Dissertationes Archaeologicae

Proceedings of the XXIst International Congress on Ancient Bronzes

2024-09-30T10:59:47+00:00

Introduction

2024-09-30T07:44:35+00:00

Fragmentation of votive offerings in the sanctuary of Olympia

2024-09-04T12:37:23+00:00

A new project at the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie in Mainz is investigating the phenomenon of fragmentation of copper alloy votive offerings in the sanctuary of Olympia. By using a variety of methodologies, thousands of fragments have already been analysed to to gain insight into the function and significance of this phenomenon, when and how the objects were destroyed, and the reasons why they were recovered in large numbers.

Some Italic Heracles from the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid

2024-09-04T15:09:27+00:00

The paper presents an archaeometallurgical analysis made on a group of Italic bronze figures from the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid (MAN-Madrid) whose common theme is that they all represent Heracles in different attitudes.

Small bronzes as votive offerings from the Sanctuary of Diana in Nemi

2024-09-04T15:12:37+00:00

The Sanctuary of Diana in Nemi is one of the most important archaeological sites in central Italy: the complex, built on different levels, consisted of three terraces with a great temple, a theatre, a nymphaeum and also other facilities, dating from the VII century BC to the Severian Age, with traces of destruction in the IV century AD.

Since 2003, the University of Perugia carried on archaeological excavations in various parts of the Sanctuary, cooperating with both the Soprintendenza of Lazio and, from 2014, the Ludwig- Maximilians Universität of München.

A considerable amount of materials has been brought to light from the site, of which votive bronze small-casted figurines are just a small part. Many of them represent gods, heroes and normal human beings, but there are also parts of human bodies or gods features.

So, aim of this paper will be a preliminary analysis of these figurines, primarily to identify the subjects and then to describe their productive techniques. Finally, starting from the contexts of provenance, each one will be described and put in relation with parallels, not only to find a suitable chronology, but also to understand the meaning behind their use in such an important historical and archaeological place.

The reconstruction of the Serpent Column in Delphi

2024-09-04T15:14:52+00:00

There are two basic versions for reconstructing the famous victory monument at Delphi: either with a large or with a small tripod cauldron. Comparisons with other contemporary monuments (tripod of Gelon and that of the Crotonians) and other practical considerations point to the conclusion that a large cauldron can be definitely ruled out. Consequently, the small version is accepted but with a small addition/modification: there must have been an intermediate element (upper part of a column shaft with a capital) joining the serpent heads and serving as a base for the cauldron legs, which was made most probably of marble or stone. This solution can definitely account for the position of the serpent bodies and heads and may also solve the technical and historical problems related to the small reconstruction.

Tooth for tooth

2024-09-04T15:17:39+00:00

Until the Hadrianic period, large bronzes had a naturalistic appearance due to polychrome elements. One element on the statues of gods, heroes and portraits that has been studied rarely are the inserted white teeth. They were invented in the late archaic or early classical period and disappeared on the large statues with the decline of the Hellenistic foundry art. Usually the upper incisors where visible behind the opened lips.

The upper front teeth—and sometimes the lower once—were made of white metal (silver plating, tinning), light stone (marble), or more appropriately, bone (bone, ivory, tusks). It was still able to reconstruct four variants with several variations used for the installation of teeth in the open mouths. They could be fixed with glue. Other options consisted of hanging rows of teeth on hooks and brackets. In addition, the teeth rows were mounted in front of and on tooth backplates. Often, the installation of teeth was carried out in combination with the fitting of red lips.

