Materiality of Greek Religion: Votive Practices and Rituals in the Sanctuaries of Gela, Sicily

The paper focuses on an Archaic-Classical sanctuary in the Rhodian-Cretan colony of Gela, on the southern coast of Sicily. Thanks to a new attention to the materiality of votive objects, as well as to their reciprocal associations, the study aims to reconstruct the local votive practices and their transformation from mid-7th century to the late 5th century BC. During a first phase, the rite was based on the lighting of oil lamps and the dedication of unguent containers. After a systematic change in ritual practice occurred around 550 BC, the consumption of beverages and libations was accompanied by the systematic dedication of terracotta protomai. Great attention is paid to the identification of social actors and the symbolic functions played by the objects as media of a ritual communication with the divinity and the community of worshippers. The complete analysis of the archaeological evidence revealed a clear functional specialisation of the sanctuary with regard to a religious community of young women in a phase of transition towards marriage.