Bust Thymiateria from Olbia Pontike
Journal: Les Carnets de l ACoSt
Year: 2015

Terracotta female busts supporting cup-thymiateria on their heads are best known in south Italian examples of the Hellenistic period. A cup in the shape of a flower, such as a lotus, was attached to the heads of these busts and was used for burning incense, or thymiam, during religious practices. While some bust thymiateria appeared at the end of the 5 th century B.C.E. in Olynthus and Halicarnassos, 1 the greatest number have been found in Italy, where they occurred first at Posdeidonia in the