Exceptional Burials at the Sanctuary of Eukleia at Aegae (Vergina)

The Gold Oak Wreath

Bibliographic Data

ID10964416
AuthorsAthanasia Kyriakou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume109
Pages251-285
Publication date2014-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annual of the British School at Athens (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0068-2454 • E-ISSN: 2045-2403
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0068245414000082
OpenAlexW2166778216
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited23

This article focuses on a recent find from the archaeological site of Vergina, which is identified as the old capital of the Macedonian kingdom, Aegae. In the surroundings of a sanctuary three burials were discovered with outstanding components. One of them, a gold oak wreath, constitutes the object of investigation. At the outset of the study the excavation site and the data of the discovery of the burials are outlined. Then the wreath is analytically presented in terms of typology, technology, craftsmanship and style. In order to incorporate it in a network of precious artefacts, the other four oak wreaths found in Macedonia and dated to the fourth century bc are described and all of them are compared in the search for similarities or differences. Through this procedure three of them, all from Vergina, emerge as belonging to the same artistic tradition and possibly the same place of production. Then the issue of different contexts is addressed. First of all, the burial in question and the particularities of the other two burials with oak wreaths from Vergina are examined, resulting in the articulation of a pattern. The next step comprises a general sketch of the meaning of wreaths in antiquity both in life and in death, while a subsequent brief consideration of funerary assemblages from the same period and region lays emphasis on the symbolic significance of these head ornaments in their contexts. Attention is also drawn to the plant that the wreath imitates, which is connected to Zeus. In this framework the oldest known oak wreath, that of ‘Philip II’, is evaluated mainly by examining politics as reflected on coinage. The power of such symbols as applied to other members of the same family is put forward. Another level of approach, the evaluation of the wider territorial context, offers insights into the decision to deposit the burial in the area of an intra muros sanctuary in the old and venerated capital of the kingdom. When the results of the study are combined, a working hypothesis emerges that would consider the burial containing the gold wreath as connected to a member of the ruling family. Research turns to the literary evidence and from this it appears that there is a possibility that the burial is that of the illegitimate murdered son of Alexander the Great. The concluding section refers briefly to episodes in the cultural biography of the wreath. In the meantime, until further and holistic study of the three burials and the construction where they were discovered is carried out, the gold oak wreath forms part of exhibitions on various themes as a representative of the assemblages

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Articulation (sociology · Assemblage (archaeology · Excavation · Genealogy · Linguistics · Macedonian · Meaning (existential · Object (grammar · Ornaments · Period (music · Stele · Style (visual arts · Typology · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub