[JCH 1.

1 (2013) 72-89] JCH (print) ISSN 2051-9672

doi:10.1558/jch.v1i1.72 JCH (online) ISSN 2051-9680

Dead Religion, Live Minds:

Memory and Recall of the Mithraic Bull-
Slaying Scene
Alison B. Griffith1
University of Canterbury, Christchurch New Zealand
alison.griffith@canterbury.ac.nz

Abstract: An experiment was conducted using undergraduate Classical Studies majors

and a painted replica of the richly detailed bull-slaying icon of the Roman Mysteries
of Mithras, which flourished during the 1st-4th centuries CE. There are numerous
interpretations about the meaning of this iconographic scene, but scholars agree that
the icon was important for communicating the tenets of the cult to its members. The
experiment tested what level of explanation best facilitated long-term recall of the
details and the meaning of the icon. Three groups of subjects received either 1) a narra-
tive explanation of its constituent parts and a description that related these to constel-
lations (a familiar concept), or 2) only a narrative explanation of the constituent parts,
or 3) no explanation at all. The results show that the longer explanation supports better
recall of the meaning of the icon, but that little or no explanation supports better recall
of the individual details.
Keywords: Bull-slaying; cult icons; human memory; Mithras.

Introduction

In the wake of Harvey Whitehouse’s landmark publication Modes of Relig-

iosity: A Cognitive Theory of Religious Transmission (2004), the role of
cognition in the transmission of ancient religions has become a subject of
considerable scholarly interest (Whitehouse and Martin 2004; Martin and
Pachis 2009; Shantz 2009; Pachis and Wiebe 2010). This is because cogni-
tive approaches treat religion as a human phenomenon rather than a strictly
cultural one; the ability to form representations of gods or other culturally
postulated supernatural beings is a feature of our neural capabilities. This
basic premise – that humans create gods because their brain architecture

1. Alison B. Griffith is a senior lecturer in the Department of Classics at the University of

Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her main areas of expertise are the Roman cult of
Mithras, Roman religion and the topography of ancient Rome.

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 DEAD RELIGION, LIVE MINDS 73

allows them to – enables historians of religion to treat the sometimes-

contentious social, cultural or historical features of particular religious
practices separately from the biological ones. In the case of ancient reli-
gions, cognitive approaches have enabled scholars to move beyond ques-
tions that cannot be resolved with the surviving (fragmentary) evidence.
This is especially true for the study of the Mysteries of Mithras, where the
issue of cult doctrine is a controversial one. Those who have evaluated the
Mysteries of Mithras according to Harvey Whitehouse’s theory of modes
of religiosity agree that (a) the Mysteries (a composite of multiple forms of
observance) display both doctrinal and imagistic characteristics and (b)
that the transmission of the Mysteries relied on the activation of seman-
tic and episodic memory (Beck 2004, 2006; Martin 2005). On the vexed
issue of Mithraic doctrine, Roger Beck has further argued that knowledge
about Mithras and the cult was apprehended visually and reinforced by
ritual performance and a complex “symbol system” that was conveyed by
three interconnected cult structures: cult iconography, structural organi-
zation (seven grades of initiation), and environment (the mithraeum itself).
Thus Mithraic “doctrine” consisted of the collective comprehension of this
symbol system as a result of cognitive processes in the minds of its follow-
ers and was not promulgated by a central authority (Beck 2006: 88–98).
Leaving to one side the cult environment and structure, the central
icon of the Mysteries is a vivid image of the god sacrificing a bull while
surrounded by numerous figures (human and animal) and objects, all
of which are universally agreed to be multivalent symbols central to the
cult’s beliefs and teachings (Figure 1). The icon was prominently located at
the head of parallel dining couches upon which members took their com-
munal meals, and some Mithraic caves had more than one. Hundreds of
these icons survive and are all more or less alike in their common elements,
although no two are identical, and some are considerably more detailed
than others. There is no surviving explanatory text for this complex scene
and it is unlikely that one ever existed. What little we know, gleaned from
over a century of scholarship, is based on inference from fragmentary refer-
ences in ancient texts. For all our certainty that initiates encountered and
engaged with the Mithraic cult icon, we do not know the manner in which
they did so. Even if, as Beck quips, “what you see is what you get” in the
Mysteries (2006: 60) many questions remain unanswered. How did initi-
ates experience this cult icon? Were they encouraged to contemplate it with
their undivided attention for a period of time? Was it referred to during the
course of ritual observance? Did any sort of teaching, explanatory support
or discussion of this image occur? Did the apprehension and comprehen-
sion of the symbols in this icon determine an initiate’s advancement to a

