Abstract
It happens that the site with sanctuary is excavated, but the deity is not recognised by any inscription of dedication or statue etc. There are other possibilities how to find out the divinity.
One of them could be also naming god or goddess on a curse tablet found in a temple area or in a vicinity of the area. Curse tablets (lat.
Defixiones) are sheets of lead inscribed with a curse. They were deposited mainly in graves, water reservoirs, sports facilities or sacred areas.
They may invoke gods or demons by names. The tradition came from Greece to Italy and to Roman provinces.
These tablets are very informative artefacts, as they are epigraphic, archaeologic, religious and cultural source of knowledge. Their number in total overlap one thousand and seven hundred in Latin, Greece and other languages.
The paper aims to answer the questions if and how solidly could be recognised deity from curse tablets which were found near or within temple area. As one of the examples the site of Lydney (GB) could be mentioned.
The god Nodens in various versions is written down on three artefacts and in abbreviation on one mosaic from the site of temple in total. The inscriptions were Latin.
One of these artefacts is curse tablet, in fact it is so-called 'prayer for justice'. That kind of curses usually asks to deliver a criminal to god to punish him.
Mostly the reason to make the tablet is that the writer was robbed by a thief. Is the number of the artefacts with this name the real proof, that the site was dedicated to the Celtic god? Was he only deity who stayed in this temple in Roman times? Could we compare it to other tablets? However, there are plenty of curse tablets invoking gods which are not connected to the place of divination, but the place of deposition, e. g. curse tablet from Chagnon (FR).
It was found in a grave and Pluto and Proserpina were invoked. The chthonic gods are often connected to cursing and black magic.
Therefore, it is obvious that the deposition of defixio plays definitely important role in choosing the god or goddess to demand the action of curse. How could this fact influence the deposition in sacred areas? Are the chthonic gods mentioned on curse tablets from temples? The paper will focus on Latin tablets from the Roman Empire, especially from temple precincts and areas nearby (e. g. eroded soil).