Б. Атанасов, И. Боянов, И. Димитрова, Б. Думанов, П. Неделчева, Ж. Узунов (ред.) Археология на властта. Интердисциплинарни диалози. София: НБУ, 2020
The present paper considers the archaeological visibility of power and status in non-literary
soc... more The present paper considers the archaeological visibility of power and status in non-literary
societies where domestic written evidence is scarce or non-existent. A few examples of
rich burials from Phrygia and Thrace (although of different time) are examined to reveal
the difficulties in reading the archaeological data in regard to identifying rulers and persons
of high status. The mere wealth embedded in the grave goods and the size and exquisite
manufacture of the sepulchral architecture were not always the best indicators of power.
They furnish evidence for prestige but not necessarily for power. The status in such societies
was demonstrated rather on ideological level depending on the involvement of the buried
person in the respective cult.
Uploads
Papers by Maya Vassileva
century BC, became a mythical character in Greek literature and turned into a synonym
of Phrygian kingship. Fragments preserved mainly by later authors associate him with
the cult of Matar, the Phrygian Great Mother Goddess, known to the Greeks as Cybele.
Written evidence mentions him as her son. Theopompus credited Midas with the naming
of Pessinus itself. Excavations have revealed neither the early Phrygian settlement nor the famous temple of Cybele at Pessinus; but Tekӧren, 7.5 km south of Pessinus, is one of the most remarkable cult sites in the area.The rock-cut thrones/step altars there have
been assigned to the early Phrygian cult: the Mother Goddess was worshipped mainly
at open-air sacred places or mountainous/rock-cut sanctuaries.
By the 4th century BC Midas and Pessinus were already coupled in Greek perception,
i.e. before the spreading fame of Cybele’s temple, mainly because of his role in the cult
of the Mother Goddess in Phrygia. Literary association of the most famous Phrygian
ruler with the no less famous sanctuary of Cybele hints at royal connotations for early
Phrygian rituality in the mountainous setting attested around Pessinus. The numerous
rock-cut features and open-air sacred places in the immediate vicinity of the Roman
remains and beyond fit Phrygian tradition perfectly.
century BC, became a mythical character in Greek literature and turned into a synonym
of Phrygian kingship. Fragments preserved mainly by later authors associate him with
the cult of Matar, the Phrygian Great Mother Goddess, known to the Greeks as Cybele.
Written evidence mentions him as her son. Theopompus credited Midas with the naming
of Pessinus itself. Excavations have revealed neither the early Phrygian settlement nor the famous temple of Cybele at Pessinus; but Tekӧren, 7.5 km south of Pessinus, is one of the most remarkable cult sites in the area.The rock-cut thrones/step altars there have
been assigned to the early Phrygian cult: the Mother Goddess was worshipped mainly
at open-air sacred places or mountainous/rock-cut sanctuaries.
By the 4th century BC Midas and Pessinus were already coupled in Greek perception,
i.e. before the spreading fame of Cybele’s temple, mainly because of his role in the cult
of the Mother Goddess in Phrygia. Literary association of the most famous Phrygian
ruler with the no less famous sanctuary of Cybele hints at royal connotations for early
Phrygian rituality in the mountainous setting attested around Pessinus. The numerous
rock-cut features and open-air sacred places in the immediate vicinity of the Roman
remains and beyond fit Phrygian tradition perfectly.
societies where domestic written evidence is scarce or non-existent. A few examples of
rich burials from Phrygia and Thrace (although of different time) are examined to reveal
the difficulties in reading the archaeological data in regard to identifying rulers and persons
of high status. The mere wealth embedded in the grave goods and the size and exquisite
manufacture of the sepulchral architecture were not always the best indicators of power.
They furnish evidence for prestige but not necessarily for power. The status in such societies
was demonstrated rather on ideological level depending on the involvement of the buried
person in the respective cult.
Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean trade and cultural
networks, but Late Bronze Age ceramic typology in Thracian lands is less
studied compared to earlier or later periods. The present paper offers an
overview of the research on the southeastern Balkan Late Bronze Age
cultures and presents evidence for connections with the Aegean and western
Anatolia. The Late Bronze Age saw a growth of metallurgy in Thrace
which produced new networks of communication at a higher level. Two
case studies related to metallurgy and metal production are brought into
discussion: the copper ingots and the stone and bronze mace-scepters.
Their distribution coincides with the areas with rich metal ore deposits.
The archaeological record cannot provide clear evidence for migrations
in the area in the late second and early first millennium BCE: neither for
a Thracian, nor for an Aeolian. The picture which emerges from the fragmentary evidence, both archaeologically and textually, seems to argue
in favor of a gradual diffusion of people, ideas and technologies in both
directions.