Tracing identity negotiation through the materiality of metal votives in Greek and Etrusco‑Roman sanctuaries

Sanctuaries during the 1st millennium BC in the Mediterranean supported numerous formative socio¬ political and economic processes extending far beyond cultic ones. Among their various roles, they functioned as in¬ between grounds and stages for (re)making social (self)image through community meetings, and iden tity expression and negotiation. A large body of material offerings at sanctuary deposits, including copious amounts of metal votives, represents these social dynamics in the archaeological record. Here, we focus on the permanency and materiality of metallic dedications as a proxy to examine three Greek and EtruscoRoman sanctuaries as cultural settings of social antagonism. First, bronze fibulae offered at the sanctuary of Enodia and Thavlios Zeus in Thessaly, central Greece (9th–7th c. BC), show the importance of expressing community identity through metallurgical technology. Next, iron weapons dedicated to the sanctuary at the Greek subcolony Kasmenai in Sicily (6th c. BC) illustrate the dynamics between Greek and local populations. Finally, inscriptions on bronze statues from the sanctuary at Bagni di San Casciano near Siena (2nd c. BC – 1st c. AD) reveal the socio¬ political dynamics between the Etruscans and the Romans. Overall, this detailed investigation of metal votives attests to the opportunities for (inter-)cultural communication in the context of ritual behaviour at Greek and Etrusco¬ Roman sanctuaries, which served as safe spaces for the commingling of group identities leading to social negotiation and tolerance.