VI. Artifacts

For this project a large number of Minoan metal objects of various sizes, belonging to different classes and made of different metals, were analyzed by XRF. The items come from different sites in eastern Crete, one of which, Gournia, was excavated in the early twentieth century. The objects are mostly dated to the Early Minoan I to Middle Minoan IIA periods, with several pieces also coming from Late Minoan I contexts. The exact findspots from the older excavations were seldom recorded, so a few artifacts may be slightly earlier or later.

The equipment employed for the analyses consists of a transportable XRF source on a support with devices to control its position and stability, a transformer, a stabilizer, and a computer with dedicated software. The characteristics of the equipment and its various devices, the dedicated software, and a suitable number of standards (produced ad hoc by AGM Archeoanalisi) greatly enhanced the precision of the system.

The composition, production techniques, and finishing processes of the artifacts have been investigated and allow for the reconstruction of the fabrication procedures and the various stages of production. Among the metal finds were objects that are commonly interpreted as small tools, such as tweezers, the so-called weaving hooks, and cosmetic scrapers.

The analyses have shown that the copper-based alloys employed for personal ornaments and jewelry are much better refined and contain more alloying elements such as tin and arsenic than the copper-based alloys used for simple tools. Further, the tweezers, so-called weaving hooks, and cosmetic scrapers were made of the same good-quality alloys as jewelry. This fact clearly indicates that such small personal items were not simple tools, but they had high value and a special significance in Minoan society. They were apparently worn by their owners as decorative accessories, and they indicated social status. In the special case of the items heretofore known as weaving hooks, their identification as hair pins is confirmed by the existence of gold examples and painted representations in the Grandstand Fresco at Knossos.

Among the various anathemata that were offered in major Greek sanctuaries are fruits, vegetables, and trees in bronze and precious metals. These objects are well known from literary sources, which mention the bronze palm dedicated to the sanctuary of Delphi by Kypselos, and the one offered by the Athenians after the battle of the Eurymedon. Moreover, various metal trees are known to have functioned as interior decorations for sacred temples, such as the ingenious bronze palm tree in the Erechtheion crafted by Kallimachos. Others were decorative objects displayed in secular settings.

After an earlier study on Greek bronze trees (Castoldi 2014), this new contribution focuses on bronze trees in the Roman world and no longer on anathemata, with the exception of some small trees in lararia or domestic shrines, as well as a number of lamp-holders shaped like tree trunks.

It is possible that the secular artworks drew their inspiration from the great Greek plant-shaped anathemata—for example, the golden grapevine and the golden plane tree, which both decorated the palace of the king of Persia until the time of Alexander the Great. Such objects could have been a source of inspiration for many toreutics in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, such as the grapevine offered by Aristobulos II to Pompey the Great, as well as the trunk-shaped lamp-holders found in many wealthy domus.

Parexodos is the name ascribed in the Hippocratic Corpus to the portable medical case that every doctor should own to facilitate work outside his premises. In Macedonia, older and recent finds illuminate an important production of medical and writing cases of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The cases are either single- or multi-compartment constructions, made of bronze sheet. Type A cases are Late Classical and consist of two lidded semi-cylindrical parts, hinged lengthwise to form a cylinder. Type B cases are Late Classical or Early Hellenistic semi-cylindrical cases with a lid and/or a flat top sheet, perforated to give inside access. The cases have been unearthed in elite male burials, most of them of warriors with cultic and healing duties.

Together with other items from the famous collection of Marquis Giovanni Pietro Campana, three so-called shields appeared in the Antiquities Department of the State Hermitage Museum in 1861. Two “shields” were hammered from a bronze sheet. Their wide, flat rims are decorated with a double-spiral ornament. The third “shield,” with a crudely made handle inside, was suspected to be entirely fake. In the center of the shields, Samnite kardiophylakes (chest bandoliers) were attached.

Except for the removal of the kardiophylakes, no other attempts were made to restore these items. Preliminary examinations of the items were made in 2011 in the conservation laboratory of the Hermitage. It was discovered that some parts of the surface of two similar “shields” were covered with a false green patina. In the center of one “shield,” accurate round holes had been made, and on the inside newly fashioned bronze loops with rings had been attached. In the center of the second “shield” was mounted a small metal detail, perhaps for fastening a kardiophylax, which at that time may have been believed to be a kind of shield decoration. The bosses covering the surface of the third “shield” were in fact ancient.

This paper is the first overall study of Roman silhouette figures cut out of bronze sheets. The silhouette-shaped figures are mostly reduced to their outlines and show chiseled or engraved detail drawings. Though the figures have a wide distribution throughout the ancient world, they remain extraordinarily rare. The silhouettes tend to represent deities, particularly figures from the Apollonian entourage. Although most of these figures are now deprived of their contexts, a distinct emphasis on music and dance scenes can clearly be observed. Taking technical characteristics as well as information on find contexts into consideration, the author proposes that the silhouette figures were originally used as inlays for wooden musical instruments and furniture.

