material culture

Amphorae

Amphorae

• Storage/transport vessels for olives, cereal, oil, and wine

• Prehistoric origins, oldest found in China dated to 4800BCE

• Often found in graves or sunken ships

• Picture shows typical neck amphorae (neck joins body at an angle rather than a continuous curve) that are undecorated (more common than the wide mouthed decorated ones that were given as prizes)

• Up to 1.5m tall, long handles, pointed ends (less likely to roll and break in ship)

• Monte Testaccio in Rome is mostly made of amphorae

• Can be used to investigate food transportation

Nestor’s cup

• Wine cup from 8C BCE

• Unknown artist

• Found in a cemetery on Pithekoussai in the Bay of Naples

• Allusion to a golden cup owned by Nestor in Iliad

• First known example of the Greek language and earliest known literary reference

• Epigraphic hexameter, uses Phoenician-inspired Greek alphabet

• Jokes about wine making people desire love and sex

Military diploma

• Transcript of an excerpt from the bronze plate that would have been displayed on the Capitoline

• 86 BCE (reign of Domitian)

• Two double-sided bronze plates attached with metal wire

• Found in Thebes in Egypt

• Awarded by Domitian to Coptita, who had served in the fleet stationed in Egypt

• Talks about Coptita’s honourable discharge

  • Privileges awarded to him- citizenship for him, his wife, and his descendants

Stag hunt mosaic

• House of the Abduction of Helen, Pella, north Greece (birthplace of Alexander the Great)

• 4C BCE (reign of Alexander)

• Two men and a dog attacking a stag, panel surrounded by leaves and stems

  • Figure on the right could be Alexander due to his upswept hair and centre parting

  • Figure on the left could be one of Alexander’s lovers or Hephaestus (axe)

  • Dog could be Peritas, Alexander’s favourite dog

• Signed by Gnosis, earliest known artist’s signature on a mosaic

• Shows sophisticated techniques and shading, rise of more skilled mosaic making

Phrasikleia kore

• Type of female funerary statue

• 550BCE

• Found buried in a cemetery in Merenda, Attica

  • Unusual that it was buried as kore were usually grave markers

  • Could be due to return of tyrant Pisistratus not long after Phrasikleia died, family had disagreed with him so they buried the statue so it could not be mutilated

• Made from marble

• Typical rigid kore pose, staring forward with a slight smile

• Holding a closed lotus blossom, clothes decorated with geometric design, flower crown of lotus on head

• Inscription on base- ‘Marker of Phrasikleia. I shall ever be known as maiden, the gods allotted me this title in place of marriage, Aristion of Paros made me’

  • Died before marriage, will be a maiden forerver

Temple of Concordia

• Agrigento, Sicily

• 440BCE

• In the Valley of the Temples, area of Sicily with 18 temples

• Typical Doric style- simple circular tops of columns, fluted columns with no base

• Peristasis of 6×13 columns surrounding cella

• One of the best preserved Greek style temples in the Mediterranean

House of Menander caldarium mosaic

• 1C BCE

• Large plant in a circle surrounded by fish, dolphins, crabs, and swimming men

  • Men appear to be black, one is holding a fishing trident

• In the House of Menander, one of the wealthiest houses in Pompeii

  • Bath house was one of the first private baths in Pompeii, showing wealth of the owners

  • Possibly later belonged to a relative of Poppaea Sabina, second wife of Emperor Nero

• Shows interest in fishing in the area

Discobolus

• Marble statue

• Copy of the Discobolus of Myron

• 2C BCE

• Found in Hadrian’s villa at Tivoli near Rome

• Roman artists liked to copy Greek statues

• Incorrectly restored head, should be looking back at the discus

Turtle coin

• Silver stater of Aegina, southeast Greece

• 480BCE

• Aegina are believed to have been the first Greek city to start making coins and using them for trade, began in 6C BCE

• Typical Aeginan coin- turtle (later tortoise) on front, 5 sectioned punch mark (incuse) on back

• Probably made from electrum (mix of silver and gold)

Riace Bronzes

• 450BCE

• Found in the sea near Riace, south Italy

• Two slightly larger than life-sized bronze statues

  • One appears older than the other but both are more mature than kouroi/korai e.g. Phrasikleia

  • Poses more developed than earlier statues

  • Probably originally on plinths

• Made using the lost wax casting technique- building a mould around a wax model and melting it then filling the space with metal

• Two of the only surviving Greek bronzes, most were melted down

• Survived by chance (lost at sea)

St Mary Magdalen

• 1180CE

• Medieval hospital around a mile outside Winchester for people with leprosy (leprosarium)

  • Isolated from the general population

• Skeleton found here, researchers have suggested he was a Spanish pilgrim who caught leprosy while travelling

  • Winchester was popular for pilgrimages because of the number of churches and shrines

• Helps investigate how leprosy spread around Europe at the time, findings can be applied to other diseases

Villa of Mysteries fresco

• House in Pompeii

• 1C BCE

• Some sort of ritual painted across multiple walls

  • Initiate forming a connection with nature, undergoing a katabasis and having strength tested, then seated on a throne

  • Preparation for marriage?

