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Archaeology Museum of Catalonia - Barcelona

Cernos

Terracotta Cernos from Bordissal (Camarles) Dated between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. Archaeology Museum of Catalonia. Barcelona.

 

Terracotta Cernos from Bordissal (Camarles) Dated between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. Archaeology Museum of Catalonia. Barcelona.

 

This piece represents a female head, probably of a goddess associated with fertility and agriculture.

The worship of deities who protected the harvest was widespread across the Western Mediterranean in the areas ruled by Greece and Carthage, related with Greek Demeter and Kore and the Punic Tanith.

The discovery of these vessels in domestic, funeral, ritual or holy contexts enables us to identify them as votive items for offerings, probably the first fruits of the harvest. The first ears of corn would be placed in the top part of the vessel.

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