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74 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

higher grade? We do not know when the icon was first introduced to pro-
spective followers; certainly it was revealed to them at the time of initiation
if not before, but were those wishing to become initiated required to be
familiar with certain precepts relating to it, or did initiation occur first,
and learning later? If the latter, as some suspect, then the first encounter
with this icon might well have been in the crowded confines of the dimly lit
Mithraic cave. The rigours, sounds, sensations and emotions of the initia-
tion ceremony might have been such as to etch the details of this icon into
the long-term memory of the initiates. Or, perhaps there was so much else
happening that its minutiae failed to register on the mind of the initiate.
These questions about initiates’ first encounter with the Mithraic cult
icon piqued my curiosity. Just what did an initiate take away from the first
experience of viewing it? Here the apt phrase “Data from Dead Minds”
succinctly characterizes the dead end one quickly reaches in bringing the
study of historical religious phenomena into the cognitive science of reli-
gion fold: it is impossible to gather data from research subjects who can
no longer speak, or think, for themselves. And yet there is no doubt that
research into human cognition can be helpful in explaining particular phe-
nomena that are observable in ancient evidence. For that reason I decided
to conduct a memory experiment using the Mithraic cult icon and modern
subjects. Undoubtedly, the idea of using an ancient (‘real-world’) icon to
test the memories of modern subjects will raise eyebrows in the scientific
community. I have no training as a cognitive psychologist, or in experi-
mental design or statistical analysis, and therefore I readily acknowledge
that the conditions under which I conducted this experiment were con-
trived and arbitrary, and that the validity and applicability of the results
is therefore limited.2 It is simply not possible to conduct an experiment in
conditions that replicate a Mithraic cave. Nor is it possible to recreate the
conditions of initiation, since no ethics committee would approve of terror-
izing experimental subjects by the recreation of hypothetical conditions of
initiation ceremonies in a long-defunct cult solely for the purpose of gath-
ering data. This issue of contrived conditions also plagues psychologists,
who test human performance and capabilities in laboratory settings, but
apply their findings to the entire species the world over.
Gathering subjects for the experiment was a challenge, and I now appre-
ciate why participation in an experiment is a universal requirement for

2. I am grateful to my colleague, Associate Professor Ewald Neumann of the Psychol-

ogy Department of the University of Canterbury, for advice on designing and conducting this
experiment, and to Dr Mike Grimshaw, Chair of the Human Ethics Committee, for assistance.
All errors are my own.