• Villa is 440m outside the northwest corner of the city

• Initially built in 2C BCE, expanded significantly in Augustan period

• Frescoes are Second Style, so stylistically dated to 1C BCE

  • 3D illusions and architectural features

Hermes and infant Dionysus statue

• Marble statue

• Traditionally attributed to Praxiletes due to Pausanias mentioning him, but now it is being questioned whether it is just in his style

  • If it was Praxiletes, it can be dated to 4C BCE

  • But unlikely because no copies have been found

• Found in Temple of Hera, Olympia

• Lost in 3C CE when an earthquake collapsed the roof of the temple, rediscovered in 1877 in 7 separate discoveries

Pelias and Jason fresco

• House of the Golden Cupids, Pompeii

• 1C CE

• Typical early Imperial style painting with isolated figures on a neutral background

• Pelias at the stop of the stairs with daughters

  • Recognising Jason, later sent him on the quest of the Golden Fleece

• Jason can be recognised by his single shoe- lost one while helping Hera disguised as an old woman cross a river, Pelias had been told by an oracle that a man wearing only one sandal would usurp his throne

  • Identifying traits of characters so they can be recognised easily

• Festival setting- sacrificial ox, wine, and garlanded figures

Norse ruins

• Hvalsey, Greenland (near Qaqortoq)

• Best preserved Norse ruins in Greenland

• Narrow strip of land at the head of a fjord

• 10-15C CE

  • First established in 10C

  • Last documented event was a 1408 wedding

  • People slowly died out

  • Expedition in 1721 found they were gone

• Typical Norse farming settlement

• Two stone great halls, churchhouse, 14 houses

• Evidence of Norse expansion and colonisation as far west as Greenland

Augustan coin

• 19-18BCE

• Augustus’ head with an oak-wreath on one side with his name (CAESAR AVGVSTVS)

  • Wreath of oak leaves was a civic crown- given to citizens who saved others’ lives, second highest military honour

• Eight-rayed comet on the other side with deified Caesar’s name (DIVVS IVLVS)

  • Comet that appeared after Caesar’s death was seen as a symbol of him ascending to godhood and was used by Augustus to get Caesar deified

• Augustus emphasising his familial connection with Caesar and his status as divi filus

Leprosy skull

• 10-13C CE

• Found in Ireland, excavated by Queen’s University Belfast

• Typical signs of leprosy, loss of bone around nose and teeth

• Study investigated strains of leprosy in medieval Ireland across 5 people, discovered one strain likely originated in Scandinavia and one developed in Middle East but was present in Scandinavia

  • Vikings probably brought disease to Ireland

• Shows geographical spread of disease and helps track progression

Mosaic of judgement of Paris

• Ealy 2C CE

• Triclinium of a house in Antioch, Turkey

  • Central city of Roman Syria, used for military campaigns and a base for emperors

• Paris (surrounded by dogs and sheep) seated in the middle with Hermes next to him, Hera and Athena and Aphrodite in front of him, Psyche in top left on a rock and Eros in top right on pillar

Croseid/Kroiseioi stateres

• Gold coin from Sardis, Lydia

• 6C BCE

• Replaced electrum coins with separate gold and silver coins

  • Clear intrinsic value- one gold coin was worth ten silver, guaranteed by purity and weight

• Lion and bull on the front, two incuse squares on the back

  • Possibly symbolised sun and moon, sprint and winter, strength and fertility, Asia Minor and Europe, or Lydia and Phrygia

Temple to Saturn

• Roman forum

• Traditionally dedicated in 497BCE by Tarquinus Superbus but this is disputed

• Completely reconstructed in 42BCE

• Reconstructed again after a fire 360CE

• Inscription says SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUS / INCENDIO CONSUMPTUM RESTITUIT, “the senate and the people restored [the temple] consumed by fire”

• Saturn was primarily god of sowing/seed, and the Saturnalia was one of the most important Roman festivals

• Surviving ruins are made from pieces recycled from earlier temples

• Ionic columns

• There was once a statue of Saturn in the temple

Cancelleria Reliefs

• Believed to have been commissioned by Domitian (81-96)

• Originally showed events from Domitian’s life but was recarved by Emperor Nerva

• Found under Palazzo della Cancelleria (Renaissance palace) in 1930s

• Thought to have been a propaganda effort to legitimise the Flavian dynasty

• Originally depicted Domitian as he prepared to leave on a campaign against the Chatti

  • Mars, Minerva and Roma on the far left encouraging him

  • Domitian in the middle as a reluctant general, may have been to counter accusations that his failed military quests were motivated by desire for personal glory

  • Genii, guardian spirits of the Senate

  • People of Rome and Soldiers

• After Domitian was assassinated in 96, Senate passed damnatio memoriae on his memory- name was erased from public records and his monuments were destroyed and resculpted

Achilles and Ajax playing a board game vase

• 540-530BCE

• Black-figure amphorae

  • Ornate amphorae were used as centrepieces and displays of wealth and cultural knowledge

• Made by Exekias, painter from around 545-530BCE

  • Around 35 of his paintings survive

  • Focused on Ajax in many vases but did not repeat subjects often otherwise

    • May have been because he came from Salamis, home of Ajax and his oldest cult

• Shows Achilles and Ajax playing a game of pessoi

  • Achilles is labelled as having rolled a 4 and Ajax has thrown a 3

  • Score (as well as stature) reflects their standing as warriors

• May have political symbolism and reference a 5c attack on Athens while they were playing dice

• May reference a lost epic

  • Specifically the character of Palamedes, who was said to have invented board games and then his death made Achilles and Ajax stop fighting

Pantheon

• Rome

• Originally built by Marcus Agrippa in 27/25 BCE

• Fire damage in 20CE, rebuilt under Domitian’s reign (81-96)

• Struck by lightning during Trajan’s reign (98-117), rebuilt again by Hadrian (117-138)

• Turned into a Christian church in 609

• Largest dome structure in Rome

• Circular building (except for portico with Corinthian columns) with a concrete dome on the roof with an oculus in the centre

• Name comes from the ancient Greek ‘Pantheion’, could mean the temple was dedicated to all the gods