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LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES:THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DIMENSION

Gina Salapata

The Annual of the British School at Athens / FirstView Article / February 2014, pp 1 - 14DOI: 10.1017/S0068245413000130, Published online: 14 February 2014

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0068245413000130

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LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATEDFIGURES: THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DIMENSION

by Gina Salapata

Massey University, New Zealand

The characteristic terracotta plaques with seated figures accompanied by snakes were created for local use, as they are hardly everfound outside Laconia and Messenia. They served a type of cult, the heroic, as shown by both their widespread distribution inthis region and their complete absence from divine sanctuaries. Their generalised and standardised iconography made themversatile offerings that could be used in various contexts, with the seated figure acquiring the identity of the locally honoured heroin a specific sanctuary setting. Distribution patterns also show variety. In Laconia, plaque findspots show this type of offering wasfavoured much more in the region inhabited by the homoioi. By contrast, the Messenian plaques, offered both at Bronze Agetombs and at urban sanctuaries, must have been dedicated primarily by perioikoi. The similarities between Laconian andMessenian types of plaques need not be correlated with the contested ethnic identity of the Messenians. Rather, they should beattributed to the flexibility and variety in their use. The Messenian cults that attracted plaque dedications honoured heroes notnecessarily because they were Achaean, but because they were celebrated local mythical or historical figures. Creating a link withthe past through heroes was a well-established way to articulate a strong local and communal, but not necessarily ethnic, identity.

INTRODUCTION

Terracotta dedicatory offerings, found in abundance throughout the Greek world, are expressiveproducts of human cultic behaviour. They can thus shed light not only on the nature andcharacter of the divine or heroic recipients but also on the associated cult practices. In additionto their value in a religious sense, terracotta offerings also have a social value. In particular, typesfeaturing a distinctive local iconography can often give us glimpses of the process by whichdedicators constructed their social and cultural identity, and help us understand the social andpolitical functions of local ritual practice.

This article concerns the characteristic terracotta plaques depicting seated figures oftenaccompanied by snakes, which were used as votive offerings throughout Laconia and Messeniafrom the sixth through to the fourth century BC. It will argue that the plaques were employed inhero cults of local mythical or historical personalities, with the seated figure acquiring theidentity of the locally honoured hero or heroine in a specific sanctuary setting. These heroes,who could have been worshipped by all residents of Laconia and Messenia, helped forge astrong communal and civic, but not necessarily ethnic, identity.

PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES

Mould-made terracotta relief plaques are one of the most characteristic types of votive offerings inLaconia. Fabric, manufacture, style and iconography indicate that these plaques were producedlocally, probably in or near Sparta (Salapata , ). Many such plaques were discovered withother offerings in two votive deposits excavated at Amyklai, the fifth kome of Sparta, located aboutfive kilometres to the south and a short distance south-west of the famous Amyklaion sanctuary.

The first deposit was excavated in the late s/early s (see references in Stibbe ; Salapata , );the second deposit was discovered in (Themos et al. , ). On the manner of display of the plaques, seeSalapata a, .

The Annual of the British School at Athens, , page of The Council, British School at Athensdoi:./S

Among the various subjects depicted on the Amyklaian plaques, the most dominant is that of aseated man holding a drinking cup, usually a kantharos, and often accompanied by a snake (Fig. ),a type created in the late sixth century BC (Salapata ; Salapata , , ). Other typesinclude an attending figure, either a woman with oinochoe and offerings (Fig. ) or a boy withstrainer and oinochoe (Fig. ). Later variations show a female with a sceptre seated next to theman (Salapata b, fig. ), or even represented alone, again accompanied by a snake (Salapatab, fig. ). Plaques with seated figures show a wide spectrum of quality and size, rangingfrom large, detailed images to small and simplified versions (Fig. ab).

Literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence clearly associates the Amyklaian deposits withthe sanctuary of Cassandra (known in Laconia as Alexandra), which allegedly contained the gravesof Agamemnon and Cassandra (Pausanias ..; Salapata b). Pottery shows that a heroic cultwas practised there since at least the early seventh century. This cult is related to a variant traditionthat placed the palace, and therefore the murder of Agamemnon and Cassandra, not in the Argolidas the tragic poets said, but in Laconia. Sixth-century Spartan aspirations for leadership over thePeloponnese probably enhanced the pre-existing local tradition and cult; thus, by promotingAgamemnon, the lord of men in Homer, to the role of a Laconian hero personifying theglorious past and symbolising local history and identity, Sparta would have nicely mirrored andlegitimised her ambitions for a Peloponnesian alliance and, at the same time, would haveundermined any Argive claim (Salapata , ).

