Fragmente de sculpturi din sectorul T de la Histria cu reprezentarea divinității Meter Theon
Sculptural Fragments Representing Meter Theon from Sector T in Histria

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents four marble finds from Histria, sector T, representing Meter Theon. The sketched features of the two statuettes, and the washed surface of the other two pieces, which have been exposed in open air for a long period of time, make them difficult to date. Nevertheless, some still visible details point to a Hellenistic style. The chronology of these finds is discussed both in the context of similar representations of Meter from Histria, which are 18 altogether, as in that of the representations found especially in the cities on the West coast of the Black Sea. Another aspect regards the relation of these finds with the sanctuary that ceased to function in the sector T during the Roman period. The discovery context, namely 4th – 6th c. AD building walls, as well as other evidence regarding the cult of Meter at Histria point to a growing importance during the Roman period. Besides the four sculptures from the sector T, a concentration of epigraphic and sculptural finds belonging to a sanctuary, most of them related to Meter cult, is noticed in the south-eastern corner of the Histrian acropolis, in the sector Domus. The numerous statuettes of Meter, at first sight an indication of the growing popularity of her cult during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, are rather a consequence of the votive habit of displaying images of the goddess in public and domestic sanctuaries, habit that boosted especially in the Roman period, when it was favoured by the increasing mass production of marble items.

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