“I wander by the edge of this desolate lake, where wind cries in the sedge”. Human-environmental Networks in the Lived Religion of the Northern Apennines during the Iron Age

Abstract

Groves and lakes, particular geological formations and caves were central hubs in the
sacred landscape of the northern Apennines between the 6th and the 4th centuries
BCE. At the crossroads of transhumance and commercial routes, and at the meeting
points of different geo-cultural areas, these cult places in the mountains were difficult
to reach and not visible from the plains. In fact, the secret paths to them required guidance,
and the knowledge of their location had to be transmitted. These difficulties can
be seen as adding value to these places. Worshippers had to experience the difficulties
of travel, had to learn the path to finally reach a place where they were surrounded
by natural elements and became involved in communication with the transcendental.
These evocative natural locations played a strong role in the encounters between humans
and gods, and at the same time, these places attracted worshippers of different
neighbouring geo-cultural regions, who left objects and other material signs of their
presence as memories of these encounters. The votive objects found here, as well as
on the plains on both sides of the Apennines in different cult contexts, indicate shared
cult practices and a geographic spread of meanings and religious knowledge. The present
contribution aims to discuss the evocative power of these natural places and their
importance in shaping the valuation processes of cult objects and rituals in the Iron
Age Apennines. Through the new perspective offered by the conceptual frame of
ResourceCultures, these sanctuaries are regarded as complex networks of resources
and resource-related sociocultural dynamics, and as privileged places of negotiation
for religious meanings and social communication.

Keywords: Etruscans, Resources, Votive Figurines, Miniature Pottery, Liminality