaviour. The term iconoclasm is used below in the general, broad sense which is outlined in the introduction to this volume, and the present chapter addresses the metaphysical aspect of the images or idols which attracted and exposed them to violent actions rather than the attacks per se, which are described by Eberhard Sauer in the previous chapter of the present volume. The metaphysical aspect of images is usually referred to as presence, or prototype, and happens when images are perceived as matter animated by spirit; when images or idols are believed to inhibit a prolonged existence of the individual they represent. The presence is sometimes explained as a symbolic representation or even as something magical, which cannot be translated as spirit or soul, which are Christian terms, and terms such as force or power express something physical and would be misleading. It can perhaps be understood as a phenomenological quality which was believed to connect the portrait or image to the represented individual or deity in a way which demanded respect.

Research paper thumbnail of Bollettino di Archeologia on line I 2010/ Volume speciale C / C11 / 2 Hybrid Deities in South Dalmatia

Introduction: Mountains and rivers form a natural border around South Illyria-Dalmatia, an area s... more Introduction: Mountains and rivers form a natural border around South Illyria-Dalmatia, an area stretching over parts of present-day Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Albania. The area has a narrow coastline with river plains meeting a steep mountain chain with limited areas for people to settle. Such a landscape caused slower creolisation processes than what was common in the Mediterranean, which are expressed through hybridities in the iconographical expressions, in particular in the cultic material. Hybridity and creolisation have become common terms for hidden transcripts in the material culture, since links between artefacts and ethnicity are disputable. ‘Hybridity’ and ‘creolisation’ are terms borrowed from post-colonial studies and linguistics, where they are used to express discrepant experiences, or overlapping events, which are perceived differently by different groups of people. These terms are useful when trying to explain the cultic iconography of South Illyria-Dalmatia, which was altered during the cultural transformation of the area. There, the
mainstream Roman pantheon could be described both as an “implant” by Rome and a multicultural common ground, where different groups negotiated cult practices and traditions, with increasing intensity after A.D. 9, when Illyria was reorganised as Dalmatia. The coastline represented likewise to the city of Narona a ‘third space’ with intense traffic and a large pantheon of deities from various parts of the Roman Empire, whereas pre-Roman customs and cults could survive more undisturbed in the more inaccessible mountain areas. The distribution of archaeological materials and in particular the selection of which deities were revered reflects how the cultural transformations occurred differently along the coast and in the interior mountain settlements; differently, but with several common features. There are several examples of transformed deities from South Illyria-Dalmatia, which appear as hybridities in the iconographical material. Among these, Silvanus, Liber, the nymphs and the cult of the sun dominate, and reflect aspects of the human interaction with the landscape, which make them important carriers of the cultural transformations which took place.

Research paper thumbnail of What´s in a ring? In Vedeler, M. and Röstad, I. (eds) Smykker. Personlig pynt i kulturhistorisk lys, Oslo: Museumsforlaget, 2015, 21-42.

Research paper thumbnail of The missing portraits from the Augusteum at Narona, in Miscellanea Emilio Marin sexagenario dicata, Zbornic Kacic,  2011. .

Research paper thumbnail of Reclaiming Illyria: The Notorious Usefulness of Archaeology to Communism and Nationalism Alike in Yugoslavia and After

Reclaiming Illyria: The Notorious Usefulness of Archaeology to Communism and Nationalism Alike in Yugoslavia and After

Nationalism and the Politicization of History in the Former Yugoslavia, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century

Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century

Research paper thumbnail of Orpheus in Love, Death, and Time

Orpheus in Love, Death, and Time

Mirrors of Passing, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Personifications ofEudaimonia,FelicitasandFortunain Greek and Roman Art

Personifications ofEudaimonia,FelicitasandFortunain Greek and Roman Art

Symbolae Osloenses, 2011

... The last example of a representation of Eudaimonia – on a volute-crater from Ruvo in ... In S... more ... The last example of a representation of Eudaimonia – on a volute-crater from Ruvo in ... In Salomon Reinach's antiquated repertoire of Greek and Roman statues from the early twentieth century ... sea was always a happy event, considering the many dangers of maritime trade.35 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Negotiating the Memory of Palmyra

