Himera

Studia Calactina I. Ricerche su una città greco-romana di Sicilia: Kalè Akté - Calacte (BAR International Series 2813, Oxford 2016)
Abstract: Cap. 1. La vicenda storica di Kalè Akté - Calacte tra fonti letterarie e ricerca archeologica (pp. 11-48)

Il testo è frutto di un lavoro di ricerca coordinato dal Prof. N. Allegro, si basa su un completo riesame della documentazione archeologica degli scavi condotti sul piano di Imera negli anni '60 (diario di scavo, analisi dei reperti, revisione dei dati già editi in HImera II) e si avvale di piccoli saggi di verifica e di una nuova documentazione grafica, fotografica e scientifica della casa in esame.

Nel contributo, che sarà parte di un volume dedicato ai Nebrodi nell'antichità (Sicilia centro-settentrionale) si analizzano le modalità di frequentazione di questo settore montuoso dell'isola in epoca arcaica sulla base delle più recenti scoperte. I dati al momento acquisiti suggeriscono che lungo la costa tirrenica fossero presenti Greci e Fenici in contatto con i centri indigeni. La tipologia dei materiali recentemente rinvenuti a Caronia, sito di Kalè Akté, inducono a ipotizzare l'esistenza di un emporion greco frequentato anche dai mercanti fenici. Si tratta di ipotesi di lavoro che attendono conferme da future auspicate ricerche sistematiche mediante saggi di scavo ben oltre i livelli ellenistico-romani fin qui esplorati.

Il fortuito rinvenimento, in una discarica di terreno proveniente da vecchi edilizi scavi eseguiti probabilmente negli anni ’80 del secolo scorso nella moderna cittadina di Caronia Marina (Sicilia, ME), di materiale frammentario databile principalmente tra la seconda metà del VI e il V secolo a.C., ha offerto nuovi spunti di studio per la comprensione delle modalità con cui venne condotta la colonizzazione greca lungo la costa tirrenica siciliana. Soprattutto la preponderante presenza di anfore da trasporto arcaiche e classiche ha suggerito l’esistenza, nel sito della città ellenistico-romana di Kalè Akté – Calacte, di un insediamento greco precedente con funzioni di “emporion”, ovvero una stazione commerciale gestita dalla colonia di Zancle-Messina utile all’esercizio dei traffici commerciali che interessavano l’area tirrenica e che si indirizzavano in parte verso i centri indigeni ricadenti nell’area dei Monti Nebrodi. Si presentano in via preliminare alcuni materiali e si formulano nuove ipotesi non solo sulla prima frequentazione del sito di Kalè Akté ma anche sulla presenza greca lungo la costa settentrionale della Sicilia

The paper deals with some Attic black-figure vases found in the eastern necropolis of Himera, thanks to prior investigations that Soprintendenza of Palermo carried out during the 90s of the last century at Piana of Pestavecchia. The analyzed ceramics can be dated back from the middle of the 6th to the first quarter of the 5th century BC and present occasionally unusual depictions, such as an armed dance scene. Also in the Imerese necropolis, through the recurrence of certain themes, it's possible to catch a glimpse of intention to suggest to the dead's personality or to idealize the memory of him. Among the vases presented, moreover, a fragmentary crater stands out for the quality of the figurative scene – attributable to the Lydos Group – ranks among the most valuable black figure Attic products so far attested at Himera.