The dedication of the first plaques indicates an intensification of the cult at the Amyklaisanctuary from the late sixth century on. The iconography fits well with the identification of therecipients as Agamemnon and his consort, the prophetess Cassandra. The stock image of aseated figure with cup, and its variations, would have denoted the ideal mythical hero as knownprimarily from epic poetry, with the kantharos referring to wine consumption during feasting.The woman, seated by herself or next to him, assumes the role of his consort Cassandra, withthe sceptre alluding to her priestly status and especially her prophetic abilities (Salapata b,

Fig. . Terracotta plaque with seated man holding kantharos and accompanied by snake fromAmyklai. Sparta Museum no. /.

GINA SALAPATA

; Salapata , ). The commonly occurring snake, which appears also in other media fromthe sanctuary deposits, would have referred to the heroic nature of the couple, who are frequentlyaccompanied by attendants and adorants (Salapata b, ; Salapata , ).

Fig. . Terracotta plaque with seated man holding kantharos and staff, and accompanied byfemale attendant and snake from Amyklai. Sparta Museum no. /.

Fig. . Terracotta plaque with seated man holding kantharos and accompanied by boyattendant and snake from Amyklai. Sparta Museum no. /.

LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES

Plaques with seated figures,manymade in the same (or derivative)moulds as those fromAmyklai,have been discovered at various other Laconian sites both as isolated finds and as part of comparablevotive deposits. They have been found in more than sites throughout Sparta, but with majorconcentrations to the south and east of the acropolis hill, especially in the kome of Limnai (Fig. )

Fig. . Small, schematic terracotta plaques from Amyklai. a: seated man with phiale and staff:Sparta Museum no. /; b: seated figure accompanied by standing figure: Sparta

Museum no. /.

GINA SALAPATA

(e.g. Wace ; Flouris ; Steinhauer ; Pavlides , ; Tosti ; Salapata inpress, Appendix ). An example found in a deposit in Stauffert Street is illustrated in Fig. . Farfewer have been discovered in other Laconian sites (Fig. ; Salapata in press, Appendix ), forexample at Angelona (Wace and Hasluck ; Stibbe , , , , fig. no. a).

Fig. . Map of Sparta showing findspots of terracotta plaques with seated figures.

See also the reports of the local ephoreia published in the A . However, vagaries of rescueexcavations may have partly influenced these concentrations. Question marks on the map indicate presence ofplaques whose subject is not confirmed (potentially they could represent seated figures).

LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES

Fig. . Terracotta plaque with seated man holding kantharos from deposit on Stauffert Street inLimnai, Sparta. Sparta Museum no. . After Flouris , pl. .

Fig. . Map of southern Peloponnese showing findspots of terracotta plaques with seatedfigures.

GINA SALAPATA

The iconography of the plaques is closely related to a series of more than stone reliefsdiscovered throughout Laconia but mainly in and around Sparta (Fig. ). These reliefsencompass an astonishingly broad range of dates, beginning in the third quarter of the sixthcentury, a little earlier than the plaques, and lasting through the Hellenistic period into Romantimes (Andronikos ; Stibbe ; Hibler ; Salapata ; Salapata in press, chapter and Appendix ). As I have argued in detail elsewhere (Salapata in press, chapter ), theeclectic iconographic type of the seated figure holding a cup and accompanied by a snake wascreated in Laconia during the third quarter of the sixth century based on regional, panhellenicand foreign (Egyptian and Near Eastern) prototypes, which were modified according to Greekaesthetic and cultic requirements. Remarkably, this iconographic type remained basically thesame through the centuries, although in a stylistically updated form.

Reliefs and plaques with seated figures conform to the same basic types (single man alone,single man or couple accompanied by woman or boy attendant) and follow a similar stylisticdevelopment. The series of plaques probably started as an inexpensive and quickly madealternative to the larger stone reliefs (Salapata ), but the religious significance of allthese votive types must have been the same, with symbolic value most important: as long as thetype of offering was appropriate, material, size and quality of execution were probably secondary(cf. Andronikos , ; Kyrieleis , esp. ). The persistence of the imagery for morethan five centuries with a clear stylistic evolution but few variations indicates that the schemewas fixed by tradition and expressed an important aspect of local religiosity.

DistributionTerracotta relief plaques in general are widely distributed in the Greek world, showing they werenot restricted to particular deities or sanctuaries (Salapata b, ). Plaques with seated

Fig. . Map of southern Peloponnese showing findspots of stone reliefs with seated figures.