Some techniques for producing copper wire in late Classical and Hellenistic Macedonia

2024-09-04T15:20:50+00:00

This paper discusses different techniques for making copper wire in the fourth and third centuries BCE in ancient Macedonia (Northern Greece). Wire was used to form stems on gilded wreaths, and to support berries, leaves and rosettes. Stems were made in one piece with the leaves, and are likely to have been formed in at least two ways: one involved cutting them out of sheet copper about 0.5 mm thick, which was creased and then hammered into shape; the other involves using copper rods 1mm square. Some of the square copper rods can be seen on the wreaths, and their regularity suggests they may have been formed on a swaging block. Berries were joined to the wreath circlets by round wires, formed in some cases, it is suggested, by hammering sheet metal around a central core; in other cases, these stems may have been formed by rolling a rod between stone slabs. No evidence, such as longitudinal striations, was found of drawing. Some examples of strip-twisted wire were found, but there are fewer cases of this than of wire formed by hammering. The most expensive gilded wreaths at Derveni, cist grave A, Phoinikas cist grave 5 and Sedes, sometimes had special features, such as gilded copper tubes (‘branches’) with smaller stems on either side, or square wires formed into spirals.

New research on the Cleveland Apollo

2024-09-04T15:24:24+00:00

This paper presents new technical details on the original manufacture and modern reconstruction of the Cleveland Apollo, a nearly life-size ancient bronze sculpture of the youthful god acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2004. Although previous studies had shown the sculpture to be an indirect lost-wax casting, few joins had been discussed in detail. Recent, more comprehensive radiographs, combined with extensive external and internal visual analysis, now permit a more thorough explanation of the assembly, from work on wax models through casting (in at least six sections), patching, and finishing, as well as post-manufacture damage. Together with radiography, analysis of numerous and varied modern restoration materials provides a fuller picture of the way the object was more recently re-assembled. A new digital 3D model of the sculpture, now available, will be essential for future study, interpretation, and display.

When bodies fall apart

2024-09-04T15:28:50+00:00

Anatomical votives have largely been considered by scholars in connection with Roman expansion in Central Italy. Within this ‘religious romanization’ frame, scholars have viewed the presence of the anatomical terracottas of the 4th–2nd cc. BC as the material manifestation of Roman presence in the religious sphere of the Italian peninsula. This paper presents the results from recent and ongoing archaeological studies on pre-Roman sanctuaries in Central and Northern Italian and focuses on the presence of bronze body parts among their votive offerings. The data allows for a reconsideration of the influence of Rome on local religious traditions and sheds light on the mechanism of continuity and change after the Roman expansion.

The arm of a large-scale bronze statue from Aigion, Achaea, Greece

2024-09-04T15:31:10+00:00

The arm of the large-scale bronze statue presented in the current research was handed over in 1951 to the Ephorate of Antiquities in Aigio of Achaia and constitutes a typical yet exquisite example of Peloponnesian oversized statuary in bronze. The area where the arm was found coincides with the location of the ancient agora, as well as, according to previous excavation works, the place where the temenos of Zeus Soter, patron deity of the ancient polis of Aigion, is located. Based on the surviving fragment/limb, several issues regarding statue typology are further discussed, while its posture is suggested as ‘standing in grandeur’.

The identification of a divine figure, probably that of Zeus, is supported by the location of discovery and the object it was supposedly holding, combined with the numismatic issues of Aigion depicting the same type of statuary of the supreme god. The dating of the statue in mid Hellenistic years onwards agrees with the scientific analysis of the alloy, carried out in the laboratories of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Technical examination, elemental analysis and conservation of the arm of a colossal bronze statue from Aegion at the conservation laboratories of the National Archaeological Museum at Athens

2024-09-04T15:41:13+00:00

The bronze arm, belonging to a colossal statue (presented by A. G. Vordos in this volume), was examined at the Chemical-Physical Research & Archaeometry Laboratory of the National Archaeological Museum (NAM) in Athens. According to prevailing methodology the examination comprised: macroscopic, microscopic and endoscopic examination, elemental analysis p-XRF, X-ray radiography, recording of ancient repairs. It is assumed that the arm was manufactured by the indirect lost wax casting technique and was found to contain an enormous amount of lead (av. 40.15 %), a fact that dates it to the late Hellenistic or Roman period. The arm was consequently conserved at the Metal Conservation Laboratory of the NAM and it has now been returned to the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia in Patras

Primera escultura oficial en bronce en Lusitania (Hispania)

