The latest volume in the Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage series is dedicated to the publication of the archeozoological remains of the southern sanctuary of Pyrgi. This posthumous edition by Claudio Sorrentino sees the light thanks to the will of his wife Matilde Stefanini, lecturer and art historian, and his friend, Stefano Bruni, director of the series. The work, which Sorrentino was unable to complete before his death, reflects a rigorous scholarly method, based on the systematic analysis of faunal materials from the excavation of the southern sanctuary, and is the result of more than twenty-five years of investigations (pp. 9–10). The title of the work leaves no doubt as to the subject matter, just as the aim of presenting the faunal remains — including the malacological ones, which are normally neglected in the discussions of specialist studies — always with precise references to the excavation contexts and possible connections between them, is quite clear.
The work, which consists of only about thirty pages of textpens with two brief considerations. The first introduces the theme of the volume in relation to the Pyrgi excavations and the importance of this publication, albeit incomplete, for subsequent studies of the site’s faunal remains (pp. 9–10). The second emphasizes the non-exhaustive nature of the considerations in the volume, defined as “little more than notes” (p. 11), and lists some themes which the scholar would still have liked to have explored in greater depth.
The volume continues with a brief introduction (pp. 15–17) and a presentation of the area of the southern sanctuary of Pyrgi and the animals found in it, which are in turn divided into categories (vertebrates, invertebrates, and astragals), accompanied by a note on the area between the Greater Sanctuary and the Southern Area. This is followed by conclusions; the ten distribution tables of the animal remains (hand-drawn by the author) and an updated bibliography (pp. 43–46). At the end of the volume come the lengthiest parts: Appendix I (The squares with vertebrates) and Appendix II (Catalogue of bone finds in relation to stratigraphy), whose data certainly formed the basis for the hypotheses expressed in the conclusions.
This is certainly an important work for understanding the ritual practices of the southern sanctuary of Pyrgi, but the author’s untimely death clearly affected the completeness of the volume. In spite of this, the book provides a basis for future studies of the faunal remains of the sacred area. The numerous tables in the appendix are certainly helpful in deciphering the data and provide an overview of the bone remains in their stratigraphic distribution. The hand-written tables (1–10) also aid in understanding the distribution of animal remains, and come directly from the excavation documentation by the author, but given the cost of the volume they could have been digitized. It is unclear whether this choice reflects the author’s wish or an editorial desire.
Despite these reservations, the work has the great merit of dealing with the subject in depth and of describing a complete, albeit abbreviated, picture of the situation of faunal remains, having gone through extensive research in the storerooms of the Pyrgi excavations (material from excavations conducted between 1984 and 2001). The author describes the cult rituals that took place within the southern sanctuary area through the analysis of 14,219 finds, although many of them are only unidentifiable fragments. For the physical, architectural, and archaeological description of the sacred area, he refers to previous studies.[1]
The archaeozoological material is treated following two main guidelines: stratigraphy/recovery relationship and situations where cultic activities might have taken place (p. 18). The often poor state of preservation of the material determined this approach to the analysis, which nevertheless revealed evidence of intense cultic activity in the area over time. This study confirmed the presence of two categories of animals in the sanctuary (p. 28). The first includes cattle and adult horses (heads), which were given special treatment due to their economic and social importance as work animals (the former) and riding animals (the latter). The exclusion of the consumption of horsemeat, a sacred animal, linked to the most powerful gods, both in the underworld and linked to fertility, is also emphasised. Animals for slaughter, especially sheep, goats and pigs, even very young ones, are part of the second, and are the subjects most used as sacrificial animals and as religious offerings in various religious activities. The presence of the rooster, as an animal to be linked to the cult of Demeter and Kore, is also reported, as is that of the dog, referred in general to various cults of female deities, linked to procreation and growth. The few remains of deer and roe deer, as well as those of hare are also to be connected to female deities, such as Artemis and Aphrodite. Remarkable also is the finding of significant quantities of marine fauna, especially shells, if we consider that the food value of shellfish seems to have declined from the Bronze Age onwards. The ensemble of all faunal remains from the sanctuary of Pyrgi would thus confirm that the rituals were linked predominantly to the sphere of nature’s fertility and female fecundity.
Notably, the book emphasizes the potential of collaboration between archaeozoology and archaeology proper, which could bring renewal to the study of sacred areas and be useful for the reconstruction of cultic practices, also highlighting their intentional aspect.
Notes
[1] The author mentions the following titles: M. P. Baglione (2008) “Esame del santuario meridionale di Pyrgi”, in X. Dupré i Raventós, S. Ribichini and S. Verger, eds, Saturnia tellus: definizioni dello spazio consacrato in ambiente etrusco, italico, fenicio-punico, iberico e celtico: atti del convegno internazionale Svoltosi a Roma dal 10 al 12 novembre 2004: 301–318. B. Belelli Marchesini (2013) “Le linee di sviluppo topografico del Santuario Meridionale”, in M. P. Baglione and M. D. Gentili, eds, Riflessioni su Pyrgi: scavi e ricerche nelle aree del santuario. L’Erma di Bretschneider: 11–40.