The best-known example was found near Chrysapha: Berlin, Staatliche Museen : Salapata , fig. . Pilz (Cretan plaques) and Karoglou , (painted plaques in general) associate plaques with female

divinities.

LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES

figures, however, were created for a specific local use, as they are hardly ever found outside Laconiaand Messenia, an area greatly influenced by Sparta, as I will discuss later.

The vast majority of plaques with seated figures were found in Sparta and Amyklai. Theirdistribution in votive deposits throughout the city (Fig. ) emphasises their total absence frommajor divine sanctuaries such as those of Athena Chalkioikos, Orthia and Apollo Amyklaios, allof which have been extensively excavated, and also from the more recently excavated sanctuaryof Zeus Messapeus at Tsakona, to the north-east of Sparta (Catling ). This absence seemsrelated to the nature of the recipients of these votives and can be explained if this type ofoffering was reserved for heroes, like Agamemnon and Cassandra at Amyklai (Salapata ,; Salapata in press), with the similar iconographic types showing their affinity. This alsoseems to be true for the related stone reliefs of pre-Hellenistic times, whether they werededicated to heroes of the mythical past or to exceptional historical personalities (like Chilon).

Their dedication to a range of different heroes would account for both their widespreaddistribution (Fig. ) and their complete absence from divine sanctuaries. Support for thisinterpretation comes from plaques (and reliefs) associated with earlier burials, which must havebeen the centre of a heroic cult (see further below).

The wide regional distribution of reliefs and plaques with seated figures corresponds to thepattern of small local shrines commonly scattered throughout the Greek countryside andespecially Laconia, an area exceptionally rich in hero shrines. Pausanias mentions more than such hero shrines in Sparta proper and about more in other Laconian sites (Stibbe , ;Hibler , ).

The image of the seated man, woman or couple accompanied by a snake was generic enough toallow dedicators to offer it to different heroes in Laconia, so in a specific sanctuary setting thegeneral image of the seated figure would have been ascribed the identity of the locally honouredhero (Salapata , ).

Plaques with seated figures and hero cultsAs a diverse class of superhuman being, heroes were honoured by a variety of social groups and fordifferent reasons. The Spartan interest in their heroic past goes back at least to the early seventhcentury, as the cult of Agamemnon at Amyklai shows. Some heroic figures may have beenworshipped privately and informally by members of specific professional categories or by leadingfamilies, because the mirage of egalitarianism among the homoioi does not mean absence ofdifferentiation in social, economic and political matters. Down to the Classical period somefamilies had managed to enjoy more status and prestige than others (Hodkinson , ;

Unfortunately, in these other cases clear evidence for the identity of the cult recipients, such as inscriptions orliterary testimonies, is lacking, so specific identifications are impossible or contested: e.g. heroon of Astrabakos, eitherin the Heroon by the River Bank (Wace , , ) or in square O (Stibbe , , ; see also Flouris, ). The extension of heroisation to some private individuals immediately after death during the Hellenistic period

(Jones ) means that many of the post-Classical reliefs probably honoured recent dead. One of the stone reliefs with seated figures was dedicated to the famous sage Chilon since it is inscribed in

retrograde with his name: Sparta Museum ; Stibbe , passim and figs. . This must have been placed inhis heroon in Sparta mentioned by Pausanias (..). Stone reliefs have been found in a wider range of Laconian places than plaques, with almost half of them from

outside Sparta. The vast majority, however, have been found in later (Roman or Byzantine) contexts or built intomodern structures: Stibbe ; Salapata in press, Appendix . In fact, a few stone reliefs have been found together with or near plaques: e.g. Gitiada Street (Fig. no. ;

Flouris , ) and nearby Bougadi plot (Fig. no. ; Steinhauer , ). E.g. Wace , ; Flouris , esp. , , . See Fig. nos. , , , and perhaps ; for

more details, see Salapata in press, Appendix nos. , , , , , , . Of course some of these would be post-Classical but there would also be others extinct by Pausanias time. The cult of Menelaos and Helen near Sparta was also founded in the th century: Antonaccio ,

, . E.g. the cooks and waiters of the syssitia may have practised the cult of Maton and Keraon: Taita , .

GINA SALAPATA

Christesen , esp. , ), and one of the methods to maintain and legitimise their elite statuscould have been the forging of connections with heroes of the past from whom they claimeddescent.

