With Gods as Neighbours : Extra-temenal activity at Greek rural sanctuaries, 700–200 BCE

The thesis investigates so-called extra-temenal areas at Greek rural sanctuaries 700–200 BCE. Extra-temenal areas are defined as areas located outside the temenos, which have a functional, administrative and conceptual connection to the sanctuary. The aim is to better understand the use, administration and significance of the areas and activities close to, but outside of the temenos. To facilitate this investigation a field survey project at Labraunda was devised, the Surroundings of Labraunda project, and to complement and contrast the results of this survey, all published material from the sanctuaries of Sinuri in Karia, and Nemea in Korinthia, was examined. Activities could be attested in the surroundings of all three sanctuaries, ranging from everyday household tasks such as cooking and weaving, to building activity, ceramic production, sports, and cult. Most of these activities were spatially concentrated within 500 metres of the temenos, possibly with an internal spatial organisation in which certain parts of the area were dedicated to permanent living, and others to temporary activities during the religious festivals. The activities noted appear to be focussed towards the sanctuary, i.e. they can be expected to have existed by and for the sanctuary’s needs. It can be suggested that there existed a zone around the temenos, perceived as belonging to the sanctuary, and where activities connected to the sanctuary were practised. To conceptualise the activities noted in the surroundings of rural sanctuaries, and the relationship between the extra-temenal and the temenos, the concept of commons was applied in an attempt to understand how the sanctuary could have functioned. Many parallels between ancient Greek rural sanctuaries and commons can be noted, and the sanctuaries are suggested to have functioned as ‘religious commons’, that is, places of shared interest and responsibility for the communities using them, and likewise places of social interaction and construction of identity. The commons perspective can help explain why an all-encompassing function of this type of sanctuary has been difficult to establish, as it emphasises variation rather than uniformity. Religious commons can be expected to have adapted to local conditions, leading to varying expressions of the same basic formula. The commons perspective can also help explain the resilience of rural sanctuaries, and why they had such an important role in the creation and perpetuation of identity in the ancient Greek society