Negotiating the Memory of Palmyra

Negotiating Memory from the Romans to the Twenty-First Century, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Svein Mønnesland: Dalmacija očima stranaca. Dalmatia through foreign eyes

Svein Mønnesland: Dalmacija očima stranaca. Dalmatia through foreign eyes

Nordisk Østforum

Research paper thumbnail of I de nakne atleters tid

Research paper thumbnail of Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, Introduction

Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, eds. Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series in 4º, 64, 2020

Beginning of chapter: There is a fresh interest in the role that emotions have played in historic... more Beginning of chapter: There is a fresh interest in the role that emotions have played in historical processes and past events. Revolutions have for example not only been driven by ideologies, but also by societal demands for changes, fuelled by collective emotions. Religious transformations have often derived from dissimilar readings of holy texts, but also from collective experiences of disappointment and hope. Political sympathies have been nurtured and emotions have been manipulated in public as well as in the private sphere. The more we understand of the role that emotions have played in the past, the better equipped we will be at understanding the functions and forces of emotions in present-day cultures and societies. Throughout history, visual and textual media have been used to convey messages or as tools for ideological, political, religious, or other cultural and social purposes. The material culture of ancient Rome is a potential gold mine of information with regard to emotions when socially and affectively contextualized. This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in ancient Rome. Approaches to the study of ancient emotions and how they were culturally specific, appreciated and understood have recently come to the centre of attention, but not so much in the visual as in the literary culture. One of the reasons may be the imminent danger of drawing arbitrary conclusions on the basis of individual interpretations of what something may “look like” or “seem like”. Fear of subjectively drawn conclusions has discouraged psychological studies of art, and rightly so...

Research paper thumbnail of Dronningen i vikingtid og middelalder. Scandinavian Academic Press, 2017.

Dronningen i vikingtid i middelalder.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac-Lindhagen, M. Through the Looking Glass. Collective Emotions and Psychoiconography in Roman Portrait Studies

Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen (eds) Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series in 4º, 64, 2020

The history of emotions offers a new approach to Roman portrait studies. Emotions are here unders... more The history of emotions offers a new approach to Roman portrait studies. Emotions are here understood as collective, with modes of expression that are shared and recognizable to members of a society. Earlier research on the psychology of Roman portraits was influenced by the 20th century’s arbitrary interpretations of facial expressions, and ancient sources relating to famous individuals and their character. Emotion historical perspectives differ from the individual character descriptions as they rather provides a theoretical framework for the understanding of how the imperial portraits responded to the collective emotions of the people. Collective emotions were expressed by shared reactions to changes in society that for example could be caused by political events or ideological and religious transformations. In the portrait arts, some of these reactions can be viewed as physically manifested, or as frozen facial expressions responding to collective emotions. The Roman imperial portraits can be seen as the mirror images of what the people longed for.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac-Lindhagen, M. The Kosmētai Portraits in Third Century Athens. Recutting, Style, Context and Patronage

Acta ad Archaeologiam et Artivm Historiam Pertinentia 30: 16, 2018

Portraits of a group of thirty kosmētai, public philosophy teachers in Athens, were found among t... more Portraits of a group of thirty kosmētai, public philosophy teachers in Athens, were found among the fill in the Valerian Wall by the Roman Agora in Athens in 1861. From the Hellenistic period onwards, the kosmētai had taught the philosophy of Aristotle, though with time, the teaching became more varied. In the first century AD the number of students had a peak of three hundred a year. In the third century, when the portraits were buried in the Valerian Wall, the number of students had decreased, much as it had in other pedagogic institutions. The activity of the kosmētai ended about AD 280, when the Valerian Wall was built. The dating of the Valerian Wall is based on coins with the portrait of emperor Probus (AD 276-282), which have been found among the building debris. What we know about the kosmētai from the written sources leads to several questions, such as why the kosmētai portraits were used as building material at a time when the identity of the sitters could still be remembered. Why were some of the portraits recut into those of other individuals shortly before they were put into the wall? Some of the kosmētai portraits were produced, recut and discarded during the span of a few decades. This paper discusses the portraits of the kosmētai and their significance in Roman Athens, and explores questions related to the disposal of them, as well as to context, style, workshop and patronage.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac Lindhagen, M. Dronningforbildet fra Romerriket. In Kjesrud, K. & N. Løkka (eds) Dronningen i vikingtid og middelalder, 2017, 67-98.

