(Aristocratic) domestic cults in Etruria, Lazio, Magna Graecia, and southern Italy

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an interest in the study of cults in the ancient Mediterranean, with an emphasis on individual experiences rather that collective ones, including aspects of family religion and domestic ritual practices. This study of domestic cults in southern Italy and Etruria is based on the author’s doctoral dissertation at Universität Regensburg. Her main objective was to gather a solid base of archaeological evidence of domestic cults in Italy during the 6th and 5th c. BCE, selected according to the criteria of the so-called functional indicators of domestic cult activity. The different types of evidence examined in the book suggest that domestic cult practices were performed not only inside houses, but also in their proximities. Domestic rites vary in form and function, they are often connected with the cult of the ancestors and with the mundus muliebris.