Starting from a new unattributed vase from the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Wien (skyphos ANSA IV 81), it is possible to better understand the peculiarities of one of the most important early Sicilian workshops in the last decades of the fifth century B.C.: that of the Himera Painter.
This case-study is particularly relevant in order to broaden the understanding of the relationship between production, context and market from renewed perspectives, especially considering the rarity of red figure vases from the inhabited and domestic areas of Magna Graecia and Sicily.
The objects found within a single house from the plateau of Himera allow us to put forward some suggestive hypotheses in relation to the final use-destination of this area: in fact, within these rooms it is possible to record an anomalous concentration of red figure pottery made by a single workshop. Besides that, we can appreciate the presence of numerous fragments of terracotta female statuettes and arulae, and large numbers of loom-weights, arrowheads and knucklebones.
The selection of some particular and unusual iconographic themes, with their semantic and symbolic dimension, would seem to refer – to different degrees – to the nuptial world and to the passages of status of both the female and male component.
The combination of the information coming from the reappraisal of the archaeological context and from the iconographic analysis of the scenes depicted on the red figure Sicilian vases allow us to suggest the existence of a special commission for someone that could have used these objects for some very peculiar ritual activities within one of the most interesting examples of neighborhood sanctuary in an ancient Greek city, probably related to a phratry.
The images on the vases of the workshop of the Himera Painter represent a very peculiar case-study concerning an accurate selection in order to perform some important ritual activity related to the nuptial sphere, one of the most important steps for male and female in the ancient Greek society. These new archaeological clues can confirm the use and destination of these artefacts not only for burial customs but also for the everyday life, with a crucial role – especially for the iconography, as we can see in Himera – for the local market, tradition and production.

After decades of investigations on the ground, which have brought to light more than 13000 burials, we now have a general picture on many of the fundamental aspects of the archaic and classical necropolis of Himera. The location of the main sepulchral areas, chronology, rites and funerary typologies are now, in general, well known; however, the complex study of archaeological data has not so far allowed to publish comprehensive studies in analytical form; it was therefore deemed necessary to present a reference bibliography, which may be useful to identify the main data on these important necropolises, which now mark, in the Greek-colonial panorama, an important reference point for studies in the field of death.

A central component of Greek sacrifice was the act of purification through water. The louterion, or perirrhanterion, a basin standing on a cylindrical shaft and base, was the most typical container for these lustral waters. Produced also for domestic settings, contextual readings, with a consideration of their associated assemblages, are critical for interpretation. While material and formal differences make generalizations difficult, the style of louterion developed in Corinth proved particularly popular in the colonies of Magna Graecia and Sicily, and in the sixth and fifth centuries a diverse series of basins with relief decoration were produced and traded between Himera, Gela, Akragas, and Selinous in western Sicily. And yet, trade of these objects exceeded Greek sites and speaks to a far more adaptable and polyvalent ritual object.

Created with rolling stamps, the reliefs portray Centauromachies, hunters, charioteers, and other mythological scenes—and the quality of this thoroughly Greek iconography has led to a great deal of scholarly attention. Largely restricted in the past to typological analysis, the entire corpus was assumed to be either solely for use in Greek sanctuaries, or for domestic settings. Beyond the fact that a review of original field journals reveals that their findspots varied to a greater degree, these louteria are also found in both indigenous and Phoenicio-Punic sites, such as Mozia and Gibil Gabib. Especially in these new cultural contexts, while the iconography and forms remain homogenous, contexts can vary quite a deal, found not only in sanctuaries but also in ritual and profane domestic contexts and, surprisingly, in burial contexts.

As has been done with imported sympotic pottery in recent years, a contextual reading of louteria in their new settings allows one to chart the chain of transformations by which a Greek ritual object can become an indigenous ritual object for an indigenous audience—avoiding the hermeneutic dangers inherent to colonial and post-colonial approaches. Indeed, louteria seemed to be just as adaptable when traded among the Greek colonies—the polyvalent nature of the objects reflected in the generalized iconographies of victory, order, and other concepts found in the relief decoration. These concepts, when agreeable to local schema, explain the importation of stamped louteria to sites such as Mozia, where one finds reliefs depicting Nikai crowning charioteers—in this instance especially compelling considering other adaptations of agonic motifs into the Phoenician vocabulary.

