The Terracotta Votives from Medma: Cult and Coroplastic Craft in Magna Graecia. (Volumes I and II) (Greece, Italy).

Abstract

The excavation of a votive pit at Rosarno in the early part of this century uncovered a rich series of terracottas which have long been recognized as valuable documents for the art and religion of the Greek city-states in southern Italy during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. This discovery led to the identification of Rosarno as the site of ancient Medma--known previously only from literary sources as a colony of Locri Epizephyrii. The terracottas have thus been considered a possible source of information for religious ties between Locri and her daughter-colony. They are of particular interest for interpretations of the nature of the Mannella cult at Locri which have been based primarily on the iconography of the well-known terracotta pinakes. This dissertation offers the first comprehensive analysis and interpretation of the terracottas from Medma. Visual examination and mineralogical and geological studies of the clay fabrics of the 1061 terracottas from the votive pit have permitted several different fabrics to be distinguished, and each to be associated with one of three sites--Medma, Locri, and Hipponion--thus implying an exchange of terracottas between Medma and the other sites. Intricate and extensive mould series have been traced for the mould-made figurines. From these studies of fabric and mould series, it is now clear that the coroplasts of Locri and Medma shared technology for the production of votives. Technological, stylistic, and iconographic studies, focused on the 758 terracottas of Medmaean clay fabric from the votive pit, allow us to underst and workshop practices at Medma and to discover the kinds of ex-votos thought to be appropriate by the local worshippers. It has also been possible to trace the responses of the Medmaean coroplasts to innovations in Greek sculpture, as the archaic style evolved into the severe, due to the quality and special characteristics of the mould-made figurines. A detailed examination of the iconography of the terracottas suggests that the cult was concerned with marriage rites, that its patron deity was Persephone, and that it derives from the Mannella cult at Locri.