Micromorphological contributions to the study of ritual behavior at the ash altar to Zeus on Mt. Lykaion, Greece

The ash altar to Zeus, located on a peak of Mt. Lykaion (Greece), consists of a thick, anthropogenic deposit that formed as a result of repeated deposition of burnt offerings. Excavations conducted from 2007 to 2010 uncovered evidence of a long history of use of the mountain summit as a purely ritua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeological and anthropological sciences 2017-09, Vol.9 (6), p.1017-1043
Main Authors: Mentzer, Susan M., Romano, David Gilman, Voyatzis, Mary E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropogenic factors
Anthropology
Archaeology
Ash
Bioturbation
Body fat
Bones
Burning
Charcoal
Chemistry/Food Science
Dissolution
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Excavation
Fragments
Geoarchaeology
Geography
Iron Age
Life Sciences
Locality
Original Paper
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Summary:The ash altar to Zeus, located on a peak of Mt. Lykaion (Greece), consists of a thick, anthropogenic deposit that formed as a result of repeated deposition of burnt offerings. Excavations conducted from 2007 to 2010 uncovered evidence of a long history of use of the mountain summit as a purely ritual locality. Micromorphological analyses of sediment from the southern area of the altar confirm that a majority of the sedimentary components are microscopic artifacts sourced from combustion activities. The basal units comprise the remnants of a thin soil which contains inclusions of charcoal, burned bone, and fat-derived char and is associated with Mycenaean (sixteenth–twelfth centuries BC) materials. Ritual burning activities in the southern area peaked in the Protogeometric through Classical periods (tenth–fourth centuries BC), with intensive burning associated with the practice of thysia (ritual sacrifice) yielding a deposit in which the
ISSN:1866-9557
1866-9565
DOI:10.1007/s12520-014-0219-y