Historien om Helena og hennes sønn, keiser Konstantin den Store, er historien om seieren, korset,... more Historien om Helena og hennes sønn, keiser Konstantin den Store, er historien om seieren, korset, kappen og tronen, og om forholdet mellom keiser-og keiserinne-makt og religion. Det er også begynnelsen på historien om den rollen keiserinner og dronninger har spilt som religiøse forbilder og idealer i politisk kultur, og om hvordan de har kommunisert gjennom symboler og praksiser. Fremfor alt handler denne historien om en dronnings rolle i en av de største transformasjonene som har funnet sted i Europas historie: overgangen fra gresk-romersk hedensk til kristen tid. Dette kapitlet handler med andre ord om Helena i rollen som dronningidealet fremfor noe annet, som har påvirket ideen om hva en dronning er, og skulle vaere, fra antikken og frem til i dag. Hun fikk en unik posisjon som moren til Konstantin, keiseren som gjorde kristendommen lovlig. Helena som karakter, hennes politiske autoritet, og den religiøse fromheten hun brukte som et politisk virkemiddel, dannet grunnlaget for europeiske dronninger gjennom middelalderen, slik mange av bidragene i denne boken viser. I virkeligheten var hun sannsynligvis datteren til en vertshuseier. Figur 1. Sittende statue av Helena fra Kapitolmuseet i Roma. Portrettet er omarbeidet fra et tidligere portrett av keiserinne Faustina den yngre, fra det andre århundre. Portrettet av Helena er fra det fjerde århundre e. Kr. Gjenbruket av skulpturen var ikke tilfeldig. Faustina den yngre var keiser Marcus Aurelius' hustru, og sammen utgjorde de et godt likt par, som var kjent for sin fromhet.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. I ritratti del V e del VI secolo. In Santa Maria Antiqua tra Roma e Bisanzio, 2016.pdf

COMUNICATO STAMPA Roma, 16 marzo 2016 Dopo oltre trent'anni riapre al pubblico con una mostra San... more COMUNICATO STAMPA Roma, 16 marzo 2016 Dopo oltre trent'anni riapre al pubblico con una mostra Santa Maria Antiqua, la basilica nel Foro Romano scoperta nel 1900 alle pendici del Palatino. La chiesa conserva sulle pareti un patrimonio di pitture unico nel mondo cristiano del primo millennio, databile dal VI al IX secolo, quando fu abbandonata a seguito dei crolli del terremoto dell'847.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Friends, Foes and Hybrids. The Transformation of Burial Ritual in Roman Dalmatia, 2015.pdf

This paper will examine changes in burial ritual from the perspective of the evolving cultural id... more This paper will examine changes in burial ritual from the perspective of the evolving cultural identities which appeared in Illyria/Dalmatia in the early Roman period. Different cultural identities were expressed through burial customs among Illyrians and Romans respectively in the earliest period of Roman rule, and later mainly through the iconography of grave stelae and sarcophagi. The variation in cultural identities in Illyria, especially in the imperial period, probably reflects a similarly rich spectrum of religious beliefs and therefore also different burial rituals. Numerous grave stelae from Dalmatia illustrate the combination of indigenous iconography and Roman epigraphic tradition, which was a hybrid result of the encounters between Illyrian and Roman funerary cultures. Hybrid elements reveal that memories of the indigenous past were transformative and individually manageable cultural values. Over time, however, burial customs changed into a predominantly ‘Roman’ style, as also seen in other parts of the Roman Empire, but they were not ‘standardized’. In the following it is argued that the changes and adjustments in burial rituals that took place during the ‘Romanization’ of Dalmatia allowed for new expressions of individual ideas about the afterlife.