From the necropolis of Himera come three examples of panathenaic amphorae. The first one is a fortuitous discovery that dates back to the second half of the 19th century; it is a pseudo panathenaic amphora that has been heavily restored. On the vase, dated at the beginning of the 5th century, is represented a boxing scene. The second find comes from the eastern necropolis: it is another pseudo panathenaic amphora, datable to the last quarter of the 6th century BC and decorated with the representation of a horse race. The third specimen is the most recent discovery and comes from the western necropolis; it is a very fragmentary vase, where, however, it is possible to recognize the figure of the promachos Athena and also some letters of the epigraph (ton Athenethen athlon) that characterize the panathenaic amphorae.

In this article the whole production of native ceramics recovered in the necropolises of Himera is analyzed, material partly already published partly unpublished. The chronology of this
production is framed between the end of the seventh one and the beginnings of the sixth century b.C. And also the possible presence of native elements in the colony is analyzed.

This contribution presents preliminary results of the identification of a production of western Greek amphorae at Himera during the second half of the 6 th and early 5 th century BC. Based on archaeological and archaeometric analyses of 36 ceramic samples taken from amphorae unearthed in the necropolis by the Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. of Palermo, we discuss some morphological and technical characteristics of this local series. Furthermore, we focus on the historical significance of a production of commercial vessels at Himera during the Archaic and early Classical period with particular regard to the city's relation with its agricultural hinterland inhabited by indigenous comunities PREMESSA Le ricerche condotte nelle necropoli di Himera dalla Soprintendenza di Palermo negli ultimi venti anni hanno restituito un grande patrimonio di dati che stanno ampliando molto le conoscenze sulla vita di questa polis che costituì, nel più ampio panorama della Sicilia greca, l'unica fondazione greca sulla costa tirrenica. La gestione dei risultati degli scavi relativi ai riti e alle tipologie delle sepolture, al paesaggio funerario e in generale a tutti quegli aspetti legati al tema della morte, ma anche alle problematiche più diverse della cultura, dell'economia e della società imerese, costituisce una straordinaria opportunità di indagine a vari livelli sulla storia di questa città lungo l'intero arco temporale della sua esistenza, dalla metà del VII sec. a.C. al 409 a.C., data della sua distruzione per mano dei Cartaginesi 4 e del suo abbandono. Tra i materiali più significativi restituiti dalla necropoli vi sono, indubbiamente, le anfore da trasporto, utilizzate per le deposizioni infantili nelle tombe ad enchytrismos. Ne abbiamo rinvenute complessivamente oltre 3100, sia dalla necropoli est che da quella ovest, per lo più integre o frammentarie, ma quasi sempre è stato possibile restituirne l'intera sagoma: tali condizioni privilegiate di conservazione, consentono lo studio di questi contenitori nello loro sviluppo formale e diacronico in relazione ai diversi centri di produzione sparsi sulle coste mediterranee in cui venivano caricati sulle navi e giungevano al porto di Himera, dove, una volta consumato il contenuto, erano impiegate in usi secondari, sia in funzioni domestiche di conservazione di liquidi, sia come contenitori per le tombe di bambini 5. Dopo le prime segnalazioni sui rinvenimenti di anfore, soprattutto, quelle scoperte nella necropoli est 6 , è stato avviato lo studio analitico e integrale delle diverse produzioni, prendendo in considerazione inizialmente quelle fenicio-puniche, di cui è stato pubblicato recentemente il catalogo 7. Si è trattato di un impegno gravoso per la grande quantità di esemplari, per la varietà di forme e per la presenza di prodotti di diversi centri di produzione del mondo fenicio-punico; tuttavia i risultati sono stati molto incoraggianti, dal momento che è stato possibile fissare le seriazioni dei tipi e di formulare riflessioni a carattere generale e sulla circolazione di questi contenitori lungo le rotte del Mediterraneo occidentale 8 .. 4 Riferimenti bibliografici sui risultati delle indagini nelle necropoli imeresi sono in: VASSALLO 2018. 5 Molto frequenti sono i rinvenimenti di anfore da trasporto negli scavi dell'abitato, anche se manca uno studio complessivo sull'argomento: per la città alta vedi i tanti riferimenti dei contesti di scavo alle anfore nei volumi Himera I, Himera II, Himera V.