Bronze thymiateria produced in Etruria from the Archaic to the Hellenistic age often include in their shapes components that make more or less explicit reference to specific properties of the artifacts themselves. These components can be abstract (e.g., series of superimposed discoid and lenticular elements) or figural (typically, human figures that support the stem of the thymiaterion, but also animals and isolated limbs such as legs). In both cases, they appear to underscore the aspects of gravity, lightness, and equilibrium.

This paper will argue that such aspects can be related to the actual functions of the incense-burners. They thereby serve as self-conscious visual commentaries on the perceived nature of these implements. At the same time, their analysis can also shed light on the multifaceted ways in which Greek ponderation was received and understood in Etruria.

A distinctive feature of Roman bronze devices is their figural idiosyncrasy: the sometimes charming, sometimes bizarre mixture of anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and floral forms employed for stems, legs, handles, and bodies. Vitruvius famously criticized such fanciful visual language in the vegetabilized architectures of Roman wall-painting; what has been sidelined in the discussions on Vitruvius and the monstra is that the wall-paintings merely elaborated motifs long established in furniture. In scholarship on furnishings, their hybrid composition was first appreciated as delightful and later, under the verdict of twentieth-century aesthetics, dismissed as superfluous ornamentation (“kitsch”). But it was never studied for what it can tell us about the notions associated with banquet accessories: corporeality, skillfulness, movement, and, not least, the physical energy—heat and light—produced by them.

This paper focuses on the figural and sculptural design of floor and table candelabra as well as select lamps from Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are part of a new research and database project on Roman lighting and heating devices in bronze led by the author in collaboration with Norbert Franken (Berlin). A large number of candelabra, largely unpublished, are held by the National Museum of Naples (270 specimens). Starting from this chronologically homogeneous group of lighting devices, the author will explore avenues toward a new conceptual framework that enables us to integrate the objects’ intriguing “sculpturalism” with other, often sundered aspects: their energy and matter (fire and metal), their production technique and functionality, their effect on space and ambience, and ultimately their precarious status as objects managed by slaves.

A considerable number of outstanding bronze artifacts were retrieved from the sanctuaries and the necropolis of Locri Epizefiri, including mirrors with figured handles, rare instruments related to the symposium, and refined appliqués, among others. Notwithstanding the attention these objects have received in the bibliography—especially regarding their function and symbolic values according to find contexts—several aspects still require investigation.

Most of these items are attributed to local workshops due to technical, iconographic, and stylistic considerations and, like other local products, are considered to be almost exclusively intended for the internal market.

The analysis of the features of Locrian bronze objects allows for a reassessment of the local productive milieu between the sixth and the fourth centuries BC, a period that is characterized by traditionalism, external influences, and hybridism, as well as originality in the choice of iconographies and in the creation of specific items. The Locrian case study provided a unique opportunity to understand the eclectic re-elaboration of patterns and morphology, and the adoption of novelty elements coming from different traditions, aimed at satisfying the tastes of the local elite. Besides, the recent reexamination of find contexts—namely the funerary assemblages—offers the opportunity to define an autonomous chronological system to be integrated with considerations deriving from stylistic analysis.

Ancient Messene in the southern Peloponnese is one of the most impressive and well-preserved cities of the Hellenistic/Roman era in Greece. Archaeological excavations from the early twentieth century to the present have revealed a site spanning around 13 square kilometers with fortifications, public buildings, and impressive burial monuments intra muros. Its museum houses a rich collection of metal artifacts dating from the fourth century BC to the fifth century AD, which includes everyday objects related to the activities and the customs of the Messenian society. This poster presents the author’s PhD research, a systematic multidisciplinary study of 380 representative copper-alloy objects, including toiletry and decorative objects, tools, instruments, vessels, weapons, figurines, and door and furniture accessories.

The study combines an archaeological (classification/typology), archaeometric (noninvasive scientific analyses), and conservation (condition survey using statistics) approach in order to better understand the technological characteristics of the collection. For the first time, the context of this important copper-alloy collection was related to the technological profile of both local and imported metal production, the function of the objects, and their significance to the local society. Specifically, the poster focuses on 10 bronze mirrors from dated burial contexts (from the third century BC to the first century AD) representing 3 distinct archaeological types. They are luxury items that are associated with the high society of ancient Messene. The technological characteristics, such as manufacturing, decorative, and surface techniques, were investigated using X-radiography, X-ray flourescence (XRF) and μ-XRF, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical and/or mineralogical compositions of the copper alloy and corrosion layers were determined in order to identify techniques used to produce these bronze mirrors. The results indicate that a variety of manufacturing techniques were used to produce the mirrors, with three different methods employed to produce a reflective surface, using three different types of alloys for the metal substrate.

