Pennsylvania (2016) h/b 256pp £45.50 (ISBN 9780812247565)
The big question facing every archaeologist is: how far is it possible to determine the nature of human activity from archaeological remains? That, of course, depends on the remains. In Pompeii, for example, archaeologists once identified twenty or so brothels, simply because erotic graffiti could be found in many buildings, especially taverns. But does that qualify a place as a brothel? Nowadays the view is that there was only one, and the evidence there is overwhelming—ten small cubicles containing masonry beds and pillows, a spread of numbered illustrations of various sexual activities and so on (‘I’ll have no. III, please, drizzled with no. IV, and a side helping of no. XII’).
In the Greek world, no such remains can be found. The purpose of this collection of eight essays is to review what evidence there is and try to establish some principles on which a judgement could be made as more evidence comes to light. Barbara Tsakirgis shows that the Greek house could serve a multitude of purposes; the likeliest brothel sites in Kerameikos (by Bradley Ault) and Delos (by Monika Trümper) receive a thorough and scrupulous going-over; the pottery deposit in the well J 2:4 in the Athenian agora is compared with other collections by Kathleen Lynch who concludes that careful processing of such finds, e.g. those associated with female interests, could be helpful; Mark Lawall explores the same question in relation to amphora discards (because drinking is associated with sexual activity); David Scahill argues that the South Stoa in Corinth is more of a multi-functional site than a dedicated brothel area; and Amy Smith examines scenes on pottery where efforts are made to articulate the insides of buildings and possibly private and semi-private activities there. These all provide clear, balanced and suitably cautious judgements of probability.
Allison Glazebrook closes the volume by asking ‘Is there an archaeology of prostitution?’ She offers an overview of all the available evidence and provides a summary check-list of possibly indicative finds from six proposed brothel sites – objects (such as erotica, jewelry, sympotic, female and leisure items), architectural features (e.g. multiple entrances, dedicated rooms), water features (because Greeks ‘purified’ themselves after sex) and location (crowded areas such as ports and city-gates). But as she says, even identifying brothels from 19th C finds in America is difficult ‘because they were modelled on contemporary domestic spaces’—how much more so in the Greek world, where multi-functional buildings were the norm.
This is an impressive, honestly-argued attempt to establish some principles that will alert archaeologists to the possibilities.
Peter Jones