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passing an introductory psychology course. Even when they are paid, sub-
jects are difficult to find for a two-part experiment; using a guaranteed pool
of students is a matter of convenience. I had no access to psychology stu-
dents and instead used 47 students enrolled in Classics courses at the Uni-
versity of Canterbury in 2010 and 2011. There are good reasons for doing
so. My experiment was not only about the workings of human memory, but
about how human memory copes with a complex, symbol-laden cult icon.
Classics students have a general knowledge of Graeco-Roman cultures and
an awareness that there are marked differences between these ancient cul-
tures and their own, especially differences in religious practice. Worship of
Mithras was not universal in the Roman Empire. It is likely that only men
were allowed to become initiates in the cult, and it is manifestly evident that
the followers of the god were clustered in certain social ranks and occupa-
tions. In the same way that an average adult in Europe or North America
may have heard of Freemasonry, recognize basic Masonic symbols, and
know a couple things about Masonic ceremonies, so also the average inhab-
itant of the Roman Empire had probably heard of Mithras and was aware
of images, symbols or cult practices to a modest degree. Classics majors
are hardly “average Romans”, but they fit the description better than other
university students. I am aware of the ongoing debate among psychologists
about data obtained from “WEIRD” (Westernized Educated Industrialized
Rich and Democratic) subjects and its applicability to the rest of the species
(Henrich, Heine and Norenzayan 2010). The subjects used in this experi-
ment are undeniably “WEIRD”, arguably even weirder than most, but this
research is intended to enhance our understanding of Mithraic cult prac-
tices, not to push back the frontiers of cognitive psychology.
In this experiment about the recall of visual detail, subjects were asked
to look at a painted replica of the icon supplied as a colour photocopy for
ten minutes.3 Any Mithraic initiate might well snatch as much or more
than ten total minutes looking at the icon in the course of a communal
meal or other gathering of members. It is entirely possible that initiates
received basic instruction about the scene and its constituent parts (per-
haps not doctrine per se), in which case they might have examined it closely
for a lengthy period of time on several occasions. We do not know how fre-
quently members of the cult met, but it is often asserted that group-worship
of Mithras and other gods not “native” to Rome or Italy was governed by
the same laws that pertained to collegia, or professional associations, in
which case meetings probably occurred at least once per month. Given

3. For the positive effect of colour on object recognition see Wurm, Legge, Isenberg and
Luebker 1993.

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76 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

this interval between viewings, I decided to establish how many of the ele-
ments in the Mithraic cult icon could be recalled after a short interval, and
later, after a month. If collective comprehension of this icon constitutes cult
doctrine, as Beck argued, then a high level of recall of the various figures
that comprise it is a prerequisite for the process of reflection and infer-
ence that contribute to comprehension. However, the general similarity
and universality of the cult structures (iconography, initiation grades, and
temple-caves) attests the existence of basic tenets (the Mysteries were not
a doctrinal free-for-all), and these must have been conveyed or taught by
some means or another. Therefore, in order to test whether some degree of
explanation is necessary for mnemonic support, I composed a brief verbal
description of some of the most important details of the scene, especially
those that correspond to elements that appear in most of the hundreds of
surviving icons. Given its complexity, I hypothesized that more explana-
tion, and in particular explanation that brought the details of this icon into
the frame of reference of the subjects, would improve their ability to recall
its details and its meaning after a month.
There is a considerable body of research that concerns visual encoding,
and the effect of verbalization on the encoding process, but none involving
an experiment that tests the effect of verbalization on recall, as far as I am
aware. Bransford and Johnson (1972) tested the opposite condition, using
a picture in support of a text, rather than the effect of a text in support
of a complex picture. Their results indicated that prior knowledge (con-
text) had a positive effect on subjects’ ability to recall details of a narra-
tive passage. Many experiments have dealt with the effects of verbalization
on later recognition, rather than recall. For example, verbalization assists
in discrimination between photos that have dissimilar verbal descriptions
but not those that have similar verbal descriptions, and the positive effects
of creating verbal descriptions are more strongly exhibited when subjects
make “slow” recognition decisions (Bartlett, Till and Levy 1980). When
verbal description was used with visual images that are difficult to describe
(e.g. faces or colours), such verbalization was found to overshadow visual
memory and actually reduce the rate of accuracy in recognition tests,
whereas visualization led to a higher rate of recognition (Schooler and
Engstler-Schooler 1990). The present experiment tests the effect of verbal
description and subject-generated verbalization on the accuracy of recall.

The Experiment
Rationale: Historians of religion make assumptions about the importance
of this cult icon for communicating cult doctrine to members initiated

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into the cult. Some scholars argue that “doctrine” was not strictly con-
trolled, but was in fact a range of ideas and reflections about this cult icon
that were formed by the initiates themselves rather than promulgated by
a central authority. This experiment tests how much subjects can recall
after an initial, brief encounter with this icon. While a low level of recall
by modern viewers might indicate that something has been “lost in trans-
lation”, it might also indicate that a certain degree of teaching and mne-
monic support was required in order to retain details that are perceived by
scholars as meaningful for the cult. A high level of recall would indicate
that the image is not as complicated as scholars suppose it to be, and that
it is, in theory, an effective platform for cult teachings because its details
are easy to recall.

