Lead Figurines Research Articles

Lead figurines of scythian horsemen from Olbia

In the article, the author aims to examine a specific category of lead artefacts discovered in Olbia, with a focus on investigating the technological features of their production and Olbia’s connections with its barbarian surroundings. The research employs an interdisciplinary approach utilising methods of analysis, synthesis, and socialisation, particularly emphasising the comparative-historical method. Against the backdrop of extensive studies on metalworking in Olbia, especially in foundries and blacksmithing, the processing of lead and the production of artefacts from it remain relatively under-explored. Therefore, this article delves into one category of items made of this metal. A distinct group of composite figurines and their fragments — statuettes of riders on stationary standing horses is explored in the article. Based on the details of their attire, they can be identified as Scythian horsemen, raising questions about Olbia’s connection with its barbarian environment. According to the classification of K. I. Zaitseva, in addition to riders on stationary standing horses, there is a small number of figurines depicting horsemen on galloping horses. All examined lead figurines are cast in the technique of either single- or double-sided relief, indicating their different usage. If double-sided statuettes could be used autonomously, single-sided ones may have needed to be attached to some surface. The presented depictions of Scythian riders not only provide insights into the production of various lead items in Olbia, but also raise questions about Greek-barbarian contacts, possibly indicating the residence of local inhabitants in Olbia and their status in both the city and barbarian interactions. They also expand our understanding of Scythian attire and horsemen. Lead items originating from Olbia can be categorised into several groups depending on their purpose. Primarily, these are household items (clamps, spindle whorls, fishing weights). During the Hellenistic period, handles (clamps) for wooden coffins (biers) were manufactured. However, the most interesting group comprises votive items, with around 350 known examples to date. These include bucrania, stylised sheep heads, and labryses. A smaller group consists of anthropomorphic figurines of gods, warriors, chariots, plaques with narrative scenes (sacrifices) and riders. Such votive figurines are found in mounds and tombs as burial offerings. Less frequently, they are found directly within burials. Additionally, they may have been used in religious rituals and in decorating household altars. The question of the ownership of such statuettes remains unanswered. However, Herodotus wrote about a barbarian population known as Callipidae or Hellenes-Scythians in the territory of the Olbian state. It is essential to note that in the 4th century BC, coins were minted in Olbia bearing the image of the Scythian king Ateas, and Scythian weaponry was commonly depicted on the Bosporus, indicating traditional Scythian-Hellenic relations that likely solidified after the Scythians defeated Zopyrion’s army under the walls of Olbia. Thus, the presence of residents in the city cannot be denied.

LEAD FIGURINES FROM THE SANCTUARY OF ARTEMIS ORTHIA AT SPARTA IN THE ART GALLERY OF GREATER VICTORIA (CANADA): PROBLEMS OF TYPOLOGY AND COLLECTIONS HISTORY

This paper presents the collections history and typological characteristics of a small collection of Laconian lead figurines from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia currently held in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The collection, which first belonged to Ramsay Traquair, serves as a case study for the applicability of the traditional lead figurine typology to decontextualised artefacts, demonstrating its limitations for assigning precise and accurate dates based on style without the benefit of stratigraphic and contextual evidence. The paper further attests to the value of comprehensively analysing small museum and gallery collections in order to gain more individualised understandings of the figurines within the large Laconian corpus than could be afforded upon excavation. Thus, this study helps to elucidate some of the limitations to the means by which we interpret Laconian material culture as well as to nuance our understanding of Laconian lead figurines by demonstrating the varied capability of the typology and published comparanda in dating and stylistic description.

A lead figurine from Toprakhisar Höyük: magico-ritual objects in the Syro-Anatolian Middle Bronze Age

AbstractThis article examines supra-regional trends in magico-ritual objects through a mould-made lead figurine in the form of a foundation peg found in a disturbed Early Bronze IVB to Middle Bronze I transitional deposit at Toprakhisar Höyük (Altınözü, Hatay). The stylised object is interpreted as a bull standing atop a peg, pointing to the adoption of hybrid Syro-Anatolian and Mesopotamian technological, iconographic and apotropaic values. It is suggested the object is ritual paraphernalia, likely in relation to the cult of the Storm God, used in a foundation ritual. Together with this peculiar metal product, the presence of other magico-ritual objects that point to northern Mesopotamian connections at the small hinterland site of Toprakhisar Höyük, on the outskirts of the Amuq valley, is considered to be a possible material reflection of new groups in the region, including Hurrians and Amorites, which contributed to the unity and regionality of the cults and rituals of Syro-Anatolian communities of the Middle Bronze Age.

