Of snakes and gods: early evidence for the cult of Sabazios in the Roman villa of Collet

Recovered from a coastal villa in north-eastern Spain, fragments of a vessel with a snake-headed handle provide insights into religious influences that reached western territories of the Roman Empire. Based on formal comparisons, laboratory analysis and 3D modelling, the authors argue that the iconography links this vessel to the cult of the god Sabazios, the private worship of whom may have spread from the nearby city of Emporiae. This artefact is one of only a few of its kind found in the Iberian Peninsula, though compositional analysis of its paste suggests its origins might not lie in Europe.