Tokens Used in the Letoon Sanctuary: Society, Religious Ceremonies and Governance in the Light of Tokens

Authors : Banu Özdilek

Pages : 45-62

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Publication Date : 2024-06-11

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Tokens are objects that provide a lot of information about the material structure of the society, the form of administration, rituals, festivals and beliefs that constitute social relations evidenced through tokens from prehistoric times to the present day. Tokens of different materials and designs are called tesserae, spintriae, symbola, voting tokens, countermarks under the \"moneti form\". The functions of these tokens, which have been found in different archaeological excavations, sometimes singularly and sometimes in large numbers, have not been subject to much focused research. In this study, 179 terracotta tokens recovered from the Lycian sanctuary of Letoon in the 1970s were analysed. The tokens were discovered during the excavation depot works carried out in 2016 and 2018 and studied by the author. There is no information about the detailed findspot, context, stratigraphy of the tokens and they are not mentioned in the excavation reports. The majority of the tickets were recovered from the terrace area in front of the theatre furnacatum vault. It is suggested that the tokens recovered from the Letoon may have served more than one function. Some of the tokens are marked, others have numbers or monograms on them. The fact that the tokens were recovered from an area close to the theatre, where Romania Letoia festivals and agonistic performances were held, and which was also used as a council building, suggests that these little-studied objects may have had a wide variety of uses for the sanctuary.
Keywords : Jeton, Letoon Kutsal Alanı, Lykia Tiyatroları, Festival Agon, Cult