The kome of Limnai was the earliest region of Sparta to be occupied and is rich inProtogeometric and Geometric burials (Kennell and Luraghi , ). In association withsuch tombs, various deposits have been found, some dating as early as the seventh century, withseveral containing terracotta plaques among the finds (Fig. nos. , , ; for more details, seeSalapata in press, Appendix nos. , , , ; Pavlides , ). The concentration thereof such deposits may indicate that an ancestral burial ground became the focus of heroic cultsfrom early in the Archaic period, some of which may have survived until the time of Pausaniasvisit (Pausanias ..). Some cults would have been established not long after the burials, whileothers would have developed when graves were discovered by chance during later buildingactivities (Pavlides , ). Some of these private or familial cults may have beenappropriated and formalised by the state, so that these heroes were eventually worshipped by theentire community, as was the case in other regions (cf. Mazarakis Ainian , ; Taita ,).

Other heroic cults were newly created in the Archaic period and were community-oriented fromthe beginning (cf. Wees , ). Important local individuals of the mythological and historicalpast, like Agamemnon and Chilon, represented the values and ideals of the entire polis (Pavlides, ), and, by honouring these kinds of heroes who transcended individual families, theSpartan state sought to discourage family allegiances and foster a strong communal civic identitythat bound not only the homoioi but also the perioikoi (cf. Hall , ). The perioikoiformed a distinct status-group within the Lacedaemonian polis that lacked full political rights.They were, however, ethnically and culturally indistinguishable from the homoioi, and integratedinto the political and military structure of the polis (on the perioikoi see Hall ; Mertens; Nafissi , ); in addition, they worshipped the same divinities, adopted similarcult practices and participated in important festivals of the polis, as Spartiates attended festivalsin perioikic regions (Parker , ; Shipley , ; Mertens , ; Luraghi ,). Group solidarity and strong communal civic identity constructed through links withancestors or heroes would have been crucial during the Archaic period, as Sparta aspired tobolstering her position in the Peloponnese and claiming its leadership.

All these various heroic cults could have been well served by the reliefs and plaques with seatedfigures. The original but adaptable iconography could be applied in different cases, and, mostimportantly, this peculiarly Laconian class of votives would have differentiated local Laconianheroes from all others.

This distinctive Laconian iconography influenced terracotta plaques produced in Messenia, aregion under Spartan control for centuries. Such plaques were dedicated along with otherofferings at urban sanctuaries in ancient Messene, and also at Bronze Age cemetery sites,especially in the area of Pylos and near Kalamata (Fig. ) (see e.g. Messene: Themelis , ; Themelis ; Voidokilia: Peppa-Papaioannou ). They clearly depend thematically andtypologically on the Laconian plaques, with some evidently made in the same or derivativemoulds (Fig. ). However, production in local clay suggests that these were not imports but thatmoulds, or plaques from which new moulds could have been manufactured, were imported fromLaconia (Peppa-Papaioannou , ).

Like the Laconian plaques, the Messenian plaques with seated figures have been connected withheroic cults. For example, the cult at the earlier shrine at the Demeter sanctuary in Messene has

Since Limnai was sparsely built up in Roman times, several of these heroic shrines were preserved in later years:Steinhauer , . The pattern of hero shrines built over earlier (Mycenaean and Geometric) graves was foundelsewhere in Greece, for example, Corinth (Williams , ; Tofi , ) and Athens (Lalond ). Seefurther examples in Mazarakis Ainian ; Pavlides , . Messenia was part of the Lacedaemonian state from the late th century until BC, when it was liberated by

the Theban Epameinondas who founded a new capital, Messene, at the foot of Mount Ithome. Still, some types appear to have been new creations: Themelis , and fig. .

LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES

been attributed to Leukippos and his daughters (Themelis , ; Themelis , ; Zunino, , ), and the cult at the Asklepieion court to Asklepios and Messene, worshippedthere as mythical pre-Dorian rulers of Messenia at least since the time of liberation in BC(Themelis , , Themelis , ; Luraghi , , , ).

However, while the finds at the Demeter sanctuary do indicate a hero cult, nothing allows aspecific identification (cf. Boehringer , , , ; Luraghi , ). On the otherhand, the plaques at the Asklepieion court may indeed at some point have been offered toAsklepios and Messene. Asklepios was probably a newcomer, since his panhellenic cultexpanded from the late fifth century onwards (Riethmller , ). The iconography of theplaques from the sixth to the fourth century remained unchanged, implying there was no changein the deities worshipped, but because the iconography is not very specific and the seated figureresembles Asklepios (especially because of the snake), his identification with this iconographymay have arisen from an earlier, possibly healing, local hero.