2024-09-04T15:44:15+00:00

The Romanisation of Lusitania (Hispania) took place in the time of Augustus, after the conquest of the Hispanic territory at the end of the 1st century BC. Bronze has largely disappeared from the archaeological remains, due to its constant reuse. In the early decorative programmes of some Lusitanian cities there are important traces of bronze sculptures. We present three examples: Sculptures from the provincial capital Augusta Emerita in its first public decorative phase in local granite and bronze, before the massive presence of marble; an equestrian statue from the forum of the colonia Norbensis Caesarina, perhaps representing its founding patron Lucius Cornelius Balbus, and an imperial statuary fragment from the Roman theatre of the colonia of Metellinum. They all date from the Augustan period and attest to the presence of important bronze workshops in the western part of the Empire.

Roman original or deliberate fake?

2024-09-04T15:46:41+00:00

A private collection in Cordoba contains a previously unpublished bronze head. It is not a Roman original. Its iconographic incongruences and its intentional fractures suggest a malicious intention in its manufacture. It is possibly a fake that someone intended to introduce in the art market. A second bronze portrait of the same personage belongs to a private collection in Murcia. It has similarly never been made known. It is also a modern sculpture, confirming the non-ancient origin of the bronze in Cordoba. The joint study of the two objects can serve as a methodological example of the procedure to detect modern fakes of bronze portraits with an antique appearance.

Die Herakles-Kentauren-Gruppe

2024-09-04T15:49:41+00:00

The bronze candelabrum found in 1896 during the Austrian excavations in the ›Marble Hall‹ of the Harbour Gymnasium in Ephesus, which shows a group with two persons—Herakles fighting with a Centaur—in front of a tree, has been part of the collection of antiquities of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna since the end of the 19th century. In the course of recent research, questions concerning the history of the find and the object, technical aspects and modern restoration measures, as well as the dating and the original context of the installation were addressed. Scientific analyses were carried out, which helped to identify one of three other fragments present, a horse’s front hoof, as belonging to the group. A second human foot and a horse hind leg indicate that there was a second group of the same size. This one, however, was not quite identical as assumed in previous research, but probably showed a similar motif—maybe the hero kneeling on the centaur. Stylistic and technical aspects point to a dating in late Hellenistic times, in the middle of the 1st century BC, and eventually to a workshop in Alexandria. It is therefore possible that this is the oldest preserved bronze candelabrum of this form.

Bronzi figurati romani dal territorio di Mantua, Italia

2024-09-04T15:51:54+00:00

Roman Figural Bronzes from the Territory of Mantua, Italy. In recent years, many discoveries have been made in the country around Castel Goffredo, in the province of Mantua (Northern Italy). These are Roman small objects mainly in bronze, iron, lead, as they were found with the use of metal detectors. For this reason, the context of provenance is often unknown and the analysis of the finds is difficult. The knowledge of these objects was deepened following the setting up of the new archaeological section of the Museum of Castel Goffredo (MAST), inaugurated in June 2021.

The Roman figural bronzes found in this territory are presented here. The remains of a lararium, including an interesting statuette of Aesculapius, has been examined in the typological framework of the bronze representations of this god.

The bombing of Pompeii in 1943

2024-09-04T15:53:57+00:00

In 1943, Pompeii was the object of bombing raids by the Allied forces, a sad and forgotten chapter in the history of the ancient city, which is a topical and prominent issue in light of the recent destruction and war damage suffered by many archaeological sites and museums in the Middle East and North Africa. Along with many Roman buildings, the raids also affected the Museo Pompeiano, resulting in the destruction of most of the objects exhibited. The Museum had been set up according to modern and innovative concepts for the time, and the damage proved to be severe and irreparable, as many of the antiquities on display were of known provenance and contextualized, but still unpublished. After the end of the Second World War, a part of the objects recovered from the ruins of the building were considered hopelessly lost and therefore completely neglected. Among them were hundreds of bronzes belonging to different functional categories: an ongoing project aimed at restoring and studying these artifacts has revealed their potential and some unexpected data, illuminating their complex biography(ies). An attempt is being made to recontextualize these objects in order to trace their provenance on the basis of inventories, archival documents and the bibliography concerning the Museum and its last pre-war layout.