All’interno del progetto FACEM presentiamo due selezioni anforiche provenienti da due contesti dell’entroterra agrigentino. Entrambi i siti sono ubicati nel territorio del moderno comune di Casteltermini. Il primo proviene dall’area santuariale di Contrada Sanfilippo – individuato a seguito di una campagna di scavo della Soprintendenza di Agrigento – connesso al sito indigeno situato a Monte Roveto; il secondo proviene dal contesto di Contrada Fontana di Paolo, in cui sono state rinvenute tre cisterne di epoca greca. Sebbene contigui, e in parte contemporanei, i due siti hanno restituito dati differenti l’uno dall’altro. L’analisi della classe anforica ha permesso di fare delle preliminari riflessioni sulla provenienza di tali contenitori e sulle reti di distribuzione che ne hanno permesso l’arrivo in questa zona.

Within FACEM project, we submit two amphorae selections that come from two contests located in the hinterland of Agrigento. Both of them are set in the area of the municipality of Casteltermini. The first selection come from the sanctuarial area  of Contrada Sanfilippo – discovered as a consequence of an archaeological excavation led by the Superintendence of Agrigento – connected to the indigenous settlement of Monte Roveto; the second selection come from Contrada Fontana di Paolo in which three greek cisterns have been discovered. Although the two sites are contiguous, and contemporary for a while, they have returned, from each other, different data. The amphorae analizated, allowed us to postulate considerations about the provenance of these vessels and the networks that have allowed them to reach in this area.

This contribution presents preliminary results of the
identification of a production of western Greek amphorae at
Himera during the second half of the 6th and early 5th century
BC. Based on archaeological and archaeometric analyses of 36
ceramic samples taken from amphorae unearthed in the
necropolis by the Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. of Palermo, we
discuss some morphological and technical characteristics of
this local series. Furthermore, we focus on the historical
significance of a production of commercial vessels at Himera
during the Archaic and early Classical period with particular
regard to the city’s relation with its agricultural hinterland
inhabited by indigenous communities.

The analysis of an infrared aerial photo taken in 1987 at Himera offered the possibility of recognizing, in a series of clearly visible traces in the photograph, elements of the historical topography of the lower city of Himera and whose meaning and interpretation appear very significant after the investigations conducted in recent decades in this sector of the colony. In particular, it has been possible to make hypotheses on three aspects which are particularly interesting for the urban topography of the colony: the development of the fortifications; the layout of the river mouth which nowadays has completely changed with respect to the colonial age; the presence of monumental buildings in the northwest area of the agora. It will be up to future investigations to confirm or not these hypotheses which, in the light of the historical and archaeological picture known today of Himera, in some way appear reliable. L'idea di scrivere questo contributo è nata dalla lettura di alcune fotografie aeree a infrarossi, commissionate dalla Regione Siciliana nel lontano 1987 per un progetto mai realizzato sulle coste dell'isola. Oggi, che gli studi nella città bassa di Himera sono andati molto avanti rispetto a quanto si conosceva negli anni ottanta, queste foto, realizzate dalla Compagnia Generale Riprese Aeree di Parma e conservate negli archivi fotografici dell'Assessorato Regionale al Territorio (fig. 1), offrono interessanti spunti per l'analisi di alcune specifiche problematiche inerenti la topografia urbana di Himera 1. 1 Si dispone oggi di una discreta serie di fotografie aeree dell'area delle città bassa di Himera, con riprese fin dagli anni 50; tuttavia a causa dell'altezza dei voli e del notevole interramento sugli strati archeologici in questa parte della città, tali foto, se si eccettuano quelle che si presentano in questo contributo, non hanno finora fornito indicazioni utili per il riconoscimento di strutture nel sottosuolo: alcune di esse sono presentate in VASSALLO 2005, pp. 24-25. Fig. 1 Fotografia aerea ad infrarossi del 1987 del sito dell'antica Himera

