Ein neuer Matronen altar mit Opferszene aus Mechernich (Kr. Euskirchen)

In this paper, a new inscribed votive altar with sacrificial scene dedicated to the matronae is presented. The altar was erected by the peregrine dedicator Masius Neganefi (filius), who is most likely to be identified with the man depicted on the right side of the sacrificial scene below. The woman on the left is wearing the typical headdress of the Ubian married woman; even if she has gone unmentioned in the inscription, she may be easily identified as the dedicator's wife. The new find is the first example of a Lower Rhine votive altar with sacrificial scene that has been dedicated by someone of local origin who had not (yet) been enfranchised. Given the local background of the dedicators, it may be assumed that the couple belonged to a family of middle class farmers who possessed land in the immediate vicinity of the find spot of the altar.