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A large number of clay pots were found in the deposit, including cooking pots, bowls, craters, cups with holes and traces of burning (possibly censers), balsam phials and, first and foremost, lamps, evoking present day use of candles in holy places. They could have been used for ritual purposes, in temple ceremonies, but also as containers for votive offerings, such as various foodstuffs, grain and cereals, milk, wine, oil, honey, early produce, ointments and scented oils. The everyday objects, which also appear in ancient deposits on a regular basis, included clay loom weights, used to pull the threads taut in the vertical loom. Their presence suggests the god’s protection of the woman who used them and her marriage.
Three terracotta bird heads were also found in Schiavi (a swan, a goose and a dove), which could mean that these species were favoured by the god in question. Alternatively, they may have been offered in place of real animals or represent a request for protection.
Other votive offerings found in the deposit include fresh water bivalve molluscs, while the remains of pigs and wild boar are possibly traces of sacrificial rituals.
An unusual find was also made: three small gold lamina leaves, possibly olive leaves, from a crown (3rd – 2nd century B.C.), imported from Magna Graecia. |
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