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Flowers
The first in a series of seminars exploring ‘The Materials of Ancient Religion’
A seminar and discussion about material religion and flowers.
This online event will include the following talks:
Dr Patty Baker - "Roman Floral Crowns: Social Meaning and Memory in Religious Festivals" , and
Dr Cameron McNeil - “The Flowers of Ancient Maya Ritual: Pollen Evidence from Copan, Honduras”
Register via Eventbrite to receive further details and joining instructions.
Abstracts
Roman Floral Crowns: Social Meaning and Memory in Religious Festivals - Dr. Patty Baker, Founder of Pax in Natura (www.paxinnature.com); Affiliated Scholar, Department of History, Virginia Tech. info@paxinnature.com
Flower crowns are pervasive in Greco-Roman art and literature.[1] There also exist a few remains of crowns from Egyptian funerary contexts of the same time period. The evidence demonstrates that these ephemeral objects were common features for a variety of social occasions. For example, they were given as prizes for athletic competitions, such as the Olympics, and as honours for military triumphs. They were also made to celebrate life events, including birth, marriage, and death. Crowns were also important accoutrements for religious festivals, for which they held significant meanings that informed social memory.
In this talk, I will focus on the religious significance of the crowns and explore their function and meaning in festivals dedicated to the agricultural deities Bacchus, Mars, Ceres, and Flora. Each of these deities had particular crowns associated with them that were worn by their worshippers. I argue that meanings were imbued in the crowns through their design and manufacture, as well as the context in which they were worn.
Wearing and creating these material objects also stimulated the senses, which helped to recall Roman social memory of the deities and their associated festivals. For example, the scent and feel of the crowns would have been a reminder of the season of the year and type of festivities that were held in honour of the god or goddess. Thus, in a manner of speaking, the crowns created a sense of belonging and social cohesion.
[1] E.g. Aulius Gellius 5. 6; Livy 7. 3; Ovid. Trist. III.2.82; Pindar Olymp. 4.36; Pliny HN 15.40; 16. 3; 22. 4; 25. 39.
The Flowers of Ancient Maya Ritual: Pollen Evidence from Copan, Honduras - Cameron L. McNeil
The Copan Acropolis has proved to be a particularly good site for the recovery of well-preserved pollen grains from flowers that adorned ritual spaces. Scholars have described temple spaces as thick with the odor of burned copal, pine, and offerings, but added to this was the fresh and heady fragrance of greenery and blooming buds, imparting a fecund perfume to the areas of ritual supplication. These botanical offerings and adornments were undoubtedly tied to mythical associations as they are today in modern Maya ritual houses. Analysis of pollen from sediment cores and macroremains from middens aided in the interpretation of ritual botanical materials, emphasizing the importance of understanding the complete ecological context of a community in the interpretation of species commonly found in ritual spaces.