Nuovi dati sull'origine della città di Kalè Akté, anteriore alla fondazione di Ducezio del 446 a.C. riportata dalle fonti storiche di quasi due secoli, probabilmente come tappa intermedia scelta da Zancle all'epoca della fondazione di Himera lungo la costa tirrenica. L'insediamento greco svolse almeno dalla seconda metà del VI secolo a.C. il ruolo di emporion, importante soprattutto per gli scambi commerciali intrattenuti con i centri indigeni di area nebroidea.
Scritto per SiciliAntica Capo d'Orlando - Sede Comprensoriale Nebrodi

The discovery of numerous coins in the tombs of the western Himera necropolis provides the basis for a brief contribution on the meaning of this interesting funerary custom which, as it is deduced from the Imerese cases, does not seem to be linked only to the single coin deposited at the time of burial of the body, according to the custom traditionally understood as " offering to Charon", but takes on different meanings, as in the case of silver treasures or a poor bunch of bronzes, hidden in a tomb at a time of difficulty, perhaps at the time of the Punic siege of 409 BC, and never recovered again.

The objects found within a single house from the plateau of Himera allow us to put forward some suggestive hypotheses in relation to the final use-destination of this area: in fact, within these rooms it is possible to record an anomalous concentration of red figure pottery made by a single workshop. Besides that, we can appreciate the presence of numerous fragments of terracotta female statuettes and arulae, and large numbers of loom-weights, arrowheads and astragaloi/knucklebones. The selection of some particular and unusual iconographic themes, with their semantic and symbolic dimension, would seem to refer – to different degrees – to the nuptial world and to the passages of status of both the female and male component. The combination of the information coming from the reappraisal of the archaeological context and from the iconographic analysis of the scenes depicted on the red figure Sicilian vases allow us to suggest the existence of some very peculiar ritual activities (probably, a local Apatouria) within one of the most interesting examples in an ancient Greek city of a sacred oikos belonging to a phratry.

The problem of the classification and interpretation of the first monetary system used by
the Chalkidian colonies of Magna Graecia and Sicily (ca. 540/30-480 B.C.) is still debated.
The aim of this paper is to bring forward new evidence to discuss this issue, in order to
reach two goals:
a) A general evaluation – not only a metrological one – of the so-called Chalkidian system, by connecting it with the first Greek coinages and their diffusion in the West.
b) A frame for the interpretation of this system based on the distinguishing features of first italiote and siceliote coinages.
The outcomes of this research seem to show that a reduced Aeginetan standard is the core of the ‘Chalkidian’ system.

A.G.A.T.H.O.C.L.E.S. is a international research project (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellowship, n. 893629) supported by the European Commission (Horizon 2020 – EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation) and lead by Marco Serino as Principal Investigator.

The acronym stands for “The ‘Archaeology of Gesture’: Apprenticeship, Tools, Hands, Organization, Collaborations, Learning Experience and Social Network Analysis”. The name-reference is to Agathocles, firstly tyrant of Syracuse and later self-proclaimed “basileus” of Sicily (betwenn 316 and 289/288 BCE). According to the ancient literature sources (Diod. Sic. XIX, 2, 2-3), he was the son of Carcinus of Reghion, a potter with a workshop at Thermai Himeraiai, the new center located in the NW coast of Sicily, founded by ancient Libyans and exiles coming from the previous Greek colony of Himera, destroyed by the Carthaginians in 409 BCE.