Keywords
Illyria, Dalmatia, burial ritual, changes, cultural encounters, hybrid memories

Research paper thumbnail of Illyriske pirater mellom myter minner og fortolkninger 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Non-Formative and Transformative Memories in the Constantinian Reconstruction of Jerusalem, 2015 .pdf

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Presence and the Image Controversies in the Third and Fourth Centuries AD.pdf

From the introduction: Late Antiquity is usually considered to have begun in the third century, a... more From the introduction: Late Antiquity is usually considered to have begun in the third century, around the same time that Plotinus (c. AD 205–70) introduced a new system of theory, Neoplatonism, which derived from a metaphysical way of thinking. Plotinus’ writings, the Enneads, were collected and edited by his pupil Porphyry and published around AD 300. They included ideas about statue animation, which built on earlier ideas about divine presence in images, and became highly influential in Late Antiquity, when Christianity included many conflicting factions, not least with regard to religious images and iconoclastic behaviour. The term iconoclasm is used below in the general, broad sense which is outlined in the introduction to this volume, and the present chapter addresses the metaphysical aspect of the images or idols which attracted and exposed them to violent actions rather than the attacks per se, which are described by Eberhard Sauer in the previous chapter of the present volume. The metaphysical aspect of images is usually referred to as presence, or prototype, and happens when images are perceived as matter animated by spirit; when images or idols are believed to inhibit a prolonged existence of the individual they represent. The presence is sometimes explained as a symbolic representation or even as something magical, which cannot be translated as spirit or soul, which are Christian terms, and terms such as force or power express something physical and would be misleading. It can perhaps be understood as a phenomenological quality which was believed to connect the portrait or image to the represented individual or deity in a way which demanded respect.

Research paper thumbnail of Bollettino di Archeologia on line I 2010/ Volume speciale C / C11 / 2 Hybrid Deities in South Dalmatia

Introduction: Mountains and rivers form a natural border around South Illyria-Dalmatia, an area s... more Introduction: Mountains and rivers form a natural border around South Illyria-Dalmatia, an area stretching over parts of present-day Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Albania. The area has a narrow coastline with river plains meeting a steep mountain chain with limited areas for people to settle. Such a landscape caused slower creolisation processes than what was common in the Mediterranean, which are expressed through hybridities in the iconographical expressions, in particular in the cultic material. Hybridity and creolisation have become common terms for hidden transcripts in the material culture, since links between artefacts and ethnicity are disputable. ‘Hybridity’ and ‘creolisation’ are terms borrowed from post-colonial studies and linguistics, where they are used to express discrepant experiences, or overlapping events, which are perceived differently by different groups of people. These terms are useful when trying to explain the cultic iconography of South Illyria-Dalmatia, which was altered during the cultural transformation of the area. There, the
mainstream Roman pantheon could be described both as an “implant” by Rome and a multicultural common ground, where different groups negotiated cult practices and traditions, with increasing intensity after A.D. 9, when Illyria was reorganised as Dalmatia. The coastline represented likewise to the city of Narona a ‘third space’ with intense traffic and a large pantheon of deities from various parts of the Roman Empire, whereas pre-Roman customs and cults could survive more undisturbed in the more inaccessible mountain areas. The distribution of archaeological materials and in particular the selection of which deities were revered reflects how the cultural transformations occurred differently along the coast and in the interior mountain settlements; differently, but with several common features. There are several examples of transformed deities from South Illyria-Dalmatia, which appear as hybridities in the iconographical material. Among these, Silvanus, Liber, the nymphs and the cult of the sun dominate, and reflect aspects of the human interaction with the landscape, which make them important carriers of the cultural transformations which took place.

Research paper thumbnail of What´s in a ring? In Vedeler, M. and Röstad, I. (eds) Smykker. Personlig pynt i kulturhistorisk lys, Oslo: Museumsforlaget, 2015, 21-42.

Research paper thumbnail of The missing portraits from the Augusteum at Narona, in Miscellanea Emilio Marin sexagenario dicata, Zbornic Kacic,  2011. .

