Signs and Symbols on Cult Objects. From the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages

The Institute of Archaeology in Iași and the National Museum of Bukovina in Suceava organised the international symposium Signs and Symbols on Cult Objects. From the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages on 27 September 2023. Coordinated by Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici and Emil-Constantin Ursu, the event continued the two institutions’ shared interest in the study of systems of signs and symbols and ritual practices across different historical periods.

The symposium offered a broad, diachronic perspective on signs and symbols associated with cult objects and ritual contexts, tracing such manifestations from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The presentations brought together archaeological and interdisciplinary approaches to material culture, symbolic representations, ritual practices, and the ways in which different communities expressed and transmitted concepts of religious or identity-related significance.

Topics included the symbolism of prehistoric societies, signs found on Neolithic and Chalcolithic objects and representations, the relationship between symbols and the sacred, and the persistence or transformation of particular motifs and forms of representation through later historical periods. Contributions addressed, among other subjects, systems of sacred symbols in the Neolithic cultures of Central and Southeastern Europe, representations in post-Paleolithic rock art, and repertoires of signs identified on various categories of objects.

By extending its chronological scope from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages, the symposium provided a forum for discussing the diversity of symbolic expression and the possibilities for interpreting such manifestations in different archaeological contexts.

Invitation – Signs and Symbols Symposium, Suceava 2023