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93
most often to prepare them for inclusion in exhibitions; their afterlife is therefore visual
not auditory, although in some cases researchers are intent on producing and studying the
sounds of those instruments.159 The latter task often requires the reproduction of
instruments in order to avoid accelerating the deterioration of ancient specimens through
use. The applications of this relatively new approach are numerous and beneficial. In
some cases, it may serve a corrective function in terms of identification of functional
ancient instruments. For instance, Maurice Byrne recently identified fragments of a
bronze-clad pipe from Pergamon as a functional instrument because he had the benefit of
a greater understanding of the mechanics of ancient pipe-playing than the excavator of
the object, Alexander Conze, who in 1903 assumed that the walls of the pipe were too
thick to have been part of an instrument that was actively sounded and concluded
therefore that the object was merely a votive approximation of a pipe.160
Though there are clear positive applications of the new techniques, the difficulties
inherent in such projects are equally clear: modern reproductions of ancient instruments,
precise as they may be, are not the original objects, and the sounds they produce are not
the original sounds. Further, it is impossible to know whether the sounds that modern
musicians elicit from ancient instruments, or from reproductions of ancient instruments,
bear much resemblance to the sounds the Greeks and Romans heard. Two thousand
years of history and of change in musical techniques stand between us and the ability to
159On reconstruction and preservation of Greek and Roman instruments (and the problems inherent in such
projects), see H.K. Ersoy (2002) and A. Tamboer (2002), who considers the differences between creating
reconstructions for educational use as opposed to for purposes of experimental archaeological research. On
potential applications of archaeomusicology to the field of the history of music, see I. De Geer 1988.
160 M. Byrne 2002, 367.
Object Description
| Title | Making sense of sacrifice: Sensory experience in Greco-Roman cult |
| Author | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Author email | candaceweddle@gmail.com; weddle@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Art History |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-04 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-27 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Pollini, John |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Yasin, Ann Marie Bitel, Lisa |
| Abstract | Performing a sacrifice was one of the most sensorially full actions undertaken in the Greco-Roman world. The production and control of the correct movements, scents and sounds were prerequisites for summoning, communicating with and propitiating deities. Sacrifice was also ubiquitous, occurring on an almost continual basis as a range of sacrificial activities were celebrated publicly and privately in a variety of locations in urban areas. Cultivating a multi-sensory understanding of the full range of sensory elements that accompanied ancient cult rites – visual and auditory cues, things smelled, tasted and touched - provides a platform for achieving a more thorough knowledge of the meanings of the rites.; This dissertation examines the archaeological, literary and epigraphical evidence for the role of the senses in Greek and Roman sacrifice in order to analyze the social and ritual importance of the senses, the impact of sacrificial rituals within ancient urban spaces, and the sensory experience of the ancient worshiper. Given the ephemeral nature of much of the evidence for sensory elements of worship, as well as the subjectivity inherent in representations of sensory experience in literature and art, this dissertation argues for the necessity of crossing disciplinary boundaries in order to appreciate the sensory impact of ancient sacrifice. Therefore, in addition to utilizing traditional historical and art historical approaches, methodological tools from the field of anthropology and evidence from studies in the animal behavioral sciences and consumer sciences are employed. For example, I suggest that greater understanding of the experience of ancient sacrifice may be acquired through an autoethnographic investigation of modern religious sacrifice. To that end, I analyze my experience of the slaughter of large numbers of bovines during the Islamic Kurban Bayram sacrifices in Istanbul to make suggestions concerning certain elements of the sensory experience of ancient blood sacrifice. I focus not only on the sensory experience of humans participating in (or within range of) sacrifices, but also on that of the animal victims. Given the immense ritual importance of the behavior of sacrificial animals in antiquity, I suggest that it is possible to identify some sensory aspects of the sacrificial process that may have been intentionally manipulated in order to control the reactions of the victims as far as possible.; Particular attention is paid to mundane aspects of the process of sacrifice not often addressed in ancient literary sources or represented in art that would have resulted in notable sensory impacts on areas surrounding urban temples, for example the removal of sacrificial refuse. I conclude not only that these elements of sacrifice formed an important part of the sensory experience of Greco-Roman cult, but also that their effects were more far-reaching – in terms both of how great an area they affected and how long they lasted – than has previously been recognized. Using fresh interdisciplinary approaches to well-known examples of texts and images, this dissertation employs a more visceral approach to the study of the sensory experience of ancient sacrifice than is possible when considering textual and archaeological evidence alone. |
| Keyword | archaeology; autoethnography; cult; Greece; religion; Rome; sacrifice; senses |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Rome |
| Geographic subject (country) | Italy; Greece |
| Coverage date | circa -0600/0600 |
| Coverage era | Greco Roman |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3788 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Weddle, Candace Cherie |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Weddle-4363 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume48/etd-Weddle-4363.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 111 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 93 most often to prepare them for inclusion in exhibitions; their afterlife is therefore visual not auditory, although in some cases researchers are intent on producing and studying the sounds of those instruments.159 The latter task often requires the reproduction of instruments in order to avoid accelerating the deterioration of ancient specimens through use. The applications of this relatively new approach are numerous and beneficial. In some cases, it may serve a corrective function in terms of identification of functional ancient instruments. For instance, Maurice Byrne recently identified fragments of a bronze-clad pipe from Pergamon as a functional instrument because he had the benefit of a greater understanding of the mechanics of ancient pipe-playing than the excavator of the object, Alexander Conze, who in 1903 assumed that the walls of the pipe were too thick to have been part of an instrument that was actively sounded and concluded therefore that the object was merely a votive approximation of a pipe.160 Though there are clear positive applications of the new techniques, the difficulties inherent in such projects are equally clear: modern reproductions of ancient instruments, precise as they may be, are not the original objects, and the sounds they produce are not the original sounds. Further, it is impossible to know whether the sounds that modern musicians elicit from ancient instruments, or from reproductions of ancient instruments, bear much resemblance to the sounds the Greeks and Romans heard. Two thousand years of history and of change in musical techniques stand between us and the ability to 159On reconstruction and preservation of Greek and Roman instruments (and the problems inherent in such projects), see H.K. Ersoy (2002) and A. Tamboer (2002), who considers the differences between creating reconstructions for educational use as opposed to for purposes of experimental archaeological research. On potential applications of archaeomusicology to the field of the history of music, see I. De Geer 1988. 160 M. Byrne 2002, 367. |