The project therefore refers to Agathocles as the son of a craftsman, and the acronym aims to evoke the curiosity and the typical mood of children, that learn by observing the intangible actions closely related to manual skills and gestures provided by those people who are used to transmit their knowledge through the wise use of their hands. The gestures taken into account in this research-project are those of the ancient South Italian painters. The research intends to start right from this unusual perspective, typical of an “apprentice”.

Starting October 2021, the project will focus on the study of the productive technology, the formative models and the organization networks of the ancient red-figure pottery workshops of Magna Graecia and Sicily. One of the main goals of the research is to reconstruct – thanks to a highly interdisciplinary approach – the ancient savoir-faire of the South Italian painters during the fifth and the fourth centuries BCE, thanks to an in-depth analysis of the “sequence of gestures” related to the craftsmen working within the ancient workshops of red-figure pottery.

This research aims to combine traditional studies together with some innovative diagnostic techniques:

1) archaeometric analysis in order to focus on some technological features related to the black-glaze, firing temperature, firing defects, different use of miltos, chemical compositions of the overpainted colours… applying various archaeometric techniques among which a digital optical microscope (portable) and a scanning electron microscope in Lab;

2) innovative photographic techniques as the computational imaging – including the application of “reflectance transformation imaging” – to capture the sketches made before the glaze-treatment, invisible to the naked eye, and then to bring out the real “sequence of gestures” that led to the creation of the scenes depicted on such vases, as demonstrated by the recent research conducted by D. Elia;

3) dactyloscopic investigations both on clay and glazed-surface, in search of fingerprints belonging respectively to potters and painters and evaluate the possibility of better define the internal organization of some workshops (women’s attendance, involvment of pre-adults within the châine operatoire, and therefore dynamics of apprenticeship);

4) sessions of experimental archaeology – thanks to the support of the “Laboratory for Traditional Technology” at the School of Anthropology, University of Arizona – trying to reproduce some technical procedures related to the tools used by the painters for this kind of activity.

5) An important part of the research will also focus on the potential offered by Digital Humanities: an innovative approach for this field of study aimed at revising the A.D. Trendall’s and A. Cambitoglou’s catalogues (updating them with the data resulting from the most recent studies, at least with regard to the early South Italian and Sicilian productions) through the so-called “Social Network Analysis”, following the ongoing studies carried by E. Hasaki and D. Harris Cline on the lists of Attic vases provided by J.D. Beazley.

A.G.A.T.H.O.C.L.E.S. will be held between Italy – University of Turin, Department of Historical Studies (under the supervision of Prof. Diego Elia) – and the United States, in Tucson at the University of Arizona, School of Anthropology (under the supervision of Prof. Eleni Hasaki), and it will also involve the Department of Chemistry of the University of Bari (Italy) [9], especially for the archaeometric approach.

This paper presents several, mostly unpublished, weights and ingots from ancient Himera. These objects date back from the early 6 th to late 5 th century bc and virtually cover the whole lifespan of the ancient town. Weights and ingots provide valuable information on the daily economic activities as well as on the international trade flows that involved the colony of Himera. The 'Chalcidian', 'Euboean-Attic' and 'Phoenician' standards are all documented, as well as the native Sicilian system of the litra. It is eventually remarkable that various weights apparently work with more than one standard, thus allowing to shift from one weigh system to another.

Our research begins with a critical review of a famous passage from Aristophanes’ Clouds, in which Heracles is presented as the tutelary deity of warm baths. Beyond an evident paralogism, functional to a somewhat paradoxical justification of the preference given by young Athenians at the end of the 5th century BCE to public baths instead of gymnasia, the testimony proved useful to undertake preliminary research on the archaeology of a cult. Literary sources, inscribed documents and archaeological evidence reveal the outline of a deep-rooted association of Heracles with thermal springs. Gift of the gods, at Thermopylae as well as in Sicily near the city of Himera, hot waters were believed to be a much appreciated reward for warriors and athletes, providing rest and a guarantee of eternal regeneration.