I THYMIATERIA IN IMPASTO AUGITICO A ROMA E NEL SUO TERRITORIO TRA V E III SECOLO A.C.* DIFFUSIONE, FORMA, FUNZIONI

Abstract

Among the votive offerings and the furnishing elements that played an important role in sanctuaries, a prominent position was occupied by thymiateria, objects commonly interpreted as perfume burners. The production of these objects was widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin in the period between the Archaic and the Middle Republican periods.
The present study will provide a detailed analysis of the clay thymiateria in impasto augitico (coarse-cream ware) from the most significant sites in Rome alongside an unpublished sample, which is numerically very consistent, from the excavation on the north-eastern slopes of the Palatine Hill.
This review of the documentation has made it possible to propose a new chrono-typological classification of roman material and to outline the diffusion of these objects within the urban environment; the new data has also made it possible to develop some new, albiet still quite general, reflections on the various functions that the thymiateria fulfilled.