Hypothesis: Subjects who are presented with an unfamiliar religious icon

will recall it more accurately when it is accompanied by a description that
relates the elements of this icon to constellations (a concept with which they
are already familiar) than subjects who view the image accompanied by a
narrative explanation of its elements alone, or who view the image with no
explanation at all.

Method: Subjects consisted of 47 students enrolled in Classics courses in

2010 and 2011, who were divided into three groups for the purpose of the
experiment. There were 15 subjects in Group 1 and 16 each in Group 2
and Group 3. Given the use of modern subjects, it seemed pointless to use
a photo of the Mithraic cult icon in its current deteriorated state. Permis-
sion to use a photograph of a painted replica of a bull-slaying scene at the
Archäologisches Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, was obtained, as well as
a digital file of the image, which was cropped for the experiment.
Phase 1: Subjects were divided into three groups and tested as follows:

Group 1 (control group): Subjects were given a colour photocopy (a 210 ×

183mm image on white A4 paper) of the image to look at for ten minutes
(Figure 1). They were then asked to perform a brief distraction task (basic
math problems) for three minutes, after which they filled in a short survey
for two minutes. They were then asked to write down as many details about
the image as they could recall in 15 minutes.

Group 2: Subjects were given a colour photocopy (a 210 × 183mm image on

white A4 paper) of the image to look at for ten minutes (Figure 1). This was
accompanied by an initial, spoken explanation that identified the different
figures in the image, as follows:

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78 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

You are looking at a cult icon from an ancient Roman cult. In the centre the god
straddles the back of a bull and sacrifices it by plunging a dagger into its neck.
The tail of the bull has turned into three ears of wheat. Surrounding the god and
the bull are several animal figures. A raven is perched on the fluttering cape of
the god. A dog standing on its hind legs tries to lap at the blood flowing from the
bull’s wounded neck. Beneath the bull a scorpion attacks the bull’s testicles. A
snake puts its head into a large two-handled cup, and a lion reclines on the other
side. Two smaller human figures stand on either side of the bull. One holds a
lowered torch, the other holds a raised torch. Followers of this god believed that
new life was born out of the dead bull. This is not an icon about destruction, but
about death, rebirth and transformation.

Subjects were then asked to perform a brief distraction task (basic math
problems) for three minutes, after which they filled in a short survey for
two minutes. They were then asked to write down as many details about the
image as they could recall in 15 minutes.

Group 3: Subjects were given a colour photocopy (a 210 × 183mm image on

white A4 paper) of the image to look at for ten minutes (Figure 1). This was
accompanied by an initial, spoken explanation that identified the different
figures in the image, as follows:

You are looking at a cult icon from an ancient Roman cult. In the centre the god
straddles the back of a bull and sacrifices it by plunging a dagger into its neck.
The tail of the bull has turned into three ears of wheat. Surrounding the god and
the bull are several animal figures. A raven is perched on the fluttering cape of
the god. A dog standing on its hind legs tries to lap at the blood flowing from the
bull’s wounded neck. Beneath the bull a scorpion attacks the bull’s testicles. A
snake puts its head into a large two-handled cup, and a lion reclines on the other
side. Two smaller human figures stand on either side of the bull. One holds a
lowered torch, the other holds a raised torch. Followers of this god believed that
new life was born out of the dead bull. This is not an icon about destruction, but
about death, rebirth and transformation.

These human and animal figures symbolize constellations. The bull is the con-
stellation Taurus; the dog is Canis Minor; the snake is Hydra; the raven is
Corvus; the scorpion is Scorpius; the wheat ears are Spica; the cup is Crater,
and the lion is Leo. Arching over the top of these figures is a row of 12 boxes,
each of which contains a symbol of a zodiac sign. All these constellations can be
seen along the celestial equator at the time of the spring equinox in the north-
ern hemisphere. They are thus symbols of rebirth and new life in springtime.

