DUBROVNIK, CROATIA—Croatia Week reports that a terracotta head shown wearing a Greek theater mask has been uncovered in southern Croatia’s Crno Jezero Cave.
The sculpture has been dated to the third or fourth century B.C. and was likely made to be hung on a wall. Domagoj Perkić of the Dubrovnik Museums said that the cave may have been used as a sanctuary where rituals were performed.
“Whether Dionysus, or his Illyrian counterpart, can be connected with the wine vessels and the mask found in the cave remains open to interpretation,” Perkić said. “Most of the sanctuary-related finds were discovered in the entrance and side sections of the cave, which had remained hidden and buried until excavations,” he added.
Other evidence that the cave had been used as a sanctuary from the fourth into the first century B.C. includes luxurious imported Greek pottery such as amphoras, bowls, and kantharoi, or drinking cups, as well as locally produced pottery that may have been left as votive offerings.
To read about the cult of Dionysus in southern Italy, go to “Pompeii’s House of Dionysian Delights.”
