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The dedication of terra-cotta animal figures in religious contexts has a long history at Kommos. Large hollow-made sculptures of quadrupeds first appear on the site in the Sub-Minoan and Proto-Geometric periods (ca. 1100-900 B.C.), suggesting a continuity of that aspect of religious practice from the Late Bronze Age into the Early Iron Age. This photograph illustrates another type of animal votive found in the Kommos sanctuary until the seventh century B.C., when Temple B goes out of use: the solid and small-scale figurine, usually depicting bulls and horses. An interesting category of the horse figurines shows them equipped with wheels, probably meant to indicate a wheeled vehicle (middle in photo). Generally these horses have long cylindrical bodies and necks, with manes indicated by a sharp ridge. The front and rear legs appear as short blocks with holes driven through for the attachment of axles and wheels (the latter reconstructed here from pieces found on the site). Sometimes dark stripes or bands decorate the body, perhaps indicating harnesses and other equipment associated with carts or chariots. Although we cannot know for certain why bulls and horse-drawn vehicles were so popular as offerings to the gods, in an agricultural society where animals and "technology" like wheeled carts are components personal prosperity, it seems reasonable to assume that petitioners sought divine protection for such valuable commodities.
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