Fasti Online Home | Switch To Fasti Archaeological Conservation | Survey
logo

Excavation

  • Incoronata
  • Metaponto
  •  
  • Italy
  • Basilicate
  • Province of Matera
  • Pisticci

Tools

Credits

  • The Italian Database is the result of a collaboration between:

    MIBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per i Beni Archeologici),

    ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) and

    AIAC (Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica).

  • AIAC_logo logo

Summary (English)

  • This year’s excavations on the western part of the Incoronata hill were extended and deepened. This produced a substantial of new data regarding the nature and functions of the various occupation phases on the site.

    Evidence dating to the Enotrian phase (8th century B.C.) was uncovered of pottery production (kiln remains and wasters) to one side of the extensive cobbled floor (US 70, fig. 1), and on the other side there was evidence of ritual practices, probably relating to a specifically structured space (still being excavated), which developed towards the south. It appears significant that these two activities – which fundamentally characterise the entire Greco-Enotrian facies of the subsequent century – were already present at Incoronata in the indigenous phase of the 8th century B.C.

    Towards the end of the 8th century-beginning of the 7th century these structures were systematically obliterated by a ritual closure (which preserved them) and a new floor was created (US 38) overlying the earlier one, using the dumped layers of stones and earth as a substructure. This new, imposing structure (the floor perfectly aligned east-west, at present measures 26 m in length, fig.2) dates to the period of the first Greek materials found in situ, that is the beginning of the Greek presence on the hill. It seems possible (although this hypothesis must be confirmed by further excavation) that the two floors were on the same alignment. If this significant fact is confirmed, we may be in the presence of a single monumental building, founded in the 8th century B.C. and then rebuilt on the same site when a Greek community settled here between the end of the 8th and beginning of the 7th century B.C. In the western part of the sector new, important elements came to light, linked both topographically and chronologically with the large floor (US 38): a longitudinal structure built of stones and earth, on a north-south alignment, which stopped at the point of contact with the surface in question. This was a great “scarp” of stones, cobbles, and earth, bordering the floor surface along the south edge of the hill. It is still not possible to say whether they were part of a construction.

    In the 7th century, there was a phase of mixed, Greco-indigenous occupation, characterised by the large craft working area, which developed to the north of floor US 38. Postholes, the bottom of a pottery kiln, clay settling basins, and a large underground clay pit had already been identified, and the new evidence attested the continuation of pottery production (there were also traces of metalworking) in several periods during the 7th century B.C. Permanent structures and several pieces of equipment, (including the support for a potter’s wheel) were found on several levels. To the north of this area, beyond a row of small stones, new evidence was revealed of the numerous ritual activities undertaken at Incoronata during the various occupation phases. The foot of an SOS amphora, the bottom of which had been carefully cut off, was fixed vertically into the ground like a “terracotta pipe” for pouring libations (fig. 3). Evidence for ritual practices constantly characterise the archaeology in this sector of the hill, and this find consolidates the overall picture provided by the archaeological evidence uncovered in recent years. The stratigraphy, topography, and typology of the ritual context suggest a continuity of ritual activity in this area.

  • Mario Denti - Laboratoire LAHM, UMR 6566 CReAAH, Université de Rennes 2  

Director

Team

  • Clémént Bellamy - Université Rennes 2
  • François Meadeb - Université de Rennes 2
  • Mathilde Villette - Université de Rennes 2
  • Paul Lagarrigue - Université Rennes 2
  • Bruno Comentale - Université de Nantes

Research Body

  • Laboratoire LAHM

Funding Body

  • Università di Rennes 2

Images

  • file_image[PDF]
  • file_image[PDF]
  • file_image[PDF]