Lead Figurines from the Menelaion and Seriation

Abstract

The lead figurines from recent excavations at the shrine of Helen and Menelaus are discussed, excluding those in the form of wreaths, which were well over half the total of almost 6,000. Five hundred and sixty-one moulds are distinguished, divided between sixty-one varieties. A chronology is attempted on the basis of three methods, stratigraphy, seriation, and typology and a tentative sequence is proposed.

Lead Figurines From the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Canada): Problems of Typology and Collections History

“…The Traquair Collection also allows us to test, through the close analysis of a small sample, the applicability and chronological utility of the long-standing Laconian lead figurine typology in dating and describing figurines for which no or only very approximate contextual data are available. In this regard, our study supports and supplements the issues raised by Cavanagh and Laxton (1984) in their study of figurines from the more recent Menelaion excavations, where they repeatedly found it necessary to rely on stratigraphic and contextual data rather than typology when seeking to assign precise dates to lead figurines and associated levels. The Traquair Collection complements Cavanagh and Laxton's analysis by approaching the issue of typology from the standpoint of a decontextualised museum collection.…”

“…An assemblage of nearly 6000 additional figurines was recovered in the BSA's renewed excavations at the Menelaion during the 1970s under the direction of H.W. Catling (Catling 1976–7; Cavanagh and Laxton 1984).…”

“…An accompanying catalogue (see Supplementary Material) provides standardised measurements, descriptions and comparanda for all figurines in the collection. When assigning individual artefacts to chronological ranges in the sections below, we employ Hodkinson's (1998a, 107, table 2, n. 35) dating of Wace's (1929, 251–2) lead phases (Table 1), which he describes as a ‘compromise’ between the chronologies offered by the excavators, Boardman (1963) and Cavanagh and Laxton (1984). Although the typological framework developed by Wace should be revisited, we employ it in our description of the figurines in the Traquair Collection due to its correlation to the stratigraphy and ceramic sequence identified at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, which have been the subjects of much restudy since excavation, and its primacy in other discussions of lead figurines.…”

Les satyres laconiens à l’aune du modèle attique

“…21. Dawkins 1929Cavanagh & Laxton 1984. Le corpus total des satyres et Silènes 25 laconiens représente donc 6 vases à igures noires, 9 bronzes, 1 igurine de terre cuite, 1 base de perirrhanterion en terre cuite 26 et plusieurs masques votifs en terre cuite (ig.…”

Votive Offerings From the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Sparta, in Liverpool Collections

“…These designations are frequently also applied to chronological periods. Hodkinson (1998) has proposed a revised chronology, based on the conclusions of the original excavators (Dawkins 1929), the revision by Boardman (1963), and the findings of Cavanagh and Laxton (1984). Hodkinson's suggestion is that figurines may date from around 650 bc , with a peak in Wace's Lead III–IV (580–500 bc ) of over 68,000 figurines (Hodkinson 1998, 107, table 2).…”