Re-thinking sacred “rubbish”: the ritual deposits of the temple of Mithras at Tienen (Belgium)

Martens, Marleen

doi:10.1017/s1047759400008291

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In Roman society there were 'sacred chickens' used for portents, they were associated with the cult of Mithras and the god Mercury, and are commonly found in late Roman burials (e.g. Cooke 1998: 231;Feider 2017;King 2005;Martens 2004). Local variations in the association of chickens with other Roman deities in Britain and Gaul are also seen and are suggested to be linked with symbols of abundance and prosperity (Feider 2017: 355).…”

Section: Chicken Symbolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ritual household deposits and the religious imaginaries of early medieval Dalmatia (Croatia)

Reed

2019

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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This paper examines three early medieval ritual house deposits from Bribirska glavica, Dalmatia, Croatia. Discovered over the last century these items bring to the fore questions regarding the relationship between state and secular religion in a region that experienced numerous encounters and confrontations within and between different social groups. In particular, this paper explores these complexities using the term 'religious imaginaries' to describe how a sense of collective identity may manifest itself through individual and collective practice, focusing on the value of the discovered objects (chickens, eggs, whetstones and plant remains) and their ritual framings. In particular, the recovery of archaeobotanical remains highlights the importance of examining plant use in ritual deposits. Overall, despite some variation in the interpretations of the practice of 'special' offerings, the majority of studies draw the conclusion that items hidden in this manner provide a broadly protective or apotropaic function. Thus, these finds provide important insights into the development of religious and ritual beliefs in early medieval Dalmatia, suggesting that the community's religious imaginary comprised a set of values and symbols that hybridised the Christian faith with elements of 'folk magic' to re-inforce the apotropaic power of their ritual acts.

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Section: Chicken Symbolismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ritual household deposits and the religious imaginaries of early medieval Dalmatia (Croatia)

Reed

2019

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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“…Even if this is the case, the argument still stands that these passages underscore how essential was consumption to the ritual of sacricium. 56 e.g., Martens 2004 heap. The most recent and most comprehensive analysis of the material details the criteria applied to the osteoarchaeological evidence for determining what is likely to be evidence for sacrice.…”

Section: Objects Of Sacrificementioning

confidence: 99%

“… 56 e.g., Martens 2004 and Lentacker, Ervynck and Van Neer 2004 on a mithraeum at Tienen in Belgium, King 2005 on Roman Britain, and the various contributions to Lepetz and Van Andringa 2008 on Roman Gaul. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Roman Sacrifice, Inside and Out

Schultz

2016

J. Rom. Stud.

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The 'insider-outsider problem' has had little impact on the study of religion in preChristian Rome. Classicists generally assume that the modern idea of sacrice as the ritual killing of an animal applies to the Roman context. This study argues, however, that the apparent continuity is illusory in some important ways and that we have lost sight of some ne distinctions that the Romans made among the rituals they performed. Sacricium included vegetal and inedible offerings, and it was not the only Roman ritual that had living victims. Roman sacricium is both less and more than the typical etic notion of sacrice.Keywords: sacrice; Rome; emic; etic; pollucere; mactare I Those working in the social sciences have, for some time, been wrestling with the 'insider-outsider problem': how can one person genuinely understand the thoughts, beliefs, and actions of another? Insiders can report their own subjective experience, but very often this diverges from the assessments of those observing from the outside, from what is perceived as a more objective position. The problem was cleverly illustrated in a classic article that is standard reading for introductory anthropology and religious studies courses but that is generally unfamiliar to classicists, entitled 'Body rituals of the Nacirema' by the anthropologist Horace Miner. The article offers a brief account of the daily habits of this North American tribe whose members place a great deal of emphasis on maintaining and improving the body, for example:The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of the powerful inuences of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls. 1 * I owe many thanks to C. P. Mann, B. Nongbri, and J. N. Dillon for their thoughtful, challenging responses to earlier drafts of this article, and to audiences at Trinity College, Baylor University, and Bryn Mawr College for comments on an oral version of it. J. B. Rives provided valuable consultation on specic points and V. C. Moses generously shared her work-in-progress on the osteoarchaeological evidence from S. Omobono. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments, suggestions and objections that have greatly improved this piece. I have tried to respond to them all. The errors and aws that remain are all my own.

