The Spatiality of Epigraphy in Cult Caves, Ritual and Social Identities (20 min)

Presenters

James Hua, University of Oxford

Abstract

Where did ancient visitors decide to inscribe within cult caves? What practical and symbolic considerations went into inscribing in particular locations, and how did these add meaning to the ritual and different people’s experiences? In this paper, I will explore the spatiality of epigraphy in cult caves, by mapping the different genres, types and authors of inscriptions onto their physical location, material, and archaeology. This approach not only better reconstructs the different stages of ritual, often unique in cult caves, but also their diverse audiences, and how each interacted over time and negotiated a social network between themselves.

In a recent article, Papalexandrou demonstrated the richness of studying the material dedications in cult caves more closely with their geological settings and chambers within caves to reconstruct a wider range of cognitive experiences. I extend this approach to the epigraphy of 10 caves (Pharsalus, Hymettos, Parnes, Acropolis, Latsida, Ida, Melidoni, Marathon, Corcyra, and Paros). First, I shall study the inscriptions at cave entrances, focusing on the Marathon, Paros, and Thessaly caves. These highlight the liminal, apotropaic, and instructive functions of such entrance spaces, but also the largely elite and conventional (sympotic) character that their cult took. Yet a study of the epigraphy of deeper and innermost chambers points not only to lower social strata but also to more individual, mystic experiences. Studying the epigraphy of intermediate chambers highlights how these groups interacted, played out social issues of identity, and responded to one another, while experiencing the cult together. Throughout, I discuss the use of reinscriptions, overinscriptions and inscribed surfaces, and closely integrate the archaeology and its visual, olfactory, aural, tactile, and hallucinatory aspects. This holistic approach sheds fuller light on the multistaged ritual experience in cave cults and how epigraphic cultures were contested in different parts of caves and used to reinforce or erode social divides.