An Anatolian-Style Lead Figurine from the Assyrian Colony Period Found in the Middle Bronze Age Palace of Tel Kabri

Excavations during the summer of 2017 in the earlier phases of the courtyard of the palace at Tel Kabri turned up pieces of figurines as well as horn cores within a context of Phase 4 or 5 (late 19...

The Conquest Eponyms of Šamšī-Adad I and the Kaneš Eponym List

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Conquest Eponyms of Šamšī-Adad I and the Kaneš Eponym List*Yigal BlochYigal BlochThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 73, Number 2October 2014 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/677250 Views: 172Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref © 2014 by The Journal of Near Eastern Studies. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Felix Höflmayer and Sturt W. Manning A Synchronized Early Middle Bronze Age Chronology for Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 81, no.11 (Apr 2022): 1–24.https://doi.org/10.1086/718498Bieke Mahieu THE ASSYRIAN DISTANZANGABEN IN RELATION TO THE REGNAL YEARS RECORDED IN THE ASSYRIAN KING LIST, Iraq 83 (Sep 2021): 67–85.https://doi.org/10.1017/irq.2021.8Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, Sturt W. Manning, and Gilberto Artioli An Anatolian-Style Lead Figurine from the Assyrian Colony Period Found in the Middle Bronze Age Palace of Tel Kabri, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 385 (Nov 2020): 87–97.https://doi.org/10.1086/711885Sturt W. Manning, Carol B. Griggs, Brita Lorentzen, Gojko Barjamovic, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Bernd Kromer, Eva Maria Wild, Xiaoyan Yang Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology, PLOS ONE 11, no.77 (Jul 2016): e0157144.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157144Edward Stratford Successor Eponyms, Debt Notes, Intercalation, and the Old Assyrian Calendar during Kültepe Level II: A Critical Reappraisal, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 74, no.22 (Nov 2015): 301–324.https://doi.org/10.1086/682062

VOTIVE OFFERINGS FROM THE SANCTUARY OF ARTEMIS ORTHIA, SPARTA, IN LIVERPOOL COLLECTIONS

Two museums in the city of Liverpool have material from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Sparta: the Garstang Museum of Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, and World Museum, part of National Museums Liverpool.The artefacts from the Artemis Orthia sanctuary which are now in the collections in Liverpool represent all periods of the use of the sanctuary, between the eighth century bc and the third century ad. They comprise lead figurines and miniature vessels, both characteristic of Laconian sites, as well as other types of pottery and terracotta figurines. Large and more extravagant offerings, such as items made from ivory or bronze, are not represented. However, the range of artefacts, particularly lead figurines, is impressive, and complements the material from the sanctuary which has already been published, primarily in the volume edited by Dawkins and published in 1929. In addition, the collections include a few objects of exceptional interest, mentioned in the article with further details in the Appendix. A full listing of votive offerings from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Liverpool collections complements the article.

Note from the Roman Palace at Fishbourne (Sussex): A Roman Magic Lead Figurine?

Note from the Roman Palace at Fishbourne (Sussex): A Roman Magic Lead Figurine?

Some observations on lead figurines of the goddess Venus in the area between Sirmium and Viminacium

This paper deals with the occurrence of lead figurines of the goddess Venus in the area between the two cities of Sirmium and Viminacium. A classification into five types, based on stylistic and iconographic features, has been proposed. Although these types show features in common with products of other workshops in the Danubian basin, it has been observed that such products were not exchanged among the centres in the area. This paper puts forward the hypothesis that there were two centres of worship of the goddess Venus, in Sirmium and Viminacium, where these figurines could have been manufactured.

