NEW฀EVIDENCE฀FOR฀THE฀PRACTICE฀OF฀LIBATIONS฀ IN฀THE฀AEGEAN฀BRONZE฀AGE Three฀recently฀excavated฀Bronze฀Age฀sites฀in฀Troizenia฀(NE฀Peloponnese)฀have฀yielded฀ new฀evidence฀for฀libations฀pertinent฀to฀cultic฀and฀funerary฀contexts฀and฀have฀now฀provided฀ additional฀ information฀ about฀ that฀ important฀ ritual฀ of฀ Aegean฀ religion,฀ the฀ most฀ intriguing฀ aspects฀of฀which฀were฀excellently฀treated฀in฀the฀past฀by฀the฀organizers฀of฀this฀conference. 1 ฀ a.฀Ayios฀Konstantinos,฀Methana The฀ new฀ evidence฀ for฀ the฀ practice฀ of฀ libation฀ in฀ connection฀ with฀ cult฀ activity฀ comes฀ from฀ the฀ LH฀ IIIA-B฀ sanctuary฀ at฀ Ayios฀ Konstantinos฀ on฀ Eastern฀ Methana. 2 ฀ The฀ continued฀ investigation฀of฀that฀site฀has฀so฀far฀brought฀to฀light฀several฀Mycenaean฀buildings,฀extending฀ mainly฀ to฀ the฀ N฀ and฀ to฀ the฀ W฀ of฀ the฀ modern฀ church฀ of฀ Ayios฀ Konstantinos฀ (Pl.฀ LXVIIa).฀ As฀ I฀ have฀ argued฀ elsewhere, 3 ฀ a฀ primary฀ cultic฀ function฀ may฀ be฀ assigned฀ to฀ Room฀ A,฀ lying฀ immediately฀ to฀ the฀ SW฀ of฀ the฀ church฀ (Pl.฀ LXVIIb).฀ The฀ cultic฀ installations฀ of฀ that฀ room฀ comprised฀ a฀ stepped฀ stone-built฀ bench,฀ which฀ was฀ set฀ in฀ the฀ northwest฀ corner,฀ a฀ central฀ platform฀ made฀ out฀ of฀ thin฀ stone฀ slabs฀ resting฀ on฀ the฀ loor,฀ a฀ low฀ ledge฀ running฀ along฀ the฀ southern฀ wall,฀ and฀ a฀ small฀ hearth฀ constructed฀ with฀ a฀ few฀ rough฀ stones฀ placed฀ near฀ the฀ southeast฀corner.฀ Together฀with฀the฀remarkable฀group฀of฀votive฀terracottas฀deposited฀on฀the฀steps฀of฀the฀ bench฀were฀found฀eight฀kylikes฀and฀a฀large฀triton฀shell฀(Pl.฀LXVIIc).฀The฀kylikes,฀except฀for฀one฀ example฀of฀the฀monochrome฀type฀FS฀264,฀were฀undecorated.฀Five฀of฀those฀belonged฀to฀the฀low฀ type฀FS฀267,฀one฀to฀FS฀272,฀and฀one฀to฀FS฀274.฀All฀those฀common฀drinking฀vessels฀may฀well฀ have฀been฀used฀for฀the฀ritual฀pouring฀and฀drinking฀of฀liquids,฀a฀type฀of฀Mycenaean฀libation฀ plausibly฀ proposed฀ by฀ Hägg. 4 ฀ Corroborating฀ evidence฀ for฀ the฀ performance฀ of฀ libations฀ in฀ Room฀ A฀ comes฀ from฀ two฀ diminutive฀ vessels฀ also฀ found฀ in฀ the฀ area฀ of฀ the฀ bench.฀ Those฀ were฀a฀conical฀rhyton,฀decorated฀with฀a฀symmetrically฀arranged฀octopus,฀and฀a฀plain฀dipper฀ (Pl.฀LXVIId).