Several plaques with seated figures and other subjects (riders, banqueters and warriors) fromVoidokilia on the Messenian west coast were found in and around a small Early Hellenisticbuilding located inside a Bronze Age cemetery, pointing to its use as a shrine (Antonaccio ,; Korres , ). The excavator argued that the tholos tomb there was intact andvisible during historic times and the area of this prehistoric cemetery was selected by laterinhabitants of the area for ancestor cult or perhaps cult specifically to the hero Thrasymedes, sonof Nestor. Other groups of plaques, mainly depicting banqueters, are associated with cults at ornear Bronze Age tombs in Messenia (Salapata in press, Appendix , nos. , , ); this is a

Fig. . Terracotta plaque with seated man holding kantharos and staff, and accompanied bysnake from ancient Messene. Archaeological Museum of Messenia no. . Photo courtesy

of Petros Themelis.

Themelis also associated the deposit next to the gymnasium propylon with a shrine of Aristomenes, since mostof the plaques there depict the hero as banqueter or warrior: Themelis , ; Themelis , . ForAristomenes, see Zunino , ; Luraghi , . Korres (, ) compared it with shrines such as that in the Corinthian agora; cf. Alcock , .

GINA SALAPATA

distinctive local cult practice that differs strongly from Laconia, where such cults connected withBronze Age tombs did not exist.

Identity of dedicatorsThe dedication of Messenian plaques at heroic sanctuaries and their similarity to those found inLaconia contribute to the long-running debate on the Messenians ethnic identity. Did theMessenians have a collective consciousness and distinct identity that they managed to preserveduring the centuries of Spartan subjugation, and which was resurrected with the founding ofMessene (Zunino , , ; Alcock , ; Themelis , )? Or, did Messenianidentity emerge only during the fifth century in opposition to Spartan domination, as anarticulation of the distinction within the Spartan social system (Hall ; Luraghi )?

According to one view, Messenian cultural and religious traditions survived during Spartandomination and found expression mainly in the cults at Bronze Age tombs. These cults began in theeighth century and continued sporadically in Archaic and Classical times, flourishing again afterindependence (Korres , , ; Korres , , ; Musti and Torelli , ; Alcock, , ). They presumably honoured ancestors and local heroes, and are seen as aform of resistance by the Messenians to ethnic assimilation by the Spartans; thus, they are associatedwith a feeling of nationalism and regional identity which was oppressed but not quenched duringSpartan rule. According to this view, then, a link to the heroic Achaean past would have united theMessenian population and created a sense of Achaean identity in opposition to the Dorian identity ofthe Spartiates. The implication is that the Messenians regarded themselves, or were thought of, ashaving pre-Dorian or Achaean heritage (see Hall , ).

A second view questions the notion thatMessenia had a cohesive and distinct regional and politicalidentity before the Spartan conquest in the eighth century.This view argues thatMessenian identitywasconstructed consciously, starting in the fifth century, either among the Messenian diaspora or in thecontext of the perioikic revolt in the s, and building up after liberation with largely inventedtraditions. Laconian and Messenian helots were not pre-existing homogeneous ethnic groupsenslaved early on and en masse within their own territories; they were instead impoverishedmembers of the community taken into servitude somewhat later. Their subservient status andensuing resentment and hatred over their exploitation by the Spartiates would have been enough tofoster solidarity among the Messenian helots, who then started fabricating a nationalist history. Thus,this view argues that the notion of the Messenians was a gradual development over centuries,emerging out of a broader Laconian identity (Luraghi , , , ; cf. Patterson ).

It does seem likely that the idea of Messenia as an ethnic or territorial unit was not something thatalready existed andmanaged to survive under Spartan domination, but instead arose during theSpartanconquest and was indeed a by-product of that subjugation. Archaic Messenia appears to have beenintegrated with the Lacedaemonian state, with the population culturally and ethnically almostcompletely homogeneous with that in Laconia (Luraghi , ). This is shown by the commondialect and alphabet, similar material culture since Geometric times, and closely related cults thatcontinued even after liberation. Among the Laconian type of votive offerings found in Messenia are

For examples of cults at Bronze Age tombs from elsewhere in Greece, see Antonaccio , ;Boehringer , . Interest in Bronze Age tombs peaked in the Late Classical period and was sustained through later centuries:

Alcock ; Kamp ; Boehringer , ; Luraghi , . Contra Patterson (), who suggests they were an early wave of the migrating Dorians. Hall (diaspora); Luraghi , esp. ch. (perioikic revolt); Hall ; Kennell and Luraghi ; cf.

