batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l12692-l12818
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l12692-l12818
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: CONTENTS / NOTE. OFFERINGS OF FIRST-FRUITS. / INDEX. / FOOTNOTES; lines 12692-12818
start: '12692'
end: '12818'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage consists of footnotes. Several notes cite sources for Mexican
sacramental eating of a paste bone and for the recognized use of dough, bread,
wax, apple, fig, and cake substitutes in sacrifices when the proper animal victim
was unavailable or unaffordable.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: A note says a Mexican festival included making the semblance of a bone from
paste and eating it sacramentally as the bone of the god.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: A note states that ancient practice allowed images made of dough or other
materials to be sacrificed as substitutes for animals.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage says bread or wax images could be offered when an animal could
not easily be obtained for sacrifice.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: A cited North-American Indian case says a dreamed requirement for twenty elans
was met by sacrificing twenty loaves when the animals could not be procured.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Poor people who could not afford real animals are said to have offered dough
images of them.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: Bakers are said to have made cakes in the likeness of animals sacrificed to
the gods.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: When Cyzicus lacked a black cow for rites of Proserpine, the people made a
cow of dough and placed it at the altar.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: In a Boeotian sacrifice to Hercules, an apple with chips representing legs
and horns was substituted for a ram.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The Athenians and Locrians are cited as offering substitutes for oxen, including
an ox made from figs and sticks.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:10
text: At the Athenian Diasia, cakes shaped like animals were sacrificed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:11
text: Poorer Egyptians are said to have offered dough images of pigs and eaten them
sacramentally.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Mexicans
description: People described in a note as making and sacramentally eating a paste
bone at a festival.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: ancient sacrificers
description: General ancient practitioners described as using dough, bread, wax,
or other images in place of animal victims.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: North-American Indian dreamer and sick girl's parents
description: A dreamer required a sacrifice of elans, and the girl's parents were
allowed to sacrifice loaves instead.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: poor sacrificers
description: People unable to afford real animals who offered dough images instead.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: bakers
description: Craftspeople said to bake cakes in the likeness of sacrificial animals.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: people of Cyzicus
description: People who made a dough cow for Proserpine's rites when a black cow
was unavailable.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Boeotian, Athenian, and Locrian sacrificers
description: Groups cited as using apple, cake, fig, and stick substitutes in sacrifices.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: poorer Egyptians
description: People described as offering dough pig images and eating them sacramentally.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
roles:
- id: role:1
label: sacramental eater of ritual image
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:8
basis: The passage describes paste or dough images being eaten sacramentally.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: substitute-offering sacrificer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
basis: The passage repeatedly describes offering non-animal substitutes for animal
victims.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: role:3
label: dream recipient of sacrificial requirement
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The North-American Indian is described as dreaming that a sacrifice of twenty
elans was necessary.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: authorized substitute sacrificer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The sick girl's parents were allowed to sacrifice twenty loaves instead of
twenty elans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: maker of sacrificial likenesses
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Bakers are described as making cakes in the likeness of sacrificial animals.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: paste bone
literal_form: Semblance of a bone made from paste and eaten as the bone of the god.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: substitute animal image
literal_form: Images of animals made of dough, bread, wax, cake, apple, figs, sticks,
or chips.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
- id: sym:3
label: loaves substituted for elans
literal_form: Twenty loaves offered instead of twenty elans.
associated_figures:
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: dough cow at altar
literal_form: A cow made of dough and placed at the altar for Proserpine's rites.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: apple ram substitute
literal_form: An apple with four chips for legs and two chips for horns, used in
place of a ram.
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: dough pig image
literal_form: Dough images of pigs offered and eaten sacramentally.
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Mexican sacramental paste bone
summary: At a cited Mexican festival, a paste object resembling a bone is made and
eaten sacramentally as the bone of the god.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: General rule of substitute sacrifice
summary: The passage states a recognized principle that bread, wax, dough, or other
images may stand in for animals that are unavailable or unaffordable.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Loaves replace elans
summary: A required sacrifice of twenty elans for a sick girl's recovery is replaced
by the sacrifice of twenty loaves when elans cannot be obtained.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Dough cow for Proserpine
summary: During a siege, the people of Cyzicus make a dough cow and place it at
the altar because a black cow cannot be procured for Proserpine's rites.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Fruit and cake animal substitutes
summary: Boeotian, Athenian, and Locrian examples describe apples, figs, sticks,
and animal-shaped cakes being used as sacrificial substitutes.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: scene:6
label: Egyptian dough pigs eaten sacramentally
summary: Poorer Egyptians offer dough images of pigs and eat them sacramentally.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: substitute victim in sacrifice
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage gives multiple examples in which a material or edible likeness
stands in for an animal victim in sacrifice.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
confidence: high
cautions: The passage is a comparative footnote rather than a single narrative episode.
- id: motif:2
label: sacramental eating of divine or victim image
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- sacred_exchange
basis: The passage describes a paste bone eaten as a god's bone and dough pig images
eaten sacramentally.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage provides brief notes and cross-references rather than full
ritual descriptions.
- id: motif:3
label: ritual substitution under scarcity
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: Several examples explicitly say substitutes are used because proper animals
cannot be procured or afforded.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The examples come from different cited contexts and are summarized by
the author.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: 'The passage groups diverse examples under the same functional pattern: edible
or material likenesses replacing animal victims in sacrificial rites.'
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural substitute sacrifice pattern
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage does not establish historical contact or common inheritance;
it only juxtaposes examples for comparison.
- id: claim:2
claim: The Mexican paste bone and Egyptian dough pigs share the described function
of sacramental eating of a ritual food-image.
claim_level: same_function
target: sacramental consumption of ritual image
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:8
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage gives only brief footnote summaries and does not provide
the full ritual contexts.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 12710-12715 / note 266
quote_or_summary: A Mexican festival is dated; another festival is said to have
made the semblance of a bone from paste and eaten it sacramentally as the bone
of the god.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 12729-12735 / note 271
quote_or_summary: Ancient practice is described as recognizing sacrifices of dough
or other images as substitutes for animals; bread or wax images could be used
when an animal was not easily obtained.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 12735-12740 / note 271
quote_or_summary: A North-American Indian dreamed that twenty elans were needed
for a sick girl's recovery, but because the elans could not be procured, her parents
were allowed to sacrifice twenty loaves instead.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 12740-12747 / note 271
quote_or_summary: Poor people unable to sacrifice real animals offered dough images;
bakers made cakes in the likeness of animals sacrificed to the gods.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 12747-12751 / note 271
quote_or_summary: When Cyzicus was besieged and lacked a black cow for Proserpine's
rites, the people made a dough cow and placed it at the altar.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 12751-12760 / note 271
quote_or_summary: A Boeotian sacrifice to Hercules used an apple with chips for
legs and horns in place of a ram; Athenian and Locrian examples include substitutes
for oxen, including figs and sticks.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 12760-12763 / note 271
quote_or_summary: At the Athenian Diasia, cakes shaped like animals were sacrificed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 12763-12765 / note 271
quote_or_summary: Poorer Egyptians are said to have offered dough images of pigs
and eaten them sacramentally.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source text; summarized rather than quoted.
confidence:
extraction: medium
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is a set of footnotes, with one extended comparative note on
substitute sacrificial images. Extraction is limited to the information explicitly
present in the provided lines.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No historical-contact or common-inheritance claims are made. Taxonomy references are limited to supplied motif families that fit the stated sacrificial pattern.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l12692-l12818
passage_sha256=1864d86938974c3be4bd87f48901dde7d0b61882b5b17b22c9ac579f9aa83b25