Les figurines animales dans les sanctuaires de Déméter Thesmophoros

Animal figurines from sanctuaries dedicated to Demeter Thesmophoros are here itemized and listed. It seems clear that the range of species sacrificed varied through time, but that certain of them were consistently chosen specifically as offerings to Demeter. Only the suidae occur throughout all the sanctuaries from the end of the Archaic period onwards. These sacrificial offerings are compared with the results of osteological analyses from the sanctuaries of Cyrene, Mytelene, Knossos and Corinth. The interpretation of such offerings remains difficult. Only the evidence of pigs and horses is investigated here.