Wrapping the Death: Typology, Style, Technique and Use of Some Small Clay Plaques excavated in Tombs of the Classical and Hellenistic periods in Thebes

This study presents clay plaques with different iconographic subjects from funerary contexts recently discovered in the north-eastern necropolis of Thebes. The authors’ principal aim is to present and to analyze these plaques from the point of view of their practical use. The evidence they provide, concerning the quantity and the technical-typological features, suggests that they were not just used for furniture but decorated also textiles. Furthermore the number of items and the choise of the themes seem to be closely connected with funerary rites. Methodological issues concerning textual and iconographical evidence are also addressed. Within the present study a technological examination of the plaques was made, to provide information on the manufacture technique used. The analyses also aimed at providing information on the material these items were attached and possibly to detect the medium applied for connecting the items and the underlying material. The techniques used were optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy -coupled with an EDAX analyzer on polished, and in resin embedded aliquots, for the study of the plaques, Fourier Transformed Infra Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) for the temperature the plaques were exposed and micro-RAMAN analysis for the interconnecting medium.