Conjuring Death. An Apotropaic Gravegood from a Phoenician Burial in Gadir (6th century BC)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is analyse the grave goods recorded from a bustum located in the Phoenician necropolis of Gadir, in particular in a sector excavated recently that has been dated in the 6th century BC. This burial is part of a larger set that consist in four cremations as well as some ritual pits or ritual bonfires filled with charcoal remains, ceramic fragments, bone wastes and malacofauna. The latter probably are the remains of a funerary ritual that took place in association with the burials. These burials are primary incinerations in situ. They are simple pits without covering, following the usual funerary ritual of Gadir at this time. Grave goods documented in some of these burials consisted in ceramic vessels (mostly pots, plates and lamps) as well as jewels and personal protection elements. Among them, it stands out some of the grave goods documented in Tomb nº 4: a scarab of faience, a medallion-pendant of gold in the shape of an inverted heart and central omphalos, 13 beads of a necklace (7 of carnelian and 3 of gold), a bead of glassy oculate paste and a taba. The nature of these objects with an outstanding apotropaic dimension seems to suggest an attempt to reinforce the deceased's safeguard beyond death, providing him with an extra dose of protection for his final journey. But, as the apotropaic elements were usually carried by children and women, these grave goods may serve as discriminatory elements to establish the age and sex of the deceased, given the impossibility, in many cases, of carrying out anthropological analysis due to the state of the remains. Besides, the obvious apotropaic character of these sets denote the belief that some sectors of society needed a greater degree of protection in the face of the transit towards the unknown involved by physical death.