A Figurine from Urkesh: A "Darling" from Troy to Mesopotamia

It was a pleasure to accept the Buccellatis' invitation to publish the upper half of a flat, lead figure of a woman found at Urkesh and return to an old interest of mine. I once surmised that such objects were used by merchants in the metals trade as “cash” when travelling from Mesopotamia to Anatolia. The Urkesh piece is defectively cast, and the ridge above the eyeballs and the edge of the chin give the face a misleading, cheerful expression. From other examples we know that the ridge would probably have surrounded the eyes and that, above the remnant of a protruding chin, the mouth would have been straight. The long thin nose is still preserved. Curls over the forehead are represented by round knobs, as are the tresses falling on either side of the face. The woman is nude except for four ridges of a high collar necklace. The breasts, represented as small knobs, are placed very high on the chest and the fingers of the upraised hands are spread as if supporting them. A prominent knob, surrounded by a wide ridge, emphasizes the navel. The Urkesh piece is very welcome as an excavated example of a familiar but rare type of lead figurine. The first example was found in third-millennium levels at Troy on the west coast of Turkey in the nineteenth century. Four moulds for casting such a figurine are also known. These are peculiar in having so many dies tightly crowded onto a single surface. They are for amulets, jewellery and stamp seals, as well as the figurines, and each object has its own pour hole for casting it separately.

Laconian lead figurines: mineral extraction and exchange in the Archaic Mediterranean

More than 100,000 lead figurines are reported to have been found in the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta. It has been suggested that these mass-produced votives were obtained from locally mined lead. Lead votives in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, were selected as representative of each ‘layer’ from the British excavations of the early twentieth century. Lead isotope analysis of the votives was conducted in the Oxford Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art and demonstrated that the lead was apparently derived from Lavrion as a by-product of silver extraction. There is a possibility that Attic silver, as well as lead, could have been used in Archaic Laconia.

A Second Lead Figurine from Tel ʿEin Zippori

A Second Lead Figurine from Tel ʿEin Zippori

Figurines en plomb de 'Ain el-Djoudj (les)

A collection of 85 lead figurines from 'Ain al-Djouj (from the region of Baalbeck) was acquired by the Museum of the American University of Beirut, from the same source, 32 other similar figurines were purchased by the Museum of the Kaslik University. The worshippers used to throw these figurines as ex-voto in the spring of 'Ain al-Djouj. Most of these figurines represent the main deities worshipped at Baalbeck- Heliopolis; Jupiter Heliopolitanus (60 figurines) and Mercury (55 figurines). Others, representing Venus, Bacchus and Hercules, appear in minor quantities.

Early Cycladic Objects from Ios Formerly in the Finlay Collection

Whilst visiting Ios during his Cycladic tour of 1837, George Finlay purchased a number of Early Cycladic objects, which include four marble figurines (three of folded arm type), three marble vessels and a lead figurine now thought to be fake. This article traces the current whereabouts of these objects, describes and illustrates them, examines the detail of their original purchase and places them within the current framework of Early Cycladic chronology.

Lead Figurines from the Menelaion and Seriation

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.

G. D. B. Jones: 'The Solway Frontier: Interim Report 1976-81', Britannia xiii (1982)

The seahorse may particularly refer to travellers on the sea as the motif occurs on statuettes or reliefs of Neptune whilst the dolphin is more commonly used in the context of rivers and would appear to have a connection with well worship and in turn with the cult of the dead, cf. an altar to Coventina from Coventina's Well at Carrawburgh.10 The use of lead is unusual as the lead figurines and reliefs known from Roman Britain are few in number and poor in quality. Two lead openwork reliefs from Gorsium in Hungary have points of similarity with the Wallsend shrine in that they each depict a deity standing on a rock(?) in an archway, one representing Minerva and the other Venus(?), but these would appear to be mounts rather than free-standing shrines. Lead was more commonly used in the production of coffins, tanks and caskets, and the decoration on the doors of the Wallsend shrine is very.similar to the motifs used on lead coffins of the fourth century A.D.12 The only exact parallel so far known is a fragment of a door discovered in the 1976 vicus excavations at Vindolanda stratified in a floor-level of mid to late fourth-century date.13 The Wallsend shrine was found in association with the fourth-century 'chalets' which replaced the earlier barrack blocks so a fourth-century date would appear to be in order. The working hypothesis, therefore, is that the object is a portable shrine to Mercury dated to the fourth-century A.D. The shrine is being published ahead of the excavation report in the hope that other examples might be forthcoming to confirm or refute the conclusions reached so far.

