Caskets of Late Antiquity. Syncretic Images, Ritual Contexts and Production Techniques in a Time of Change

In the material culture of late antiquity, caskets are a privileged category of artefact whose production techniques and complex decorations with pagan and biblical iconography, as well as social and ritual aspects, are examined in this project. The study continues the research begun by Helmut Buschhausen and Dorottya Gáspár at the Austrian and Hungarian Academy of Sciences and aims to complete the contextualisation of late Roman caskets in their iconographic and formal development.

Research questions

The research aim of the project is to provide a thorough re-evaluation of late antique caskets and casket fittings, their categorisation, functions and find contexts in the upper Roman Danube provinces (Noricum ripense, Pannonia prima, Pannonia secunda and Pannonia Valeria) and in selected cases in Upper Italy and Croatia. An important co-operation agreement with the Hungarian National Museum will make it possible to extend the research to include finds from this important collection. Particular attention will be paid to the syncretic pictorial programmes and the religious and private significance of these objects in late Roman society. Archaeometallurgical investigations carried out on a group of caskets and fittings will provide information on manufacturing techniques and clues to continued use and possible reuse in different contexts.

Methodology

The methodology of this project is based on an interdisciplinary approach that combines typochronological studies, iconographic analyses, manufacturing technology, archaeometry and material analysis, historical geography as well as social and religious history. As part of the scientific analyses, the metal finds are first analysed using either a portable X-ray fluorescence analyser (pXRF) or a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDXS) from VIAS (University of Vienna). Small, non-adherent samples are then taken and their chemical composition and lead isotope ratios are measured at the CEZA Mannheim (Curt-Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry). This serves to determine the origin of the metal used.

Objectives

Based on the latest research results, findings can be expected for the iconographic analysis of visual patterns, research into the history of religion and production techniques in late antiquity. The study of the late Roman caskets of the Danube provinces, the majority of which are now located in Austria and Hungary, is expected to yield diverse results related to the wealth of religious ideas, the perception of the sacred and the ritual and social customs of people in the late Roman period.