From snout to tail. Exploring the Greek sacrificial animal from the literary, epigraphical, iconographical, archaeological, and zooarchaeological evidence (ActaAth-4, 60), eds. J.-M. Carbon & G. Ekroth, Stockholm, 9-20, 2024
Animal sacrifice fundamentally informed how the ancient Greeks defined
themselves, their relatio... more Animal sacrifice fundamentally informed how the ancient Greeks defined
themselves, their relation to the divine, and the structure of their
society. Adopting an explicitly cross-disciplinary perspective, the present
volume explores the practical execution and complex meaning of animal
sacrifice within ancient Greek religion (c. 1000 BC–AD 200).
The objective is twofold. First, to clarify in detail the use and meaning
of body parts of the animal within sacrificial ritual. This involves a comprehensive
study of ancient Greek terminology in texts and inscriptions, representations
on pottery and reliefs, and animal bones found in sanctuaries.
Second, to encourage the use and integration of the full spectrum of ancient
evidence in the exploration of Greek sacrificial rituals, which is a prerequisite
for understanding the complex use and meaning of Greek animal sacrifice.
Twelve contributions by experts on the literary, epigraphical, iconographical,
archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence for Greek animal sacrifice
explore the treatment of legs, including feet and hoofs, tails, horns; heads, including
tongues, brains, ears and snouts; internal organs; blood; as well as the
handling of the entire body by burning it whole. Three further contributions
address Hittite, Israelite and Etruscan animal sacrifice respectively, providing
important contextualization for Greek ritual practices.
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themselves, their relation to the divine, and the structure of their
society. Adopting an explicitly cross-disciplinary perspective, the present
volume explores the practical execution and complex meaning of animal
sacrifice within ancient Greek religion (c. 1000 BC–AD 200).
The objective is twofold. First, to clarify in detail the use and meaning
of body parts of the animal within sacrificial ritual. This involves a comprehensive
study of ancient Greek terminology in texts and inscriptions,
representations on pottery and reliefs, and animal bones found in sanctuaries.
Second, to encourage the use and integration of the full spectrum
of ancient evidence in the exploration of Greek sacrificial rituals, which is
a prerequisite for understanding the complex use and meaning of Greek
animal sacrifice.
Twelve contributions by experts on the literary, epigraphical, iconographical,
archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence for Greek animal sacrifice
explore the treatment of legs, including feet and hoofs, tails, horns; heads, including
tongues, brains, ears and snouts; internal organs; blood; as well as the
handling of the entire body by burning it whole. Three further contributions
address Hittite, Israelite and Etruscan animal sacrifice respectively, providing
important contextualization for Greek ritual practices.
Papers by Gunnel Ekroth
themselves, their relation to the divine, and the structure of their
society. Adopting an explicitly cross-disciplinary perspective, the present
volume explores the practical execution and complex meaning of animal
sacrifice within ancient Greek religion (c. 1000 BC–AD 200).
The objective is twofold. First, to clarify in detail the use and meaning
of body parts of the animal within sacrificial ritual. This involves a comprehensive
study of ancient Greek terminology in texts and inscriptions, representations
on pottery and reliefs, and animal bones found in sanctuaries.
Second, to encourage the use and integration of the full spectrum of ancient
evidence in the exploration of Greek sacrificial rituals, which is a prerequisite
for understanding the complex use and meaning of Greek animal sacrifice.
Twelve contributions by experts on the literary, epigraphical, iconographical,
archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence for Greek animal sacrifice
explore the treatment of legs, including feet and hoofs, tails, horns; heads, including
tongues, brains, ears and snouts; internal organs; blood; as well as the
handling of the entire body by burning it whole. Three further contributions
address Hittite, Israelite and Etruscan animal sacrifice respectively, providing
important contextualization for Greek ritual practices.
sources arguing that this type of sacrifice was rare. It further addresses
if the animal was burned whole or if the carcass was flayed, emptied of
blood and intestines, and sectioned before being placed onto the fire.