Subjects were then asked to perform a brief distraction task (basic math
problems) for three minutes, after which they filled in a short survey for
two minutes. They were then asked to write down as many details about the
image as they could recall in 15 minutes.

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Phase 2: After an interval of one month all subjects were called back and
asked to recall and write down as many details of the image as possible,
without being able to view the image.

Figure 1. Detail from the replica of the bull-slaying relief from the Nida/Heddernheim mithraeum
(V1083). Courtesy of the Archäologisches Museum, Frankfurt-am-Main.

Recording of Data

The information provided by each subject was recorded on an Excel spread-

sheet. Categories were in part derived from the descriptions themselves. The
first paragraph of the description referred to 13 key elements, two mean-
ings and eight actions (Figure 2). However, the subjects also recalled seven
extra elements not referred to in the verbal description, as well as the colour
of 14 different elements in the scene. In Phase 2, most of these categories
remained the same; however, in the extra items category several subjects
referred to the cape either as blue, or as covered in stars, but not always both
(whereas in Phase 1 blue and starry were consistently linked).

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80 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

Each element from the description that was correctly recalled received
one point. A half point was allotted for items that were wrongly labelled,
but that clearly conveyed the general idea. A half mark was allotted for
“sword” or “knife” instead of “dagger” (the word used in the verbal descrip-
tion), or for “man” or “figure” instead of “god” (as in the description), or
for “cow”, “heifer” or “horse” instead of “bull”. Because the bull’s testicles
are not actually visible, Group 1 (control) subjects frequently described the
scorpion as sitting on the hind leg of the bull, for which one mark was allot-
ted. For all groups extra elements all received one mark because they were
not referred to in the description. For example, “cloud” received one mark,
even though the lumpy mass beside the two miniature figures in each of the
top corners of the relief is actually a rock.

Table 1: List of Items Recalled

Key Elements (13) Meanings (2) Actions (8) Extra Colours (14)
7: phase 1
8: phase 2
Bull Death/rebirth Sacrificing Tree White bull
God New Life Plunging Snake in tree M’s red clothing
Wheat ears Straddling Zodiac M’s red boots
Dog Dog lapping at Archers in M’s red cap
blood corner
Lion Scorpion attacking Figures by Torchbearers
testicles “cloud” in red and red/
blue
Scorpion Snake’s head into “Cloud” M’s blonde hair
cup
Snake around cup Lion reclining Blue starry cape M’s blue eyes
lining (phase 1)
Cup/vase/krater Torches held up/ Blue cape lining Torchbearers’
down (phase 2) blonde hair
Smaller figures Starry cape Torchbearers’
lining (phase 2) blue eyes
Torches Red corner
figures
Raven Brown dog
Cape/cloak Yellow/gold dog
collar
Dagger Black/blue/gray
background
Brown ground

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Discussion

The results partially support the hypothesis. Group 3, which received the
most extensive explanation, recalled the basic meanings of the scene better
than Group 2 (brief explanation) and Group 1 (no explanation). Specifi-
cally, Group 3 had a higher rate of recall of the two primary meanings of
the scene than Group 2, recalling an average of 0.81 (40%) vs. 0.56 (28%)
items after one month. The zodiac at the top of the scene was only referred
to in the long explanation, but was recalled by 75% of Group 3 subjects
after one month as opposed to 50% of subjects in Group 2. It is likely that
subjects in Group 3, who were told that various animals in the scene rep-
resented specific constellations, were “primed” to notice and recall other
elements with astrological associations such as the zodiac. Only subjects
in Group 3 recalled that the animals were symbols for constellations. Sub-
jects in groups 1 and 2 were not able to deduce this simply by looking at
the scene, which suggests that explanation about this aspect of the icon is
necessary.
While Group 3 was readily able to recall the main meanings of the icon,
subjects did not always recall its individual details, and in this respect the
hypothesis was not supported. Group 3 had the highest average number
of recalled items after five minutes, but only barely (Figure 3). After one
month Group 1 recalled the highest average number of items, followed
closely by Group 2.