Boehringer , . In Kennell and Luraghi , , Luraghi argues for a gradual conquest of Messenia. For a detailed theoretical discussion of the various views, see Siapkas . Luraghi , , with a review of archaeology in Messenia in ch. . Some Messenian sanctuaries date

back to the th century and show continuity in cult during Archaic and later times; others were established whenMessenia was under Spartan control: Luraghi , , , .

LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES

the plaques with seated figures (as well as several other subjects), many of which are similar to thosefound at Amyklai and Sparta, and some even produced in the same or derivative moulds.

Who dedicated these plaques in the Laconian and Messenian hero shrines? The low cost,mediocre quality and intensive production over a long period indicate a broad level ofparticipation in such cults. These were popular mass-produced offerings affordable by mostdedicators, but not necessarily restricted to the lower socio-economic strata. Rather than justreflecting the financial means or social status of the votaries, the terracotta plaques must havefulfilled a cultic need (cf. Bonias , ; Baumbach , ).

In Laconia, the distribution of plaque findspots shows this type of offering was favouredmore in theregion inhabited by the Spartiates. Still, the discovery of some plaques in perioikic territory suggests thatperioikoi,whowere culturally homogeneouswith theSpartiates,mayalsohavededicated suchplaques.

In contrast, theMessenianplaquesdedicated to heroes at urban sanctuaries andBronzeAge tombsmusthave been dedicated primarily by perioikoi, since the homoioi were based in Sparta (Hall , ).Nonetheless, there are indications that helots may also have dedicated such plaques. TheMessenian helotic pattern of settlement suggests some independent social organisation and evensome social differentiation. Messenian helots lived in agglomerated settlements or extensive estatesrather than in small farmsteads dispersed through the countryside as in Laconia (Luraghi , ); thus elite overseer helots, who managed the estates of the absentee Spartiates, could well havebeen involved in such cults (Hodkinson , ; Alcock , ; Patterson ).

Like other manifestations of a shared culture, the continuity in the cult at Messenian sanctuariesafter liberation and the fact that the plaques remain similar to those in Laconia indicate that theresidents of Messenia were ethnically indistinguishable from the Spartans (cf. Luraghi , ,, ). Still, I believe that the Messenian cults that attracted plaque dedications honouredheroes not necessarily because they were Achaean, but because they were celebrated local mythicalor historical figures. Reaching back to the heroic age through heroes was a well-established way toarticulate a strong local and communal identity, but not necessarily an ethnic one.

In conclusion, the similarities between Laconian and Messenian plaques with seated figuresneed not be correlated with the contested ethnic identity of the Messenians. Rather, they shouldbe attributed to the flexibility and variety in their use. The same types of plaques could be usedin separate heroic cults because they depicted versatile, generalised images that assumed theirsignificance from the specific context (cf. Lippolis , , ). Rather than being specific toa particular cult, the plaques with seated figures served a type of cult the heroic and could bededicated by residents of both Laconia and Messenia, whether they were homoioi, perioikoi or helots.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank David Hibler and the second, anonymous, referee for their valuablesuggestions for improvements. I also thank Petros Themelis for permission to publish thephotograph of the Messene plaque reproduced here as Fig. .

g.salapata@massey.ac.nz

Comparable is the case of the distinctive lead figurines found in their thousands in Laconian sanctuaries: Gilland Vickers ; Antonaccio , . Even helots may have participated in such cults, although we know almost nothing about the religious practices

of helots in Laconia, because they are archaeologically invisible: Parker , ; Luraghi , . See below forhelotic activity in Messenia. Since both Messenian perioikoi and helots probably engaged in this distinctive local cultic behaviour, and

because of their discontinuous pattern before the late th century, the cults at Bronze Age tombs, reveringancestors or local heroes, do not seem to have been an expression of anti-Spartan resistance (pace Alcock ,): Luraghi , , . Luraghi (, , ) believes that during the centuries of conquest some Messenian ethnic

consciousness must have been created.

GINA SALAPATA

mailto:g.salapata@massey.ac.nz

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GINA SALAPATA

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LACONIAN AND MESSENIAN PLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURES: THE SOCIO-POLITICAL DIMENSIONINTRODUCTIONPLAQUES WITH SEATED FIGURESDistributionPlaques with seated figures and hero cultsIdentity of dedicatorsACKNOWLEDGEMENTSREFERENCES