A little while ago, I mentioned the photo of a terracotta head from Sparta that I saw in Fitzhardinge’s The Spartans and that I had never been able to locate an electronic version of it. I still haven’t had any luck, but here is what I do know about it. The photo is credited to the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Sparta Museum 1238.

The head is a terracotta vase 5.5 cm (about 2 inches) tall, from the first quarter of the seventh century, found in the temple of Artemis Orthia. It was apparently meant to hang upside down, since the opening is in the base of the neck.

What interests me is the find spot and the fact that it was meant to hang upside down. Usually, images of body parts found in temples are considered apotropaic, that is they are meant to stand for an afflicted body part that the dedicator wishes to be cured. That seems an unlikely role for something that hangs upside down. (Oh, goddess, I’ve got such a pain in the head! Please cure me while I hang by my ankles.) Now, Orthia was often connected by the Spartans to the Tauric Artemis brought to them by Orestes after he and Pylades avoided being sacrificed by Iphigenia. The Tauric Artemis received human sacrifice and it is said that originally Orthia also received human sacrifices (I think that’s in Pausanias, but it might be Plutarch). Might this head stand for such a sacrifice or perhaps be a dedication to thank the goddess for success in battle?