Since the evidence suggests that holocausts did not necessarily mean the
burning of an intact animal, the relation between holocausts and moirocausts,
sacrifices at which a larger part of the animal was burned, is also
explored. Finally, the ancient evidence for holocausts is considered in the
light of the results of the experimental cremation of a lamb and a pig
performed at Uppsala in 2014. It is argued that a Greek holocaust may
have aimed at burning the meat beyond human means of consumption
rather than at a total annihilation of the carcass by fire, and that the long
time it seems to have taken to perform a holocaust can be linked to the
purpose of the ritual.
temenos, “that which has been cut off ”, but even if such a plot was
the property of the deity and circumscribed by particular rules, it was not
exclusively frequented by the divine owner. Mortal visitors may have used
a temenos just as intensively as a god did, but in a different manner, and
humans were also the caretakers and administrators of the god’s property.
This paper explores the temenos concept from the point of view of sanctuaries
as set apart from gods but mainly used by men, and how immortal
and mortal practices and manifestations were to be accommodated within
this space. Two points will be addressed, the marking of boundaries for
temene, and notions of purity and pollution when humans visited sanctuaries
to worship the gods. It will be argued that a physical demarcation
of the temenos was not a divine prerequisite and that the construction of
a wall was a human responsibility depending on local cultic conditions.
The caretaking of a temenos as divine property required particular rules at
sacrifices, since human needs and desires were not always appropriate to
the gods. Of particular interest are the handling of animals, the cooking
and food consumption after sacrifices, the management of human waste
as well as the impact of humans staying in temene.
Ekroth introduces readers to a relatively new wealth of material evidence about animal sacrifice in the pre-Christian, Greek world. Ekroth’s critical contribution is to assess the results of recent research on the archaeology of sacrifice. Her main concern is with historical animal sacrifice as it was actually performed, primarily, in the thysia ritual, which occurred across ancient Greek sanctuaries between the 8th and 1st centuries BCE. At these events, mainly domesticated animals along with the fruit of agricultural labor and libations, after being dedicated to a deity, were sacrificed and shared – with butchered portions ostensibly going to gods like Zeus who preferred thighbones, while the rest of the animal, in particular the meat, was given to the human participants. Ekroth encounters in the material handling, treatment, and distribution of meat derived from ritualized animal sacrifice an ancient structuring of the world. Analysis of these sacrificial rituals provides us with windows to the cosmologies, hierarchies of social power, and group identities associated with those who participated.
themselves, their relation to the divine, and the structure of their
society. Adopting an explicitly cross-disciplinary perspective, the present
volume explores the practical execution and complex meaning of animal
sacrifice within ancient Greek religion (c. 1000 BC–AD 200).
The objective is twofold. First, to clarify in detail the use and meaning
of body parts of the animal within sacrificial ritual. This involves a comprehensive
study of ancient Greek terminology in texts and inscriptions,
representations on pottery and reliefs, and animal bones found in sanctuaries.
Second, to encourage the use and integration of the full spectrum
of ancient evidence in the exploration of Greek sacrificial rituals, which is
a prerequisite for understanding the complex use and meaning of Greek
animal sacrifice.
Twelve contributions by experts on the literary, epigraphical, iconographical,
archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence for Greek animal sacrifice
explore the treatment of legs, including feet and hoofs, tails, horns; heads, including
tongues, brains, ears and snouts; internal organs; blood; as well as the
handling of the entire body by burning it whole. Three further contributions
address Hittite, Israelite and Etruscan animal sacrifice respectively, providing
important contextualization for Greek ritual practices.
themselves, their relation to the divine, and the structure of their
society. Adopting an explicitly cross-disciplinary perspective, the present
volume explores the practical execution and complex meaning of animal
sacrifice within ancient Greek religion (c. 1000 BC–AD 200).
The objective is twofold. First, to clarify in detail the use and meaning
of body parts of the animal within sacrificial ritual. This involves a comprehensive
study of ancient Greek terminology in texts and inscriptions, representations
on pottery and reliefs, and animal bones found in sanctuaries.
Second, to encourage the use and integration of the full spectrum of ancient
evidence in the exploration of Greek sacrificial rituals, which is a prerequisite
for understanding the complex use and meaning of Greek animal sacrifice.
