Osservazioni su forme e luoghi del culto in età micenea

Elisabetta Borgna Annuario della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene LXXXVII (2009) [2010]: 169-189.

Abstract

Some aspects concerning the articulation of Mycenaean cult practices in relation to different social groups are considered. In particular, the problem of the wheel-made female figurines which played an important role in the sanctuaries of the Mycenaean citadels such as Mycenae, Tyrins, Phylakopi, is dealt with. The analysis of some context seems to show that these products, both in Crete and the Mycenaean world, were associated mainly with cult forms practiced by sub-elite social groups, basically different from the ones involved in the official ceremonies organized and held in the Mycenaean palaces. In the endeavour to characterize archaeological contexts related to the official cults, a reading of the architecture of the Gla fortress, alternative to the one generally accepted, is proposed. Finally, the possibility that, in the last centuries of the Bronze Age and the early historical times, a tradition of codified architectural types existed in the framework of ceremonial architecture linked to public festivities and religious rites of institutional character, is taken into consideration.