Object type
paten
Culture/period
Medieval
Materials
pewter
Technique
moulding?
Mint
Production date
975 / 1025
Current location
Centre Interpretació
Archaeological site
Olèrdola. Església de Sant Miquel (sector 06)
Township
Olèrdola (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Barcelona, Alt Penedès)
Dimensions
13 x 88 x 88 mm
Description
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Paten in an almost flat rounded shape. It is decorated with a central rosette of four petals inscribed in a circle on each of the faces. The rosette on the top face also has a double circle with alternating triangles registered and small printed dots.
This paten, with a cup, derived from grave number 30 in the necropolis located around the church of Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola, an excavation carried out within the framework of the restoration project of the pre-Romanesque and Romanesque building (2005-2008). The burial was of the anthropomorphic type, carved in the calcareous rock, and located behind the north apse of the pre-Romanesque building. Both pieces were deposited next to the skull of an adult male. The name of the buried cleric and the rank are unknown, but it is known that he died between the years 980 and 1021, according to data provided by radiocarbon analyses.
The pieces show conservation defects due to contact with rainwater that temporarily infiltrated into the grave, despite it being sealed with a layer of mortar and limestone slabs. They have been restored by the restoration laboratory in the Archeology Museum of Catalonia-Barcelona.
It is a piece of liturgical character. The discovery is exceptional because of its time and its symbolic value. Very few specimens have been found in graves in Catalonia. They are generally associated with ecclesiastics such as bishops and abbots. Most are dated from the twelfth century.
While liturgical objects used for the Eucharist had to be made with fine materials, some of the ones associated with burials were made of pewter, and alloy of zinc, copper and tin, as at Olèrdola, and generally had a funerary purpose.
GISBERT, M.; MOLIST, N. 2012, Catàleg, in N. Molist (coord.), De Sanctus Michaelis a Sant Miquel. L'església de Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola entre el segle X i el segle XXI, Catàleg de l'exposició. Ajuntament d'Olèrdola i Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya, 85-98 (peça núm. 2).
MOLIST, N.; BOSCH, J.M. 2012, El cementiri altmedieval de Sant Miquel d'Olèrdola, in N. Molist i G. Ripoll (eds.), Arqueologia Funerària del nord-est peninsular (segles VI-XII), Monografies d'Olèrdola 3.2, Barcelona, 469-494. Pàgs. 485. Figs. 2.
RIPOLL, G.; MOLIST, N. 2014, Cura Mortorum en el Nordeste de la PenínsulaIbérica, siglos IV al XII d.C., Territorio, Sociedad y Poder 9, 5-66. Pàg. 75, Fig. 3.
SALRACH I MARÈS, J.M. (dir) 2017, El naixement de la nació catalana. Orígens i expansió, Enciclopèdia Catalana, Barcelona.Fig. pàg. 83.
SANJOSÉ I LLONGUERAS, Lourdes de (2018), Al servei de l'altar. Tresors d'orfebreria de les esglésies catalanes. Segles IX-XIII, Arxiu biblioteca episcopal de Vic, Patronat d'Estudis Osonencs. Pàg. 261-262, Làm. 1, PC1.
Image
3D Model
© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Olèrdola
Omeka ID
2286