฀The฀two฀miniatures฀may฀have฀constituted฀a฀set,฀as฀the฀dipper฀was฀of฀appropriate฀ size฀for฀pouring฀liquids฀into฀that฀rhyton,฀but฀it฀would฀be฀rather฀too฀small฀for฀any฀other฀practical฀ use. 1฀ R.฀ LAFFINEUR,฀ “Fécondité฀ et฀ pratiques฀ funéraires฀ en฀ Égée฀ à฀ l’âge฀ du฀ Bronze,”฀ in฀ A.฀ BONANNO฀ (ed.),฀ Archaeology฀and฀Fertility฀Cult฀in฀the฀Ancient฀Mediterranean.฀Papers฀presented฀at฀the฀First฀International฀Conference฀on฀ Archaeology฀of฀the฀Ancient฀Mediterranean,฀Malta,฀2-5฀Sept.฀1985฀(1986)฀79-96,฀esp.฀82-88;฀ID.,฀“Weitere฀Beiträge฀ zur฀ Symbolik฀ im฀ mykenischen฀ Bestattungsritual,”฀ in฀ Kolloquium฀ zur฀ Ägäischen฀ Vorgeschichte,฀ Mannheim,฀ 20.-22.2.1986,฀Schriften฀des฀Deutschen฀Archäologen-Verbandes฀ 9฀(1987)฀125-132;฀R.฀HÄGG,฀“The฀role฀of฀libations฀ in฀Mycenaean฀ceremony฀and฀cult,”฀in฀Celebrations฀177-184;฀for฀a฀recent฀review฀of฀the฀evidence฀for฀libations฀in฀ the฀Mycenaean฀world,฀see฀ID.,฀“Ritual฀in฀Mycenaean฀Greece,”฀in฀F.฀GRAF฀(ed.),฀Ansichten฀griechisher฀Rituale.฀ Geburtstags-Symposium฀für฀Walter฀Burkert.฀Castelen฀bei฀Basel฀15.฀bis฀18.฀März฀1996฀(1998)฀99-113,฀esp.฀104-105. 2฀ E.฀ KONSOLAKI,฀ ArchDelt฀ 46฀ (1991)฀ Chronika฀ 71-74฀ with฀ Pls฀ 40-42;฀ ID.,฀ “The฀ Mycenaean฀ sanctuary฀ on฀ Methana,”฀ BICS฀40฀(1995)฀242;฀ID.,฀“A฀group฀of฀new฀Mycenaean฀horsemen฀from฀Methana,”฀in฀ MELETEMATA฀ II฀ 427-433฀ with฀ Pls฀ XCIV-XCV;฀ see฀ also฀ C.W.฀ SHELMERDINE,฀ “Review฀ of฀ Aegean฀ Prehistory฀ VI:฀ The฀ Palatial฀Bronze฀Age฀of฀Southern฀and฀Central฀Greek฀Mainland,”฀ AJA฀101฀(1997)฀537-585,฀esp.฀574-575,฀with฀ Figs฀12-13;฀H.฀WHITTAKER,฀ Mycenaean฀Cult฀Buildings฀(1997)฀164-165;฀C.฀MEE฀and฀H.฀FORBES,฀ A฀Rough฀ and฀Rocky฀Place:฀The฀Landscape฀and฀Settlement฀History฀of฀the฀Methana฀Peninsula,฀Greece฀(1997)฀53,฀128. 3฀ E.฀KONSOLAKI,฀“A฀Mycenaean฀sanctuary฀on฀Methana,”฀in฀Peloponnesian฀Sanctuaries฀and฀Cults,฀Proceedings฀of฀ the฀Ninth฀International฀Symposium฀at฀the฀Swedish฀Institute฀in฀Athens,฀11-13฀June฀1994฀(in฀press);฀ID.,฀“Mycenaean฀ religious฀ architecture:฀ The฀ archaeological฀ evidence฀ from฀ Ayios฀ Konstantinos,฀ Methana,”฀ in฀ Celebrations.฀ Sanctuaries฀and฀Vestiges฀of฀Cult฀Practice.฀International฀Symposium฀at฀the฀Norwegian฀Institute฀at฀Athens฀12-16฀May฀ 1999฀(in฀press).฀ 4฀ HÄGG฀(supra฀n.฀1,฀Celebrations)฀183;฀HÄGG฀(supra฀n.฀1,฀1998)฀105.