Ancient roman funerary terracotta in Sardinia displays popular devotion

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to provide an overview, the result of years of research, of the study and re-examination of some Roman age burials that have yielded terracotta figurines among their grave goods. The aim is to summarise the currently known examples of devotional funerary coroplastics in Sardinia, showing how, among the various toys found in children's tombs, some of them go beyond a simple playful meaning, to become true dedications to deities with protective value. The choice of some of them, by the relatives of the deceased who deposited them as grave goods, is motivated by ethnic as well as religious reasons.

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