Table 2: Average Number of Items Recalled, by Group

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

control short description long description
After 5 minutes 30.02 29.77 30.09
After 1 month 26.06 25.92 24.53

The breakdown of items recalled after five minutes (Figure 4) shows

that Group 1 (control) exceeded Groups 3 and 2 (in that order) in recall-
ing extra elements and colours in both phases of the experiment. In the
absence of an explanation participants were not prompted to direct their
attention to particular elements. Group 2 (short explanation) recalled
more actions and key elements than Group 3 (long explanation), which in
turn recalled more of these items than Group 1. This result is unsurpris-
ing because the first part of the explanation focused precisely on these
elements.

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82 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

Table 3. Average Number of Items Recalled after Five Minutes

After one month the results were much the same (Figure 5), with Group
1 recalling more colours and more extra items, Group 2 recalling more
actions and key elements, and Group 3 leading only on meanings.

Table 4. Average Number of Items Recalled after One Month

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The percentage results (Figure 6 and Figure 7) show that all groups
recalled the key elements and extra items at a much higher rate after five
minutes than after one month, and much more than actions and colours.
The fact that all three groups recalled figures in the scene better than
actions or colours suggests that the explanation offered to groups 2 and 3
did not affect the rate of recall, but rather that subjects visualized the scene
while they recalled it.

Table 5. Percentage of Items Recalled after Five Minutes

Table 6. Percentage of items recalled after one month

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84 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

Finally, certain individual figures were recalled at a higher rate both after
five minutes and one month (Figure 8). Those with a recall rate over 90%
were: bull or other animal, god or figure/man, smaller figures with torches,
snake with cup, snake with tree, and dog. The scorpion, lion, and the direc-
tion of the torches were also well recalled after five minutes, but less so
after one month. This list of elements with a high rate of recall is so varied
that further experimentation is necessary in order to identify the cause of
successful recall for individual figures. Items directly relevant to or diag-
nostic of the main action (bull and god) are more likely to be recalled easily
(Goodman 1980; Aginsky and Tarr 2000), but according to this hypothesis
the dagger should have been recalled at a higher rate than it was. It may be
that the torchbearers, and other animal figures were frequently recalled not
because of the accompanying explanation, but because their presence at a
sacrificial scene is difficult to account for and perhaps registered as bizarre
in the minds of the subjects.4 The size of a given element may be a factor;
for example, the wheatears on the tail and raven on the cape are smaller
and require more visual attention to spot. Of the elements not specifically
referred to in either the short or long explanation, the cape with a blue
lining and/or stars and the tree with a snake in it were almost universally
recalled after five minutes and only slightly less so after one month.

Table 7: Percentage Recall of Specific Items

Group One Group Two Group Three

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 1 Phase 2
Bull 66 73 94 94 94 94
Other animal 33 26 0 0 6 6
White bull 66 53 56 75 62 69
God 13 13 69 69 81 50
Figure/man 87 87 37 25 19 50
Blue, starry cape 94 100 87
Blue and/or starry 66/80 56/69 37/ 81
Cape
Figures w/torches 100 93 100 100 94 56
Torches up/down 87 60 87 62 66 44
Wheat ears 7 7 50 37 56 19
Dagger 6 20 37 37 62 37
Other weapon 66 53 25 31 31 31

4. For the increased likelihood of recall of bizarre or counter-intuitive items in narratives

see Barrett and Nyhoff 2001; Gonce et al. 2006; and Slone et al. 2007. This phenomenon was
discussed in relation to Roman miracle myths by Griffith (2010).