The Winged Victory of Brescia

2024-09-09T12:29:49+00:00

The Winged Victory (Vittoria Alata) of Brescia is one of the most important Roman bronzes in Italy. Discovered in 1826, it dates back to the 1st century AD. Since the 19th century the statue has undergone multiple conservation interventions. The last one started in 2018 up to 2020. The project was defined with a multidisciplinary approach which made it possible to study and compare the data obtained from the restoration with those deriving from scientific analyses, humanistic studies and other specialist research. For the first time after the discovery, it was possible to explore the internal surfaces of the statue and acquire very important data for the technological study of the work. Particular attention was paid to cleaning the surfaces; once the materials accumulated over time were removed, partly residues of past interventions, it was possible to rediscover the beauty of the face, the refinement of the modeling and the high peculiarity of the wings. New technological solutions have been studied for the internal support that replaced the one inserted in the nineteenth century to hold the arms and wings of the statue, as it was no longer suitable for guaranteeing the safe conservation of the work. Since October 2020, the Winged Victory has been exhibited in the renovated Capitoline temple in Brescia, where it was discovered.

The Drunken Satyr from the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum

2024-09-09T12:35:31+00:00

Prior to the international loan exhibition Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles (26 June – 28 October 2019), the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN) generously lent the ancient bronze statue of a Drunken Satyr for study, analysis, and conservation. Discovered in pieces in tunnels excavated through what has come to be recognized in the outer peristyle garden of the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum on July 10, 1754 and restored in 1759 at the Royal Foundry at Portici, the Drunken Satyr was praised as one of the most beautiful bronze statues to survive from antiquity. This paper provides an overview of its history and presents the results of recent study, analysis, and treatment that shed greater light on the techniques of the statue’s ancient manufacture and its alteration and state of preservation at the time of recovery. It also addresses the nature and extent of the post-antique restorations that can be identified and their ramifications on the statue’s appearance. These collective findings allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the Drunken Satyr.

New find of Roman military equipment of the period of the Roman–Bosporan war of 45–49 AD from the Eastern Crimea

2024-09-09T12:41:06+00:00

The Artezian fortified settlement in the Azov Sea coast of Eastern Crimea perished in a strong fire at the beginning of the Roman–Bosporan war in 46/47 AD. In the homogeneous fire layer, along with numerous items of jewellery, silver, bronze and glass vessels, a heavily burned out round bronze plaque, 7.7–7.8 cm in diameter with a hole in the centre was found. The plaque is decorated along the edge with a figural frieze, depicting two pairs of animals opposing each other: ‘dog–bull’, ‘dog–wild boar’. Besides two animals are running after each other: a lion and a roe deer.

The decoration of the plaque from Artezian finds parallels among plaques from the military camps along the limes of Lower and Upper Rhine and Danube. Objects similar in shape depicting animals in circular friezes are also known in Dacia and in the South-Western Crimea. The parallels to the images of the plaque and options of interpreting the function of the piece are discussed. The combination of pairs of opposing animals and animals running after each other finds parallels only on the belt plaques from Asciburgium and Magdalensberg. Thus, there are reasons to consider the disc from Artezian as an element of Roman military equipment of the first half of the 1st century AD.

Bronze figurines of Mercury-Thoth from Albania

2024-09-09T12:58:32+00:00

Along with other aspects of society, Illyrian religion was influenced by the Roman world during the first centuries AD. As a result, Mercury became the Roman god most represented in bronze figurines found within the modern territory of Albania. This paper will consider two bronze figurines of Mercury-Thoth which represents a god with both eastern and western attributes. The figurines are of a good quality and analogies can be found with numerous others throughout the Roman Empire.

Their presence in Albania can be explained not only by the eastern influence of the empire, but also with the transfer of people and ideas. Both figurines were found near main roads passing through Illyria during the Roman period, the Via Lissus-Naissus and Via Egnatia, which testify for the development of commerce, movement of people, ideas and systems.