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“… 121 Pirling 1986, 32–3, Abb. 24; Martens 2004a, 333–8; Martens 2004b, 28–30; Schmotz 1999; Huld-Zetsche 2000, 241; Huld-Zetsche 2001; Hensen 2004; Hensen 2013, Abb. 31. …”

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“… 130 As seen most evocatively in analysis of the bone and ceramic finds from the Tienen Mithraeum (Belgium); Martens 2004a; 2004b. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mithras in Scotland: A Mithraeum at Inveresk (East Lothian)

Hunter¹,

Henig²,

Sauer³

et al. 2016

Britannia

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Excavations to the east of the Roman fort of Inveresk in 2010 partly uncovered remains of a Mithraeumthe first from Scotland, and the earliest securely dated example from Britain. A large rectangular sunken feature with lateral benches contained two altars buried face down at its north-western end. One was dedicated to Mithras, with iconography of both Mithras (ravens and a torch) and Apollo (griffin, lyre and a probable plectrum) as well as libation vessels. The other was dedicated to Sol, with a frieze above showing the four Seasons. The Sol altar was a dramatic one, with a recess in the rear for a light which would have shone through his pierced rays, eyes, mouth and nose. Remains of an iron rod behind the nose hint at a more complex arrangement to create special visual or acoustic effects. Paint and plaster traces were recorded on both altars. The dedicator, G(aius) Cas(sius) Fla(...), a centurion, may have been in command of the garrison or of a legionary detachment. Stylistic links, especially in letter form, connect the work to sculptors of Legio XX. The stones and pigments are most likely from local sources. little of the setting could be explored but there were traces of a precinct. A pit beside the Mithraeum included a large part of a well-used fineware beaker which represented a deliberate offering. Supplementary material available online (http://journals.cambridge.org/bri) contains detailed descriptions of the altars, observations on the stoneworking technology, lithology and pigment analysis, with extensive illustrations.Inveresk fort is situated on the Firth of Forth east of Edinburgh. It is contemporary with the Antonine Wall (c. AD 140-165), 1 and was well-placed to act as part of a system of coastal defence as well as a supply base and port for the Wall. 2 The environs have yielded the most extensive evidence for extramural activity of any Roman fort in Scotland. 3 There is a large vicus to the east, with a bath house probably associated with a mansio, field systems to east, north and south, burials to the north, and a series of temporary camps to the south and south-east. Yet the Mithraeum was an unexpected discovery during excavations associated with the construction of a replacement cricket pavilion by East Lothian Council within Lewisvale Park. Much of the area is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and the conditions of Scheduled Monument Consent required the pavilion development to be monitored.The site chosen for the pavilion largely occupied that of its predecessor within a grassed area near the northern edge of the scheduled area (FIG. 1). 4 Located approximately 750 m to the east of the fort on the same low east-west ridge, the current level parkland has been subject to extensive modern landscaping. The overall aspect of the site is to the north where the land slopes down to the Firth of Forth. The monitored topsoil strip commenced on 22 March 2010, and a ditch feature and the Roman altars were revealed that day and the following morning. The remains were excavated between 24 March and 5 Apr...

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Re-thinking sacred “rubbish”: the ritual deposits of the temple of Mithras at Tienen (Belgium)

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

Ritual household deposits and the religious imaginaries of early medieval Dalmatia (Croatia)

Ritual household deposits and the religious imaginaries of early medieval Dalmatia (Croatia)

Roman Sacrifice, Inside and Out

Mithras in Scotland: A Mithraeum at Inveresk (East Lothian)

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