Miniature Votive Offerings in the North-West Provinces of the Roman Empire

Free Download Miniature Votive Offerings in the North-West Provinces of the Roman Empire By Philip Kiernan
2009 | 308 Pages | ISBN: 3447059915 | PDF | 30 MB
The production of miniature or model objects for ritual purposes is a phenomenon that can be observed in practically all areas of classical archaeology. From the Minoan to Byzantine periods, artefacts can be found labelled as 'miniatures' and 'models' in excavation reports and museum catalogues. The Romano-Celtic world, where archaeology and artefact studies play a major role in our understanding of religious practices, is no exception. There is hardly a book written on the topic of Romano-Celtic temples or religion that does not devote some space to the significance of miniature votive offerings. A few articles have considered miniature objects from particular sites or areas, but no comprehensive study of the phenomenon of miniaturisation has ever been undertaken. In general, there is an unwritten but nonetheless universal consensus that these artefacts formed a homogenous offering type in antiquity, and that they were all produced for the same or very similar reasons. More specifically, it is widely assumed that miniature votive offerings functioned as a special means by which ordinary people could approach, propitiate, and thank the divine powers with a minimal expenditure of personal resources. Those who could not afford to dedicate the real thing had the option of using a model as a substitute. Both of these assumptions will be challenged in this book, which considers the various finds usually described as miniature or model votive offerings separately, and evaluates their contribution to our understanding of Romano-Celtic religion.