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Notes
I stumbled across this grave during the research on my PhD thesis on terracotta figurines in Attic graves, funded by the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin via the Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies. For helpful criticism of earlier drafts, I am deeply thankful to Karl Berg and Marie-Christin Künzelmann.
See Stackelberg 1837, 42–43, where he claims to be the excavator of the grave. The grave has been republished soon (see N. N. 1844), and mentioned by Winter 1903, IV.
See Corbett 1960, 52–54. Research in the British Museum, which holds Burgon’s collection, might well reveal other grave contexts of this excavation. Burgon’s own brilliant watercolors of his finds are available at https://legacy.ashmolean.org/ash/amulets/burgonarchive/picmain.html due to the short-lived Burgon Archive Project under the aegis of the Ashmolean Museum and Michael Vickers. For the Acharnian Gate and its necropolis at modern Kotzia Square see Marchiandi et al. 2014. Here, Carl Haller von Hallerstein conducted excavations as early as 1811, see Fräßle 1986, 33, fig. 6 (a page of Haller’s unpublished diary with observations about Greek burials; today in the Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg, Ms 2720, dossier IV).
Usually clay tubs, which must have been some household vessel, did not have their own lids. For burials, a second clay tub was used as a lid. See Kübler 1976, 179; Knigge 1976, 30.
Stackelberg 1837, 43 gives the measures of the clay tub: “4 F.[uß] 11 Z.[oll] in der Länge, 1 F. ¼ Z. in der Breite und 5 ¼ Z. in der Höhe.” He might have used the same ‘English foot’ as in Stackelberg 1826, 46. The ‘London foot’ of that time is said to equal 30 cm. Hence, the clay tub was about 135 cm long. This is too long for an early Attic clay tub burial, see Charitonides 1958, 28–30, 60–62, nos. 28, 59 (CXII and LXXXIV). Compared to the length of the terracotta figurines, ca. 20 cm (see n. 40), the clay tub should be around 1 m long.
This is not evident from a short discussion by Rumscheid 1999, 1037, 1046–1047 since he uses “enthroned woman” also for figurines of seated women without a throne, although he says that different terms might be useful.
Characteristic is the oval shape of the belly, which is missing an indention, see Knigge 1976, 33–38, pl. 77 with literature; especially form III/2 ‘early.’ The form seems quite elongated, but compare Haspels 1936, 163 (date), 252, nos. 58–59, pl. 43, nos. 1–2 (Athens, National Museum Inv. 515; Paris, Louvre Inv. CA 1837), and Knigge 1976, 90, 103–104, no. 20.1, 20.2, 20.6, 58.1, 61.1, pl. 19, no. 2, pl. 24, no. 7, pl. 26, no. 2. For the palmette of one of the lekythoi, see Oxford, Ashmolean Museum Inv. 1927.4456, see Kurtz 1975, pl. 69, no. 2. Compare the lekythoi cited in n. 38.
Since the other vessels fit that date, it is assumed that they are not reused from an older burial (see the following paragraphs). However, this cannot be excluded entirely; the ‘snake’ pattern between the handles of the big kotyle and its form find parallels in sixth century B.C.E. vessels from Corinth. See a kotyle in Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Skulpturensammlung Inv. Dr. 105, see CVA Dresden IV, 95–97, pl. 38 (C. Dehl-von Kaenel).
See Kurtz and Boardman 1976, 97–98; see also Houby-Nielsen 2000, 153.
See Stroszeck 2012, 58; Houby-Nielsen 2000, 153–155.
An example gives the ‘South Hill’ and ‘South Way’ from the Kerameikos necropolis, where ca. 150 child burials and ca. 50 burials of adolescents from 500–425 B.C.E. have been found (only the better preserved were counted). Only one burial, likely of a young woman, contained a red-figure vessel of higher quality. See Knigge 1976, 15.
Was it taken out immediately after the burial had been found, and replaced erroneously for the drawing? Its head pointing down seems odd since the others are all pointing up. But one cannot exclude that there was a reason for breaking the very symmetrical arrangement already in antiquity.
Scenes on ‘low-quality’ black-figure lekythoi are often neglected, and this shall be the case here because (a) only a small part of one black-figure image is available, (b) the focus does not lie on visual communication, and (c) it is impossible to say whether the grave goods were selected due to the age and gender of the deceased. For such black-figure imagery, see Brendle 2017; Hatzivassiliou 2010; Knigge 1976, 38–43.
See a cenotaph from the Kerameikos necropolis in Kübler 1976, 76–77, no. 255 (for stratigraphic reasons, which would be too lengthy to trace here, it should be dated around 480–470 B.C.E.). See Kurtz and Boardman 1971, 99–100, 257–259 with literary sources and other examples from Greece; many of them may be burials of rulers.
The cenotaph no. 5 HTR 81 II from the Kerameikos in Kübler 1976, 64–65, no. 230, pl. 21, no. 2 and Kunze-Götte et al. 1999, 62, no. 230, pl. 31, no. 5. Kübler thought the grave was contemporary with his grave no. 229 (35 HTR 40 II). Hence it would date around 550–540 B.C.E.; but Kunze-Götte et al. 1999 dated the vessels of the cenotaph to the early fifth century. This is improbable for stratigraphic reasons: grave no. 236 (35 HTR 59 II) from ca. 500 B.C.E. gives a terminus ante quem to the funerary mount J over the cenotaph; therefore, it should date between 540–510 B.C.E.