Research paper thumbnail of Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen,  eds

Ehrenheim, H. v. and M. Prusac-Lindhagen, eds. Reading Roman Emotions. Visual and Textual Interpretations. Acta Instituti Romani Regni Sueciae, Series IN 4º, 64, 2020

This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in... more This volume is a contribution to the study of culturally bound emotions and emotional response in ancient Rome. Approaches to the study of ancient emotions and how they were culturally specific, appreciated and understood have recently come to the centre of attention, but not so much in the visual as in the literary culture. When socially and affectively contextualized, the material culture of ancient Rome is a potential goldmine of information with regard to emotions. The chapters in the present volume take the reader on a tour through various cases that demonstrate how emotions were expressed through the arts. The tour starts with a fresh view of how emotion history can be used to recover feelings from the visual culture of the past. Visual culture includes animated performances, and the reader is invited to revel in Roman drama, oratory, and love poetry. Words are often clear, but can images reveal laughter and joy, sadness, grief and mourning, virtue and anger? This volume argues that yes, they can, and through the study of emotions it is also possible to obtain a deeper understanding of the Romans and their social and cultural codes.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac-Lindhagen, M., A. Bettum, K.B. Collins and A. Sættem,  eds. Emotions in Antiquity and Ancient Egypt (Exhibition catalogue with essays)

Emotions in Antiquity and Ancient Egypt, 2020

English version: Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love… Suns can set and rise again: we whe... more English version:

Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love…
Suns can set and rise again: we when once our brief light
has set must sleep through a perpetual night.
Give me a thousand kisses, and then a hundred…
Catullus 84–54 BC

A love poem. A reminder that everything must die. But also, that some things are eternal. Words are easy to understand, but emotions can also be retrieved from things. An image of a god or ruler conveys respect or reverence to those who have power. Funerary art reveals hope of an eternal life. A gift can be given out of love, and a drinking cup can bear witness to the joys of gathering around a table. This book is produced at the occasion of an exhibition with a table set with items that allow us to glimpse emotions from Antiquity and ancient Egypt. Some emotions can be understood across time and space, others are culturally defined. Emotions can be manipulated and controlled. They have overturned regimes and started wars. But it is in the small and everyday things that we come to meet the individual.

Norwegian version:

La oss leve, Lesbia, og elske…
Solen kan synke og gjenoppstå, mens
vi må dø med vårt korte lys, for vår søvn
er en evig natt. Gi meg tusen kyss,
og hundre til…
Catull 84-54 f.Kr.

Et kjærlighetsdikt. En påminnelse om at alt må dø. Men også om at noe er evig. Ordene er lette å forstå, men følelser kan også leses ut av ting. Et bilde av en gud eller hersker forteller om respekt eller ærefrykt for den som har makt. Gravkunst handler ofte om sorg, men også om håp om et liv etter døden. En gave kan bli gitt i kjærlighet, og et vinbeger vitner om bordets gleder. Denne boken er produsert i forbindelse med en utstilling der et bord er dekket med gjenstander som bærer med seg glimt av følelser fra antikken og det gamle Egypt. Noen følelser kan forstås på tvers av tid og rom, andre er kulturelt betinget. Følelser kan manipuleres og kontrolleres. De har veltet regimer og startet kriger. Men det er i de små og hverdagslige tingene vi kan møte det enkelte menneske.

Research paper thumbnail of Prusac, M. Cultural Identities in South Dalmatia 500 BC-AD 500, Acta Humaniora 312, 2007.pdf

PhD-thesis: This study investigates the cultural identities of South Dalmatia (an area today divi... more PhD-thesis: This study investigates the cultural identities of South Dalmatia (an area today divided between Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania) during the period of 500 BC-AD 500. From a point of departure in Actor Network Theory the relationship between landscape, humans and materials (including pottery, coins, inscriptions and sculpture) is explored. Through a “survey” of more than 600 sites and the routes by which cultural dissemination occurred, and by uncovering hybridities in the materials as expressions of negotiations between groups traditionally referred to as Illyrians, Greeks and Romans, the creolisation of the area is revealed. The city of Narona emerges as an implant by Rome and a third space where groups met, together with the coastline, whereas impulses were spread in a capillary manner into the mountain area, composed of border zone and interior. The transformation of cults is indicated by iconography, and reflects both stable natural factors and externally introduced impulses. Cultural identities acted on two levels: those more permanently rooted in the landscape, and those of a more situational character, caused by historical events.