Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Scents performed a pivotal position in shaping id, reminiscence tradition, and intercultural exchanges through the Iron Age Mediterranean.
Carthage, Rue Ibn Chabâat (Dido Quarter): Levantine-imported oil bottle with a black-painted Phoenician inscription, reportedly together with the phrase myrrh, from Home I, Room T1, context K94/1, c. eighth–mid-seventh century BCE (Neg. nos. D-DAI-ROM-NA-RAK-56977, D-DAI-ROM-NA-RAK-59595; courtesy of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome. source
For the primary time, researchers from the College of Tübingen and the Complutense College of Madrid analyzed the manufacture, know-how, and contents of 51 ceramic oil vessels from the Phoenician settlement of Mozia, an island off the coast of Sicily.
Among the many Phoenician ceramics related to scented substances, a notable group represents the small, undecorated vessels referred to as “Phoenician oil bottles.”
Dated from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE, they’ve distinctive options. They usually have slender mouths with thick, outward-sloping rims; quick necks that bulge and taper in diameter; a single vertical ring deal with hooked up on the mid-neck and shoulder; globular to ovoid our bodies; and bases which might be ringed, pointed, or rounded.
The examine targeted on easy, small ceramic bottles measuring between 15.5 and 18.5 centimeters in top. This sort of ceramics is often found in graves, residential areas, and sacred areas, pottery workshops, and a shipwreck, throughout the Atlantic and Mediterranean areas.The archaeological proof confirms their widespread and diversified use.
The island of Mozia in western Sicily additionally yields the most important variety of these vessels.
Mozia, Space V: Phoenician oil bottles present in Mozia, Aea V. Relationship 750/740–550/530 BCE. Picture credit score: A. Orsingher
Within the quest to uncover the origins of those historical vessels, the workforce examined the very essence of the pottery’s composition. Their findings revealed a path again to southern Phoenicia, nestled between modern-day Beirut and the Carmel area—a testomony to human ingenuity and craftsmanship. Researchers additionally analyzed the natural residues preserved inside these vessels, unlocking secrets and techniques about their unique contents and functions. Amongst 51 vessels, eight revealed traces of plant lipids, pine resin, and mastic resin—whispering tales of fragrant oils that when crammed them.
In accordance with Dr. Silvia Amicone from the Archaeometry Working Group on the College of Tübingen, analysis has verified that these ceramic vessels had been utilized for transporting fragrant oils. These oils performed a major position past being mere commerce gadgets; they acted as cultural connectors and expressions of id for Phoenician migrants touring throughout the Mediterranean.
The oils served as devices of reminiscence, preserving the acquainted scents of residence and reinforcing shared practices and oilfactory experiences among the many dispersed communities.
Mozia: View of Space V from the south. Picture credit score: A. Orsingher
The Iron Age Mediterranean was like the traditional world’s model of a bustling airport, with everybody on the transfer, buying and selling items and swapping cultural quirks. Among the many star vacationers had been the Phoenicians – famend as expert sailors, merchants, and craftsmen – that established settlements far past their homeland within the Levant. They arrange outlets in all places, and historically, they had their love for fragrant substances. One can say, they had been mainly working an historical fragrance empire, ensuring everybody smelled fabulous each at residence and overseas.
The examine must be continued to make a radical reevaluation of the experiences of migration, commerce, and cultural belonging in historical instances. In accordance with Orsingher, it’s important to rethink mobility in antiquity past simply the motion of individuals and items. This angle contains the circulation of smells, reminiscences, and sensory traditions.
Scent is intricately linked to id and performs a major position—typically underestimated—in migration processes, settlement patterns, and cultural exchanges.
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Employees Author
