The exhibition “Nepenthe – Elixir from the Land of the Sun” offers an exclusive insight into four richly furnished female graves dated from the late 8th to the early 7th century BC, discovered at the archaeological site of Lišičin Dol near Valandovo. This significant archaeological site bears witness to the wealth, spirituality and social status of the Paeonian communities in the Vardar valley.
Special emphasis is placed on Macedonian-Paeonian bronzes and unique pendants in the form of pyxides — capsules shaped like poppy heads — which point to the connection between ritual and healing practices of the Iron Age. This exhibition is not merely a display of exceptional prehistoric toreutics and bronze metallurgy, but also a story about the status of women in Paeonia. Visitors will have the opportunity to witness a rare intertwining of luxury, belief and ritual practice, and to discover how Iron Age healers used nature to heal both body and soul.
From the perspective of social archaeology, this phenomenon highlights status differentiation among women, whereby control over the “sacred sleep” and the healing properties of the poppy granted a high degree of social power. Priestess-healers, defined as “animators” of cultic manifestations, acted as intermediaries between the community and the divine.
