The role of women in elites of the 1st millennium BC between Central Europe and the Southern Balkans

CALL FOR PAPERS

Dear colleagues!

The Natural History Museum Vienna and the Albanian Academy of Sciences look forward to seeing you at the conference

The role of women in elites of the 1st millennium BC between Central Europe and the Southern Balkans

From

May 13–15 2025

and request that you submit your papers and posters by November 24 2024
using the attached form.

Approach and content of the conference

The diverse aspects of the role of women as members of the elite will be presented and discussed at the conference. The academic discourse on the accompanying material culture, the prestige goods, the corresponding trade routes and communication networks will also be the focus of the conference. In order to embed this in a larger framework, theoretical concepts on social structure and gender identities in the 1st millennium BC will also be the subject of discussion. Grave finds in particular are able to demonstrate an impressive picture of the differentiated role of female elites and their multi-layered social, political and ritual-religious functions on the basis of their specific furnishings.

The occasion for the conference is the outstanding bronze statuette of the so-called "equestrian figure of Babunjë", an Illyrian settlement near Apollonia/Albania. Discovered during the Albanian-German research excavations in 2018, the artwork is now to be presented to the public at the NHM in 2025 following its subsequent restoration at the Getty Museum in the USA and its return to Europe. The statuette, which was made in a Greek workshop in the Late Archaic period around 530/520 BC, is a unique artistic masterpiece of Greek bronze sculpturing.

Although the person on horseback is carrying weapons, the stylistic peculiarities of archaism make it unclear whether it is a horseman or perhaps even a horsewoman. In this case, we would be dealing with the depiction of an Amazon on horseback. Depictions of Amazons were particularly common in Illyria in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC and enjoyed great popularity. They obviously reflected the high social, political and also ritual-religious position of women within the Illyrian elite, who used them to demonstrate their defensiveness and equality or equal rights. The most prominent examples are the Illyrian queen Teuta, who succeeded her husband Agron from the Labeaten tribe and ruled from 230 to 228 BC, and the half-sister of Alexander the Great, Kynane, daughter of the Macedonian king Philip II and the Illyrian princess Audata/Eurydice, who was famous for her warlike character and is said to have portrayed herself as an Amazon.

The archaeological evidence of women as prominent members of the elite in the 1st millennium BC is not limited to Illyria, however, but can be found in numerous different examples in a wide area from Central Europe to the southern Balkans.

Information to the presentations

Registration: Please hand in papers or posters including a brief summary (max. 200 words, English or German) to Barbara.Hirsch@NHM.AT using the attached form.

Registration deadline for presentations is November 24, 2024

Papers: In addition to long papers (speaking time of 20 minutes), we also offer the possibility of short papers with a speaking time of 10 minutes. Accepted languages are English or German.

Poster: Contributions in the form of a poster presentation are also welcome, which can be discussed with the authors in a separate time slot.

Conference proceedings: A publication of the conference contributions is planned, details will be announced.

Organizational information to the conference

Date of the conference: May 13 to 15, 2025

Venue of the conference: Natural History Museum Vienna, Room 19, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna

Host of the conference: Natural History Museum Vienna, Albanian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Embassy of Albania in Vienna

Organizing committee:

Georg Tiefengraber: georg.tiefengraber@nhm-wien.ac.at

Adem Bunguri: bunguria1@gmail.com

Karina Grömer: karina.groemer@nhm-wien.ac.at

Artan Canaj: artan.canaj@mfa.gov.al

Conference secretary:

Barbara Hirsch: Barbara.Hirsch@NHM.AT

Framework program to the conference

On 13 May 2025, a festive reception organized by the Albanian Embassy will take place in the evening with an Albanian cultural programme, during which the "Equestrian Figure of Babunjë" will also be presented in the Gold Cabinet of the Natural History Museum.

Special guided tours of the collections of the Natural History Museum Vienna are also offered as a supporting programme.