A fine caryatid mirror formerly in the collection of Julien Gréau was recently determined to be a pastiche of Greek and Etruscan, ancient and modern. It is well established that the corpus of bronze caryatid mirrors contains a large number of fakes. This paper analyzes the production of these objects within the social context of nineteenth-century Paris.

After decades of upheaval and transformation as a result of Hausmannization, cultural anxieties surrounding modernity resulted in an increased interest in collecting antiquities. While large numbers of Greek antiquities made their way into the European market as a result of expanded excavations as well as looting, many required heavy restoration in order to make them marketable to an increasingly bourgeois collecting public. The distinction between a restored object, a pastiche, and a total fabrication broke down over time, especially as the diminishing flow of Greek imports failed to keep up with demand.

Within the larger context of the antiquities market in late nineteenth-century Paris, I argue that bronzes were of special interest to collectors. On the one hand, metals were an essential aspect of industrialization, as symbolized most dramatically by the construction of la tour Eiffel for the 1889 Exposition universelle. In many ways, metals represented both a link with the past and a path to the future. Small-scale bronze sculptures were, like the terracotta Tanagras, easily replicable, affordable for a mass market, and conveniently displayed on a mantel or shelf. Finally, the caryatid mirror held special appeal on account of its functional familiarity, but also because the female figure provided a model for women just as the French feminist movement was redefining modern femininity.

The remains of a two-wheeled chariot were found accidentally in 2013 during work on the highway running between Niš and Dimitrovgrad in southeastern Serbia, at the Mađilka site near the village of Staničenje. More than forty iron objects, richly decorated, were discovered at a depth of about 6.5 meters during the mechanical removal of the southern half of a hillock on the right bank of the Nišava River. Right next to these items, partial skeletal remains of two horses were found. Archaeological investigation of the site revealed an elevated mound, 5 meters high and approximately circular, with a diameter of around 40 meters.

The chariot has the Roman suspension system. It is lavishly engraved with floral decoration made of inlaid brass and presents a work of art with high artistic value. The finds are dated to the first century AD (by radiocarbon method) and may be associated with the burial of a person of high social status.

The remains of the chariot were restored in the Conservation Department of the National Museum in Belgrade, and a reconstruction model of this unique ancient chariot was simultaneously built.

A rostrum (embolos in ancient Greek, “naval ram” in English) was an offensive naval weapon mounted on the prow of a ship at the waterline and was used to damage enemy warships. The rostrum was probably a Greek invention dating back to the sixth century BC and was considered a formidable offensive weapon for centuries. Its use required an experienced captain and a disciplined crew. Other rostra have been found in the Mediterranean and are not to be confused with cutwaters, also used to damage enemy warships. The Hellenistic Athlit rostrum was found south of Haifa (Israel) in 1980 and was dated to 220 BC. Its archaeological and metallurgical analysis data, based on physico-chemical and metallographic analyses, provided unique information about bronze-casting and the construction of warships during the Hellenistic period.

The present study is a scientific investigation of a rostrum found at a depth of 6 meters at Acqualadroni, 200 meters off the coast of Messina (Italy) in September 2008. Following its recovery, the rostrum was placed in a glass container full of demineralized water in constant flow to preserve the wooden parts.

The Acqualadroni rostrum is a metallic artifact with a fragile wooden part from the original warship still inside it. A blackish substance is present on some areas of the wood surface. The rostrum is 162 centimeters long and weighs about 250 kilograms. The thickness of the metal is approximately 2 centimeters. The rostrum is finely decorated on both sides with very faithful drawings of two kopis (single-edged curved swords) and a sword similar to a Hellenistic or Greek xiphos (a double-edged, single-handed sword) measuring 86 and 88 centimeters, respectively. The deformation of the blade on the right-hand side is attributable to collisions with other ships. It is possible to date the rostrum on the basis of such stylistic elements. Thus, its production date may range from the fourth to the second century BC. If the rostrum dates to the third century BC, it may have been mounted on a warship used in a naval battle during the Punic Wars (e.g., the battles of the Lipari Islands and Mylae). The metallic part was investigated by the University of Palermo (CGA) using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) for lead isotope analysis. The two wooden samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, 13C{1H} cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP MAS), NMR spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), ICP–OES, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The present investigation aims to provide information about the state of preservation of the wooden and metallic parts and to give some hints that could prove useful in conservation of the rostrum.

For more information on this topic, see https://www.academia.edu/3782220/