The figurines also provide an insight into Illyrian religious life during the Roman period and illustrate their adoption of interpretatio romana and eastern gods.

Roman bronze amphoras from the Sarmatian burials of Eastern Europe

2024-09-09T13:02:03+00:00

In the Sarmatian burials six intact or fragmented bronze amphoras and one separate handle of Tassinari types A3212 and A3220 were found. The peculiarities of shape, details and sizes discussed. The clear majority of large vessels (mainly from 40 to 44 cm high) in Thrace and Asian Sarmatia contrasts with the finds from Pompeii or Western and Central Europe. A significant number of amphoras from Sarmatia originate from the so-called ‘princely’ burials in the Lower Don region of the second half of the 1st – early 2nd century AD. There is a correlation of the finds with the remains of the funeral feasts associated with central female burials in the mounds. The penetration of amphoras to the nomads gives reason to assume that such vessels were in some demand among them and it was not by chance that large amphoras were brought to Thrace and Sarmatia. If this is so (and I cannot find another explanation), then such large vessels could have been specially made with a view to the Thracian and Sarmatian aristocracy. Of course, this was not the only way of penetration of large bronze amphoras to the Sarmatians. There are grounds to suggest that the large bronze amphoras could be acquired by the Sarmatians also during the Bosporan–Roman war in 45–49 AD.

Zum aktuellen Stand der «raetischen Statuettenwerkstatt»

2024-09-09T13:06:57+00:00

Robert Fleischer was the first, in 1963, to attribute a common workshop to a group of seven bronze statuettes of the late 2nd/early 3rd centuries AD, the majority of which had been found in the provinces of Raetia and Noricum, more exactly in the area of the Limes forts situated along the Danube (Straubing, Regensburg, Enns) and in their hinterland. What makes these statuettes so distinctive are their stylistic features characterised by a lack of artistic imagination and variation which results in a very schematic modelling of bodies and garments. This uniformity is due to the fact that the wax models were built up by using the same partial negative moulds. Meanwhile the number of bronzes to be attributed to this workshop has increased considerably; today we know of twenty-three statuettes and five single bases. As new types of deities Diana and Vulcan have been added. According to their findspots the statuettes were in demand primarily by civilians living in vici or villas in the densely populated area south of the Limes but there is evidence, too, for their use within military forts.

Recycle, repair and reuse in Roman Napoca

2024-09-09T13:16:54+00:00

The archaeological rescue excavations carried out between 1992 and 2001 and again in 2012 in Roman Napoca (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), on the site from Victor Deleu Street revealed important information regarding the life of the ancient town and its residential areas. One of the most interesting discoveries is represented by an assemblage of twelve metal objects: a statue, a statuette, three fragmentary metal vessels, four pieces belonging to lighting equipment (candlesticks and a lamp base), a pair of scissors fragmentarily preserved and two decorated bronze plates. They were identified on the floor of an annex belonging to a private residence, in a context which can be dated during the fourth–fifth decades of the 3rd century AD. The paper is a preliminary analysis of the assemblage. The objects are all high-quality imports and most of them present traces of repair or were recomposed from different parts coming from other objects. They attest the existence of a ‘antiquarian-restorer’ in Roman Napoca and reveal a clear concern for selecting, collecting, recycling, repairing and refunctioning good quality objects.

Raetia resumed. Between iconography and context

2024-09-09T13:21:11+00:00

This paper’s title, “Raetia Resumed,” is largely intended to reflect the fact that earlier research on the Raetian bronze fragments was interrupted and subsequently resumed by a project entitled Römische Großbronzen am Limes – Fragmente im raetischen Raum.

Herein, we shall offer a panoramic perspective on several case studies that demonstrate the variety of the contexts and the fragments as well as aspects of their chemical and isotopical composition. Analysis of these fragments from an interdisciplinary perspective yielded archaeological and historical, iconographical, and archaeometallurgical data that encapsulate the complexity of Raetian culture.

