A votive deposit or votive offering is an object left in a sacred place for ritual purposes.
Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favour with supernatural forces. This is attested by historical Roman and Greek sources although similar acts continue into the present day, for example in the wishing well.
In Europe votive deposits became common in the middle to late Bronze Age. Intact, high status artefacts were apparently buried or more commonly cast into bodies or water or peat bogs, from whence they could not possibly have been recovered. The purposeful discarding of valuable items such as swords and axes is thought to have therefore have had ritual overtones. The items have since been found in rivers and lakes by archaeologists.
In archaeology, votive deposits differ from hoards in that although they may contain similar items, votive deposits were not intended for later recovery.
A votive candle is a small, typically white, candle, burnt as a votiveoffering in a religious ceremony.
One of her visitors has left an offering showing eyes to indicate what her affliction is.]] A votive deposit or votiveoffering is an object left in a sacred place for ritual purposes.
Votive sites are sites where animal sacrifice in the form of bones deposited in a split in a block of stone or beneath a cairn are made.
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