An Urartian Lead Figurine from Toprak Kale

Dr. Richard Barnett has had a long-standing interest in Urartu, manifested most recently in his chapter in the new Cambridge Ancient History, and early represented by his article on “The Excavations of the British Museum at Toprak Kale near Van” over thirty years before, in 1950. Among the finds in the important Toprak Kale collection in the British Museum were parts of what Dr. Barnett described as a “bewigged garment of lead”, and this piece (BM. 123870) has become familiar from his illustration (Pl. XXXVa).It was found during the excavations conducted on behalf of the British Museum at Toprak Kale in 1880 by Captain E. Clayton and Dr. G. C. Raynolds, who undertook the work at the request of Hormuzd Rassam, in whose name Sir Henry Layard had obtained an excavation permit. Clayton and Raynolds excavated two main areas on Toprak Kale, one representing the Temple of Haldi, and the other, some fifty feet to the south, where a “pavement” was uncovered and a number of ivory objects and fragments of ivory and bronze were found, in Clayton's words, “in this excavation near the level of the pavement …” Though he makes no mention of lead, the lead fragments under discussion were associated with the ivory, and were presumably mistaken by him for fragments of bronze. This group is probably to be dated in the later part of the ninth, or the eight century B.C.

The Growth of Sparta

If you walk out of modern Sparta by the Tripolis road, and take the first branch road to the right after crossing Eurotas, you find yourself moving parallel to the river, with a line of red bluffs on your left hand. The bluffs grow higher and steeper as you go south, and the river edges closer to their foot, till opposite the junction of the Magoula river there is barely room for the cart-track between hillside and Eurotas-bed: but here the line of the bluffs is suddenly broken by a dry ravine converging on the course of the Eurotas at an acute angle from the N.E. The flanks of this ravine are at first as steep as the western face of the bluffs: but after about ten minutes' walk up it, several bays open on the left, affording an ascent to the bluff's summit by an easier gradient. When you reach the top you find yourself on a narrow ridge crowned by a chapel of the prophet Elias, and clearly marked off from the other summits to N. and S. Just N. of the chapel is the shrine of Menelaos, where the citizens of ‘historical’ Sparta used to offer lead figurines. But under the ‘historical’ stratum are the vestiges of a ‘Mycenaean’ city.

I.—Excavations at Sparta, 1910: § 4.—Artemis Orthia: The Excavation of 1910

Although it was thought in 1909 that no more work was required at the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, a few men were employed there this year, mainly in testing outlying parts of the site. In this way a series of pits was made at the foot of the cliff which rises to the south of the hieron, and the ground behind the temple was further explored; the former yielded no results, and the latter only confirmed the conclusions already reached as to the history of this region. The only finds were pottery, a number of lead figurines, and some pieces of carved bone, all of the kind found in previous years in similar deposits of the sixth century. Below them there was, as usual, a little Laconian I and Geometric pottery.

II.—Excavations at Sparta, 1906: § 6.—Remains of the Archaic Greek Period

The archaic remains, which the trial trenches have revealed at a level beneath the Roman building and temple described above, present in one respect a striking contrast. Except inscriptions, the later buildings have not yielded many small objects: their importance lies in their architectural arrangement and purpose. In the archaic stratum on the other hand, although some architectural fragments have already been found, and more are expected, the chief interest centres in the wonderful wealth of small objects, doubtless votive offerings, and the light they throw on the early stages of art in Sparta. Before our work this year, this deposit was accessible only from the side of the river, where erosion has produced a section of all the strata from the present surface down to virgin soil. This face, shewn in Fig. 1, p. 319, in its original condition before excavation, we have protected with a wall, to guard the site from the destructive effect of the floods to which the Eurotas is liable, the lowest remains being hardly higher than the level of the bed of the river. Work was begun at this naturally exposed face, where the lead figurines now in the Sparta Museum were found, which gave the first clue to the site, and the number of archaic objects unearthed in the first few hours immediately revealed its extraordinary richness.