Twelve contributions by experts on the literary, epigraphical, iconographical,
archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence for Greek animal sacrifice
explore the treatment of legs, including feet and hoofs, tails, horns; heads, including
tongues, brains, ears and snouts; internal organs; blood; as well as the
handling of the entire body by burning it whole. Three further contributions
address Hittite, Israelite and Etruscan animal sacrifice respectively, providing
important contextualization for Greek ritual practices.
sources arguing that this type of sacrifice was rare. It further addresses
if the animal was burned whole or if the carcass was flayed, emptied of
blood and intestines, and sectioned before being placed onto the fire.
Since the evidence suggests that holocausts did not necessarily mean the
burning of an intact animal, the relation between holocausts and moirocausts,
sacrifices at which a larger part of the animal was burned, is also
explored. Finally, the ancient evidence for holocausts is considered in the
light of the results of the experimental cremation of a lamb and a pig
performed at Uppsala in 2014. It is argued that a Greek holocaust may
have aimed at burning the meat beyond human means of consumption
rather than at a total annihilation of the carcass by fire, and that the long
time it seems to have taken to perform a holocaust can be linked to the
purpose of the ritual.
temenos, “that which has been cut off ”, but even if such a plot was
the property of the deity and circumscribed by particular rules, it was not
exclusively frequented by the divine owner. Mortal visitors may have used
a temenos just as intensively as a god did, but in a different manner, and
humans were also the caretakers and administrators of the god’s property.
This paper explores the temenos concept from the point of view of sanctuaries
as set apart from gods but mainly used by men, and how immortal
and mortal practices and manifestations were to be accommodated within
this space. Two points will be addressed, the marking of boundaries for
temene, and notions of purity and pollution when humans visited sanctuaries
to worship the gods. It will be argued that a physical demarcation
of the temenos was not a divine prerequisite and that the construction of
a wall was a human responsibility depending on local cultic conditions.
The caretaking of a temenos as divine property required particular rules at
sacrifices, since human needs and desires were not always appropriate to
the gods. Of particular interest are the handling of animals, the cooking
and food consumption after sacrifices, the management of human waste
as well as the impact of humans staying in temene.
Ekroth introduces readers to a relatively new wealth of material evidence about animal sacrifice in the pre-Christian, Greek world. Ekroth’s critical contribution is to assess the results of recent research on the archaeology of sacrifice. Her main concern is with historical animal sacrifice as it was actually performed, primarily, in the thysia ritual, which occurred across ancient Greek sanctuaries between the 8th and 1st centuries BCE. At these events, mainly domesticated animals along with the fruit of agricultural labor and libations, after being dedicated to a deity, were sacrificed and shared – with butchered portions ostensibly going to gods like Zeus who preferred thighbones, while the rest of the animal, in particular the meat, was given to the human participants. Ekroth encounters in the material handling, treatment, and distribution of meat derived from ritualized animal sacrifice an ancient structuring of the world. Analysis of these sacrificial rituals provides us with windows to the cosmologies, hierarchies of social power, and group identities associated with those who participated.
The conference From snout to tail brings together 20 internationally well-known scholars with profound knowledge of the ancient source material and ancient Greek religion to explore the handling of the different parts of the animal, from snout to tail. The aim is a better understanding of the use and meaning of the animal’s body within sacrificial ritual through a thorough interpretation of the complex Greek sacrificial terminology, representations of ritual preserved on pottery and reliefs and animal bones found in Greek sanctuaries. The results will provide new insights as to how animal sacrifice worked as a means to communicate with the gods and establish the world order. The understanding of animal sacrifice in Greek antiquity is central for the understanding ancient individuals, their society and relation to the divine.
The main methodological aim is to integrate all kinds of extant ancient sources: texts, inscriptions, images, archaeological material and preserved animal bones. It is only through such an approach that that we may grasp the complex ritual reality. From a methodological perspective, this empirical width is innovative and creative, as scholars tend to stick to their own fields. A zooarchaeologist rarely knows ancient Greek while a philologist rarely has competence in the interpretation of images or identification of animal bones. Therefore, the conference wants to highlight and develop the importance of a work mode that makes use of the ancient evidence as fully as possible through cross-disciplinary dialogue, but also to stimulate and establish collaboration between scholars across disciplines.