The South Baths and West Sanctuary Project (2013-2015) is undertaken by the American Excavations at Morgantina (AEM) under the auspices of the Parco Archeologico Regionale di Morgantina and the authority of the directors of the AEM, Malcolm Bell III (University of Virginia, Emeritus) and Carla Antonaccio (Duke University). It aims to fully excavate a Hellenistic public bath complex (South Baths) and an adjacent building, identified as the West Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in the Contrada Agnese area of the ancient city. Both buildings were first excavated in 1971 and then again briefly explored in 2005, with excavations renewed in 2009 and 2010.

The second project season saw further work towards completing the excavation of the South Baths complex, as well as first (renewed) excavations of the adjacent courtyard complex (West Sanctuary). A particular focus was on the careful excavation of the bath’s key feature, the bottle-shaped furnace beneath the secondary occupation level and cooking oven identified in the 2013 season, as well as the associated praefurnium, and the stokehold/service area identified as room 11.

By the end of the season, the full extent of the baths complex was defined. It consists of 16 rooms, arranged in a rectangular grid, with a row of smaller rooms identified as shops running along its east face, i.e. along Stenopos W14. It is now clear that the baths follow a standard layout of Greek baths as found elsewhere in Sicily and southern Italy, with two distinct bathing sections.

The layout of the South Baths is very similar to that of the nearby contemporary North Baths, located across the intersection of Stenopos W14 and Plateia B. The coexistence of two such similar buildings in close proximity to one another is unique in the entire Mediterranean. Perhaps the baths catered to different clientele, but at present there is no evidence to indicate if or how exactly bathers were differentiated: whether by gender, social status, financial circumstances, or any other criteria. It could be that the building excavated was less extensively decorated than the North Baths, although certain features of the South Baths and some excavated finds suggest that the building could have been equally well appointed.

At present only the presence of shops in the South Baths distinguishes this complex from the North Baths, and their entrances on Stenopos W14 suggest that they might have functioned in relation to the large, probably public building located on the opposite side of the street (for more on this building see the reports by Alex Walthall on the 2014 and 2015 Contrada Agnese Project seasons).

The 2014 excavations also extended south of the baths complex into the adjoining West Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. Several rooms of this building had been excavated in 1971 and 2005, but only one of them completely (room 2). Despite significant clandestine disturbance, significant amounts of archaeological data had been recovered in the past, including material interpreted as a votive deposit in room 2. In the 2013 season room 6 was excavated completely, and the extent and interior layout of the building were defined in more detail than was available from the isolated trenches dug in 1971.

The excavations revealed a dense sequence of several floor levels, currently unique evidence for Hellenistic Morgantina. At present, the building appears to consist of 9 rooms, two of which include small opus signinum paved structures in their corners. The newly identified rooms are to be excavated in 2015, a season that will also see the full definition of the structure’s extent.