>  I have read Franco Fabbro interesting work about how snails may have been
> used in liturgy during the early christian period. I tried to contact
> Mr. Fabbro but his mail
> address doesn't work.
>
> See: http:www.freedomdomain.com/religion/fabbro.htm
>
> At the moment I am studing a collection of mollusks found in
> an Early Christian basilica in Northern Greece. Among the land snails
> the most numerous are helix sp. 52%. Most of the shells were found in
> a room inside the
> basilica which has been interpreted as being a workshop.
>
> Does anyone think it is plausible to say that these snails could have been used
> in liturgy? Has anyone of you come upon this subject or have any ideas?
> I'm just wondering if the idea is not too far fetched.

Overall, the evidence seems pretty weak; snails would not have
functioned as anything besides food (or purple dye source, in the case
of muricoideans) in an orthodox Christian setting [orthodox=in line
with standard beliefs; Orthodox=among the churches with roots in the
traditions that developed in the eastern Roman empire and nearby
regions].  However, there were plenty of different groups that tried
to integrate bits and pieces from several different religious
traditions, so a combination of pagan rituals involving snails and
Christian elements is quite possible.

For land snails, it would also be important to verify that they didn't
simply crawl in to a nice shaded calcium-rich setting.

--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

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