There’s a Figurine at Bottom of the Sea: Methodological Approaches to Dealing with Terracottas found Underwater (original) (raw)
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Clay figurines caches found underwater: a phoenician ex voto practice
Clay figurines found underwater-a Phoenician ex-voto practice?, 2019
In this study results of two underwater excavations in the Eastern Mediterranean, namely in the vicinity of Shavei Zyyon (Linder 1973:182-187) and Tyre (Seco-Alvarez 2011:79-94) where a hoard of clay figurines dating to the Persian Period and associated with Phoenician are dealt with. There may be other hoards, although they are represented by examples sold and bought by private collectors and museums or have, so far, not been published. Both hoards have been associated with possible wrecks, although in both cases, no signs of the wrecks were located. We propose yet another consideration of the hoards which are not associated with shipwrecks, namely a practice of mariners' ex-voto.
TERRACOTTA FIGURINES IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN: NEW APPROACHES ON USES AND CONTEXTS
2022 AIA and SCS joint Annual Meeting, January 5-8, in San Francisco, CA, 2022
Among the most frequently found artefacts in sanctuaries, tombs, houses, caves, and other archaeological sites are terracotta figurines. Having been studied extensively by scholars, in terms of typologies and chronologies, their general classification is well-established. More recently, coroplastic studies have also focused on the analysis of figurines within their immediate contexts (Barret-2011; Huysecom-Haxi/Muller-2015). Despite this progress, many questions still remain concerning the use of figurines at various sites: Did the use of figurines change over time at a specific site? What were the meaning and implications of these changes? Can the figurines be associated with a specific gender or social class? The present panel aims to contribute to the understanding of the use of terracotta figurines within their broader context by addressing the questions above. The panel begins with an examination of recently excavated and still-unpublished terracotta from the Petsas house (LBA) that analyzes consumers’ choice by comparing data about the range of figurines available to consumers with information about the figurines’ depositional context. The second paper explores the terracotta figurines of two sanctuaries in the Iron Age Cypriot city-kingdom of Marion to see how different cult practices impacted the choice of iconography and how this iconography subsequently changed over time. Moving to the Acropolis in Athens, the third paper considers the uses of Archaic generic figurines at this location by comparing the uses of similar items at other Archaic sanctuaries in Greece. The next paper studies Archaic figurines from temple G in Agrigento (6th-5th century BC) to understand the use of the sacred area before the building of the temple and its altar during the Classical period. The paper sheds light on many little-known ritual activities which took place during the Archaic period. Next is an exploration of the development of figurines at Eleon (6th -4th centuries BC) and the implications of changes in ritual practices. The discussion progresses with a paper which discusses the disappearance of piglet figurines at Sicilian sanctuaries (end of the 4th century BC) and their relation to changes in the cult of Demeter and Kore. The last paper of this panel examines a corpus of Corinthian comic terracotta figurines (dating from the Late Classical to Hellenistic periods) found at various locations (sanctuaries, shrines and market centers) demonstrating that these figurines had more than one function. Together, the papers of this panel will explore new questions and methodologies regarding the use of terracottas.
Keeping artefacts in situ and preserving them once out of the water
2011
Working on a shipwreck means analyzing its cargo, taking samples and when access is possible, studying the naval architecture. After publication, in many cases, closing and securing the site is possible. Excavating a settlement or an underwater city calls first to understand the site with a non-intrusive survey. State of the art investigation equipment such as multi-beam sonar systems, sediment sounder, magnetometer with nuclear resonance allows us to start drawing the map of the establishment. Diving is necessary to check details, to make stratigraphic sections, or to understand structures. This brings up often thousands of artefacts. Keeping most of the artefacts at the bottom of the sea and storing them in a special underwater storage place with an inventory number is a good solution, but it is also necessary to bring some objects in an atmospheric environment for study, as a reference or because they are too fragile, precious or unique to be left underwater. They will be then on display in a museum or will tour the world. We are therefore regularly confronted with a sudden flow of artefacts literally inundating a laboratory but also drying out its budget. Our experience through sunken cities excavations in Egypt has taught us ways to anticipate these waves of artefacts in needs of treatment and to adapt our policy of excavation and the techniques for underwater conservation-restoration.
The Freedom of the Seas: Untapping the Archaeological Potential of Marine Debris
Journal of Maritime Archaeology, 2014
The issue of marine debris is of a growing concern to present day society. Nonetheless, the occurrence of garbage on the sea floor is widely ignored by the marine archaeological body. The main purpose of this article is to discuss archaeological aspects of marine debris of the contemporary past. In particular, the article explores the phenomenon of marine dumping, the active use of raised debris for the sake of education and opinion forming and the human footprint of holiday boating. Drawing from this, it is argued that a maritime garbology—a maritime archaeology that intersects both with the archaeology of the contemporary past and the multidisciplinary field of consumption- and garbage studies—is not only possible but also a promising and relevant field of research.
The "Megiddo-Taanach" figurines are a group of clay, mold-made figurines, distinctive to Israel-Palestine, that depict a woman holding her breasts and are characterized by such additional features as a high headdress decorated with vertical grooves, a necklace of multiple strands, a vertical line running from the area between the breasts to the navel, a pudendum delineated by an incised triangle with a central groove, and a rear plait. The paper revisits several earlier theories, while adding some new observations concerning the manufacture, date of production, and origin of this figurine-type. It is argued that, contrary to previous studies that have defined these figurines as "double-molded" or, recently, "twice-molded," the figurines were produced using a single, frontal mold, while the back was lightly modeled by hand and by means of a sharp tool. It is further claimed that even though their archaeological contexts range from the late Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age II, the figurines are most probably mid-late 2nd millennium BCE products, which, when present in later contexts, should be seen as intrusive or as heirlooms. Finally, it is maintained that this figurine-type is rooted in a northern Mesopotamian coroplastic tradition dating as far back as the late 3rd millennium BCE, and as such, it may reflect, along with other contemporary artifacts and cultural practices, the infiltration and eventually settlement of elements of a northern population in the southern Levant toward the end of the Middle Bronze and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age.