TWO BONE AMULETS FROM MIROBRIGA - EVIDENCE FOR THE CULT OF MAGNA MATER?

Abstract

The analysis of data and contexts of old research excavations in Mirobriga (Santiago do Cacém) led to the identification of two bone anthropomorphic figures with feminine features. Although these objects are relatively common in several sites both in Portugal and certain parts of Spain, its function and significance has remained quite enigmatic. As such, the identification and publication of a group of these figures in a building with a probable religious function, in Augusta Emerita, has shed some light as to its possible meaning and religious background.

This paper aims to add to the knowledge and discussion of these objects, by adding two more subjects, one with associated stratigraphic context, to the already known and published ones.