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Lion/Leo 87 53 100 62 94 56
Dog 100 80 100 100 69 81
Raven/Corvus 13 20 87 62 56 31
Other bird 25 40 6 12 66 25
Cup 93 73 100 100 87 81
Snake/hydra 93 73 100 100 100 75
Scorpion 87 87 94 87 81 81
Tree 100 100 100 100 100 81
Snake in tree 93 100 100 75 100 75
Zodiac 25 50 50 56 75 75
Death/rebirth Renewal 0 0 44 56 62 81
Animal = Constellations 0 0 0 0 62 50

General Discussion

This experiment was concerned with the retrieval of the details of a cult
icon from long-term memory. The hypothesis, that an explanation of the
Mithraic icon referring to a known concept – constellations – would make
its details easier to recall, was proven only for the general meaning of the
scene, but not for the individual figures. The two groups that received a
brief explanation or no explanation at all recalled a greater number of indi-
vidual details, although not in all categories. Group 1 (control) recalled
the highest number of items after one month, and especially the colours
of individual items (i.e. their appearance). However, Group 2 had the high-
est rate of recall for actions and key elements, which were the focus of the
brief verbal description that subjects heard when they first looked at the
icon. From these data we can infer that without guidance, subjects focus
on all the details of a scene equally, and that a modest level of guidance
(reference to items in the scene) facilitates only the recall of the items
described. Additional explanation for Group 3 facilitated only the recall of
items relating to the extra explanation (i.e. the general meaning of the scene
and the association of some of the figures with constellations), but not the
recall of other elements. The recency effect may account for this – subjects
recalled objects and information that related to what they had heard most
recently. Thus the longer explanation did not lead to better recall of indi-
vidual details of the scene more generally. During the free recall period
five minutes after viewing the icon, “verbalization” or “verbal rehearsal” of
the details of the scene (a written description) by subjects in Group 3 may
have contributed to “overshadowing” (the tendency for an impaired verbal
account to replace accurate visual memory) in later recall (Bartlett, Till and

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86 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

Levy 1980; Schooler and Engstler-Schooler 1990). More experimentation is

needed to clarify the extent to which the initial verbal account “overshad-
ows” what is stored in long-term memory.
On the other hand, there was a high rate of recall by Groups 2 and 3 for
extra items not referred to in the verbal explanation (over 80% after five min-
utes and over 60% after one month). This level of accuracy may be the result
of long-term storage of visual information that is a natural consequence of
viewing a scene, where the description drew attention to certain objects and
consequentially caused subjects to examine them for longer periods of time
and memorize them, but also to encode “incidental” or extra objects in their
visual memories (Castelhano and Henderson 2005).
Also noteworthy about these data is the generally high level of recall;
even after one month, recall of items ranged from 55–59%. It is impossi-
ble to relate these data to ancient Romans, but we can infer from the high
level of recall by students, who effectively had no cultural context into
which they might fit this icon, that its details are relatively easy to recall
later. Members of the cult would have had at least a monthly refresher
view that would have facilitated complete recall of the details within a few
months. If some amount of “teaching” about specific elements of the icon
occurred, we can assume that in-depth knowledge of the icon was accu-
mulated relatively quickly in a matter of weeks. Whether or not there was
a fixed set of ideas bundled together as “doctrine” in the cult of Mithras is
not a concern in this experiment. If there was no description or explana-
tion of any aspect of the icon, the accuracy of recall by the control group
suggests that initiates would have quickly remembered enough details in
order to begin making their own interpretations and inferences within
the context of what they heard and saw in the course of regular ritual
observance.
Previous research on long-term memory and recall of images is useful for
understanding these results and what they might reveal about cult practices
relevant to this icon. For example, it is well-established that humans can
recall complex visual scenes accurately, but focused attention is required,
especially for details not directly relevant (Aginsky and Tarr 2000), and
accuracy of recall is adversely affected by “multi-tasking” (performing a
visual search or listening for tones while viewing) (Wolfe, Horowitz and
Michod 2007). Subjects in this experiment gave this icon their undivided
attention for ten minutes, which may or may not have occurred during cult
gatherings. The results herein, while not produced in the same sort of con-
trolled laboratory conditions as used in other studies, reinforce the idea
that length of time and absence of distraction contribute positively to pro-
cessing and encoding of visual images.

