The excavation of structure R has been completed confirming its function as a granary and workshop. In several rooms carbonized grains of barley, spelt and legumes (broadbean, bean, lupin) were found on the floor, inside pithoi and beneath the fragments of a Punic amphora (Maña B2). The large room 6, which opened onto a road via a basalt paved ramp, was almost entirely occupied by an oval kiln for pottery and brick production (max. diam. 3m), which was not part of the building’s original layout. Silver frazioni from Thourioi and Metaponto provide a terminus post quem of the end of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century B.C.
The adjacent building P is rectangular (10.70 × 7.85m) with a partly porticoed front and faces a basalt paved courtyard. It is arranged around a central, square room which is attatched to the back wall of the complex, whilst the other sides are surrounded by an open space. The plan recalls that of sacellae which stand within an enclosure or are divided into three sections (but without a podium). The finds confirm the religious nature of the site. In the central cella a small silver statue of a standing woman holding a patera in her left hand was found. Rods from thymiateria and terracotta female figurines, mainly seated, were found in the courtyard. Along the north wall of the temenos arms, spearheads, belts and two breast plates were found. Nail holes in the wall show that these objects were once hung upon it.
The destruction of building P must have occurred during the Second Punic War, as attested by the Roman coins (amongst which a “vittoriato”) found lying directly on the pavement. Considering the link between the two buildings, even though P seems later than R, it is likely that the storeroom belonged to the sanctuary and that an earlier phase of the cult exists which has still to be excavated. (Maria Luisa Nava)