IL RICICLO NELLA PRODUZIONE VOTIVA DEL VENETO PREROMANO

Abstract

Giovanna Gambacurta – Angela Ruta Serafini

The shrines of pre-Roman Veneto provide a significant panorama of finds, thanks to the many detailed publications that have followed one another over the past twenty years of research. The assumptions built up through this work make it possible to go beyond the simple categorisation and stylistic chronology of these votive offerings to develop theories on seemingly marginal aspects of the phenomonology of cult practices.
Within this panorama of sanctuaries, which predominantly contain metal votive offers, elements relating to small metallurgy should not be considered secondary, as they underpinned the production of both decorated and undecorated foils and statuettes. In this production, it is possible to identify both “primary” and “secondary” offerings, when signs of restoration, recycling, reuse of votives, perhaps on more than one occasion, reveal iterated actions of dedication, with an evident optimisation of the metal. A number of existing studies which have focussed particularly on decorated foils have dealt with the subject of recycling, suggesting that votives show a more developed and complex life than previously assumed. Intensive reuse activities can be identified at the shrines, with careful attention to the accumulation and recycling of metal involving a constant cycle.
Beginning with the body of materials from Atestine sanctuaries, in particular from the sanctuary of Reitia, we propose an overview of certain situations that may illustrate these activities, focusing not only on foils, but also on small bronze-work pieces; the numerous actions that can be identified on the finds, together with the remains of slag and semi-finished materials, may lead us to question the presence of genuine small workshops with specialised craftsmen within the sanctuaries themselves or in their vicinity