See N. N. 1844, 389.
The fact that the feet are preserved might point on the possibility that the deceased had not been dead for long, since the lower leg bones and the feet still might have been connected. Stackelberg 1837, 43 observed that the skull had been incomplete. He states that all the bones of the upper body, from the shoulders to the hips, were missing, but it is unclear whether the upper leg bones were preserved. While Stackelberg 1837, 42 says that two terracotta figurines were lying on the leg bones, the drawing is not showing them, and it is not clear if the thigh bones were meant by the word “Schenkelknochen.” Judging from the drawing it seems unlikely that the thigh bones were preserved, since they must have been too long to be hidden entirely by the figurines. However, since the published drawing is a copy of Stackelberg’s original sketch, the bones might be missing erroneously.
In fact, I am not aware of other reburials in late Archaic Athens (cases like the displacement of the bones of the hero Theseus in the early fifth century B.C.E. are surely not representative of common practices). Kurtz and Boardman 1971, 68–74 do not even mention the possibility of such an act.
For a short discussion of Greek and Roman terminology concerning ghosts see Felton 1999, 23–25.
Tarlow 2013, has pointed on how beliefs shape the perception of the world and the actions of people.
For a discussion of the story and the whole letter see Felton 1999, 62–78.
Zelnick-Abramovitz 2015, 76.
See Johnston 1999, 7–20 and 20–35 for the following poetry, tragedy, and other literature; for deceased returning bodily from Hades, see Johnston 2018; see also the short account by Felton 1999, 8–15.
See Hom. Il. 23.65–92 and Od. 11.51–78. On these stories see also Aguirre 2009, 181–183.
Johnston 1999, 31.
See Johnston 1999, 71–80; ThesCRA III, 264–270 (Graf, F.); for the objects see, for example, Stroszeck 2019.
SEG IX 72; see Johnston 1999, 58–60 with literature. The situation is another one as with the burial under discussion: the ghost had been sent to the house by a third party. Therefore, the means to remove him were different. Male and female figures were made (since the sex of the ghost was not known), they got offerings of food, and were brought to a remote forest afterwards, clearly in the hope that the ghost would follow.
See Johnston 1999, 142–160.
Johnston 1999, 147.
See for example Kurtz and Boardman 1971, 142–148.
The provenience of the illustrated lekythos is not known. It appears for the first time in 1974 in a publication of the Norbert Schimmel Collection, see Muscarella 1974, no. 63. It seems likely that the lekythos has been found during tomb-looting some time before, presumably in Italy. The Norbert Schimmel Collection is notorious for probably looted artefacts, see Felch 2012.
See Allen 2017, 197–228; Maderna 2011; Aguirre 2009, 185–186; Oakley 2004, 212–213; Pfeifer 1989.
This has been pointed out by Aguirre 2009, 186.
Townsend 1955.
Townsend 1955, 194–196, fig. 3; 218–219, nos. 39–47, pl. 77 (Agora Inv. nos. P 21266–21274).
At this place several sherds from different periods were found. On both lekythoi grave scenes were depicted.
See Whitley 1994.
The sale catalogue of Stackelberg’s collection might contain one of the figurines (see n. 40), and it is possible that some of the vessels and one of the lamps listed there come from this grave. However, the descriptions of the catalogue are not sufficient to determine this. See Heinrich 1837, 7–13.
The two black figure lekythoi might be identical with two lekythoi in one of Burgon’s drawings, showing the items No. 15. N and No. 15. O of his collection. If the drawing is to be trusted, No. 15. O is not identical with Ashmolean Museum Inv. 1927.4456, despite its inventory number written on the drawing (see https://legacy.ashmolean.org/ash/amulets/burgonarchive/illustrations/(15n,o)%20%20red%20and%20black%20vases.html, “(15N,O) red and black vases”).
See Hase 1839, passim; CVA Dresden I–IV s. v. Herkunft; Knoll 1993, 42 and 55 cites that 31 antiquities have been bought from Stackelberg’s collection (and later also one statue). The Skulpturensammlung is today part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. For many of its objects see https://skd-online-collection.skd.museum.
Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Skulpturensammlung Inv. H4 041 / 343; see Häger-Weigel 2000, 40, no. 38 (with bibliography). I am very thankful to Saskia Wetzig who made me aware of the figurine and sent me images and information, also of several other objects. See Heinrich 1837, 12, no. 1; Hase 1839, 181, no. 407b, who seems to describe the same figurine. The height of the figurine is 18,7 cm; Hase specifies it as “11 Z.”. But 11 Zoll is likely more than 18,7 cm, since one Zoll was usually longer than 2 cm. According to Hase the figurine is shown on Stackelberg 1937, pl. 57 (he writes “97”, a reading error: 9 for 5), which shows a similar figurine and not the one in Dresden. He says the figurine would come from a child’s coffin.
See n. 6.
Kerameikos Inv. no. T 55, see Schlörb-Vierneisel 1997, 27, no. 70, pl. 17, no. 1; from the child grave no. HW 44 (skeleton 80 cm, coffin 90 cm long) from ca. 490 B.C.E., see Knigge 1976, 99, no. 42.
Maybe its bottom line indicates the collar of an undergarment.
See Brooke 1921, 337.
Most of them are unpublished; see Casson 1921, 355–369; Brouskari 1974, 35, figs. 30–34. Some are on display in the Acropolis Museum (https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/explore-collections; search for ‘figurine’).
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