Bronze casting in Late Antiquity in the Marche Region

2024-09-09T13:40:15+00:00

This essay reviews the discovery of three sites where deposits of bronze fragments have been found, in the Roman cities of Pisaurum, Sentinum and Potentia. Each site yielded small bronze fragments and some tools, which lead us to suppose that these were sites of Late Antique foundries, where large bronze statues and other bronze objects were broken up to be remelted. The foundries were located on land previously occupied by taverns in the forum area or by residential quarters. This means that the urban plan of the cities had already been partially transformed, probably due to Christianisation and the construction of churches, which became the new community centres, to the detriment of the older areas of the forum. The rampant poverty and shortage of raw materials, especially metals, made foundries indispensable and, consequently, their widespread presence, even within the cities, probably became customary. Perhaps the numerous bronze fragments found in other centres of the region should also be interpreted in this same sense, as indications of foundries, even if the structures where the metal was worked have not been preserved.

Nostalgie oder Statement?

2024-09-09T13:43:45+00:00

On the basis of selected figural bronzes (components of furniture, lamps, and chandeliers), the author examines a phenomenon of late antique artistic creation that has largely been overlooked by previous research and has never been studied more closely. The focus is on bronzes that appear to pick up artistic models of Hellenistic times in a direct bridging of a period of more than 300 years. The present study also addresses the question of the motivation of Late Antique patrons and consumers. After weighing all arguments, it becomes apparent that we are obviously not dealing with fragmentary evidence of a continuous artistic tradition. Instead, the revival of Hellenistic motifs and image types that can be observed in the upscale house furnishings of the 4th and 5th centuries AD is likely to be interpreted not merely as an arbitrary expression of nostalgia or sentimentality, but as a thoroughly conscious political, i.e. purposefully programmatic, return to past glory days, which is why behind the bearers of this apparently very limited phenomenon of Late Antique artistic creation we can assume mainly the leading families of the time still adhering to the old faith.

Die „Kovacs-Vase“

2024-09-09T13:47:59+00:00

The Kovacs Vase was first made known under scholars in Munich in 1996, but its origins and current owner are unknown. It could be shown that the pictorial scenes come from the Greek Pankration. It has now been proposed to date the Kovacs Vase to 400 AD. The successful fight of the alround-fighter Privatulus is shown in five scenes, with legends attached to the fight pictures describing the athletes in more detail. The inscriptions also indicate that it must have been an experienced and victorious all-fighter from the Green Circus Party (factiones). What is unusual is that the loser Victorinus is also mentioned by name, possibly also a successful fighter, over whom victory may have meant an outstanding achievement for Privatulus. All additions are written in a vulgar Latin that is similar to Proto-Romance and is difficult to understand. The overview and comparison of silver and non-ferrous metal jugs and vases from the 4th to 8th centuries shows that in the toreutics of this period both traditional forms and motifs have been present since the 4th century and new forms and decorative elements appear that clearly differ from the late Roman origins. The Kovacs Vase combines ‘classic’ shapes and motifs from the 6th century with innovative elements that indicate an independent, classicist development. It could be that it was made in a workshop in northern Italy. Although written sources mention gymnastic agones, no firmly dated images from the 5th century are known to date. Against this historical-archaeological background, the Kovacs Vase with its depictions and inscriptions is a unique testimony to Greek agonistics in late antiquity.

Lombardic ornaments from San Mauro cemetery at Cividale, Italy

2024-09-09T14:02:25+00:00

A group of very significant Lombardic ornaments from the cemetery of San Mauro at Cividale del Friuli (Udine) in Italy has been examined and analysed with X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The objects are now part of the collections of the National Museum of Cividale del Friuli. Among the objects there are several so-called stirrup or radiate-head bow fibulae, one of which also shows an interesting cloisonné decoration, an S-shaped fibula with cloisonné, a unique gilded and nielloed equal-armed fibula with two opposite faces or masks, belt buckles and belt plates, a necklace with gold pendants with filigree and granulation, a vessel of probable Byzantine origin and a golden cross. The composition and the production technology of the single pieces are discussed in detail in the paper with relevant comparisons.