Still on the keimelia: communicative power and difficulties of dating ‘antique’ figurines in votive contexts of Sicily

Abstract

The presence of objects older than their discovery context -called heirlooms, keimelia or aphidrumata- involves different geographical basins of the Greek world in all chronological periods. The phenomenon has been given from time to time different explanations depending on the context. Focusing on terracottas, we will review the most significant cases identified in Sicily, trying to understand if we can suggest a unitary interpretative key to the ritual actions that have involved figurines older than their context. Attention will also be paid to the particular positioning of the coroplastic offerings (generally isolated), which is often associated with the antiquity of the object itself, emphasizing the memory aroused by the presence of that ritual object.
Finally, it will be highlighted how the dating of the figurines considered must always be carefully evaluated, given the mass production character of these objects, that reproduce prototypes created long before.

The papers published in this volume were presented at the International Conference “What Can Terracottas Tell Us: Coroplastic Polysemy in the Ancient Mediterranean” (Cagliari - Cittadella dei Musei, 10–12th November 2022) organized under the scientific direction of Romina Carboni, Claudia Cenci and Nicola Chiarenza.