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 DEAD RELIGION, LIVE MINDS 87

The degree to which elements in a visual image form a coherent “real-

world” scene has been linked positively to long-term memory for visual
images when scenes are organized in such a way that they both fit and acti-
vate schemata (mental representations) (Mandler and Ritchey 1977; Mandler
and Parker 1976; Mandler and Johnson 1976). In one experiment, subjects
were better able to recognize objects and locate them properly on a blank
paper if they had previously viewed them in an organized scene. The control
group subjects, who did not view an organized scene but were instead asked
to organize a group of objects into a coherent scene, performed almost as
well as the other groups, presumably because they constructed a scene based
on schemata acquired in previous situations (Mandler and Ritchey 1977). In
earlier experiments activation of schemata was also cited as the explanation
for subjects’ ability to detect certain types of changes to previously viewed
scenes, especially those affecting spatial relationships and inventory (substi-
tutions) (Mandler and Johnson 1976; Mandler and Parker 1976).
Whether the results of the present experiment can be explained on the
basis of the activation of schemata is not entirely clear. Classics students in
this experiment may have seen representations of sacrifice scenes during
the course of their studies, with the result that the Mithraic cult icon might
have been familiar in terms of its general subject matter – a sacrifice – if
not in its specific details. In their recall of some items subjects mentally
“substituted” one item for another, for example they recalled a knife or
sword as the sacrificial implement, rather than a dagger, or a blackbird or
crow instead of a raven, and these “type” substitutions occurred more fre-
quently in Group 1, whose subjects presumably relied on schemata during
the encoding and recall phases. Schemata may also explain the tendency
for subjects to identify the figures in the top part of the scene as shooting
at clouds, since they were set against a light blue background. In fact these
were rocks, and the scene represented a water miracle in which an arrow
shot at a rock produced a stream of water that was not visible in the image.
The preliminary results of this experiment indicate that “some things are
better left unsaid”, at least in terms of recall and visual long-term memory.
The results did not fully support the hypothesis, that subjects who are pre-
sented with an unfamiliar religious icon will recall it more accurately when
it is accompanied by a description that relates the elements of this icon to
a familiar concept than subjects who receive a brief narrative explanation
of its elements or no explanation at all. The higher rate of recall by subjects
in Group 2 indicates that a brief description of the main elements in the
Mithraic cult icon is more conducive to recall than no description at all,
and more conducive than a longer description. However, the results also
show that the longer description, in which several elements were identified

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88 ALISON B. GRIFFITH

as symbols of constellations visible in the night sky at the time of the spring
equinox, assists recall of the main message about death and rebirth. The
average number of individual figures recalled by subjects after a delay of
one month was 25.5 (58%), which suggests that a visual context – in this
example a sacrificial scene with human and animal attendants – acts as a
mnemonic support, even when there is no further verbal explanation.
It is impossible to apply data obtained from modern subjects to any
hypothetical situations we may envision about the past, and so these data
are of limited use for understanding how Romans might have recalled the
details of this image after a single viewing. Even so, the results demonstrate
the capacity of the human mind. The fact that modern subjects could still
recall a significant number of elements after a delay of one month certainly
supports the conclusion that the icon could be used as a basis for teaching
more complex concepts within the cult. Despite its limitations, this experi-
ment has revealed the potential value of a partnership between cognitive
psychologists and the historical study of religions. It is unlikely that “real
world” artifacts can be used for cutting-edge research in cognitive psychol-
ogy, but they may be able to play a role in retesting results of earlier studies,
and even in the design of future experiments. To take just one example, the
number and type of elements subjects can recall from the Mithraic cult
icon after one viewing is more useful information than data about how
many subjects correctly recognized the scene as something they had previ-
ously seen. On the other hand, complex, “real world” images, even if they
are artifacts, might be usefully employed in experiments concerned with
visual processing, encoding and recognition, or with the role of recall in
learning. As more people and educational institutions question the role of
humanities disciplines in modern academia, there is no time like the pre-
sent to explore what the cognitive science of historical religions (CSHR)
can bring to the study of human cognition.

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