Monumental Timber Temples and Cultic Development at Timpone della Motta (Francavilla Marittima, Calabria)
Introduction
1The Groningen Archaeological Institute’s (GIA) 1991–2004 fieldwork campaigns on the site of Timpone della Motta in Calabria produced valuable new insights into the structural and ritual development of this cult site from the Early Iron Age to the end of the Archaic period[1]. The Italic-Chonian complex was developed under the influence of first the Greek archipelago and later the nearby polis of Sybaris. One of the elements in which this influence was made manifest was the worship of a goddess, in later texts called [H]Eilenia and apparently similar to Athena.
2Timpone della Motta is a low hill of conglomerate bedrock (280 m asl) just north of the river Raganello (now seasonable but in parts navigable in antiquity), near the village of Francavilla Marittima, c. 10 km from the Ionian (east) coast and 10 km north of Sybaris. The hill was first settled during the Middle Bronze Age. A second, socially stratified settlement phase began early in the 8th century BC, as is evident from elite graves in a vast burial ground at Macchiabate and from apsidal buildings on the summit of Timpone della Motta. Around 725 BC a monumental phase was initiated by the construction of three large timber-framed temples. This phase was associated with feasting and coming-of-age ceremonies held in Temple Vc. The temples were repeatedly rebuilt and restored; the sanctuary seriously declined after the destruction of Sybaris.
3The hilltop of Timpone della Motta probably functioned as an ‘acropolis’ for (a) settlement(s) on the lower slopes and adjacent hills, but except for a large necropolis with hundreds of graves at Macchiabate beyond the northern hillside, extensive surveys so far have failed to find substantial evidence for protohistoric and later settlement. Numerous indigenous settlements on the Ionian coast of southern Italy boasted legendary links to Greek nostoi such as Diomedes, Philoktetes, or Epeios. The local Italic-Chonian aristocracy must have adopted such legendary founders early on, out of a desire to identify themselves with aristocratic navigators, merchants, prospectors, and settlers from the east. The development of a specific hybrid timber temple architecture, arising out of indigenous building traditions (as is evident from woodworking implements in graves and hoards near forested areas), point in that same direction, while prestige goods in local elite graves – in particular, large kraters and bronze vessels – testify to indigenous ambitions on an epic scale. In the following sections, we first discuss the two 8th-century BC building phases at Timpone della Motta and refer to the 7th and 6th centuries phases, and then propose some interpretations. This is achieved by placing the finds in a wider context, relating them to contemporary archaeological and iconographic data.
4The site underwent reuse and has suffered continuous looting. The latter even during the GIA’s 1991–2004 excavation campaigns, resulting in the cessation of our open area excavation. This had been based on trial trenches of a metre square (indicated on Fig. 1, in purple) and was continued by trenches (AC1–AC27) of 4 metres square (indicated on Fig. 1), opened one by one.
A Bronze Age House, probably Horseshoe-Shaped
5The oldest evidence for a timber building (Va) is a shallow artificial depression in GIA Trench AC05, measuring 3.09 × 2.15 m and cut into the conglomerate bedrock on the south-west side of the top terrace (Fig. 1. 2. 5, US13, indicated in green). The feature contains small postholes, and the associated pottery dates to the late Middle Bronze Age[2]. As the feature was built over by later structures, we have little to go on to fashion a reconstruction. Based on the semi-circular sunken outline of a possible perimeter, several postholes with smaller diameters than those of later posts, and the presence of a horseshoe-shaped Bronze Age structure at Broglio di Trebisacce, we may conjecture that an approximately similar-shaped building existed on Timpone della Motta[3]. We believe that the consistent rebuilding of later temples on this exact location suggests that this Bronze Age structure had acquired a legendary status. Two exceptional metal objects from the Late Bronze Age – a ceremonial or perhaps even cultic knife (Fig. 6) and a decorated pin top, both from the sanctuary – place Timpone della Motta among a network of Italian sites with connections to the Aegean world[4]. What little is known suffices to warrant the conclusion that the Bronze Age was an important phase in the development of the site on Timpone della Motta[5].
Apsidal Timber-Frame Buildings
6The remains of the building referred to as Vb were mostly erased by later activities, but clusters of finds near postholes and slots cut into bedrock that are not associated with the later rectangular temples reveal the presence of an older apsidal building, likely in use from c. 800 to c. 725 BC. It contained an altar (Fig. 3), personal bronze objects such as jewellery and other items (Fig. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16), a weaving and a cooking area, impasto and refined matt-painted pottery and storage vessels (see below).
7In Italy, indigenous timber architecture using postholes is best known from pre- and protohistoric pile dwellings, such as those on the northern lakes and at Poggiomarino [6]. As was mentioned earlier, a Bronze Age horseshoe-shaped and ceremonial building was excavated at Broglio di Trebisacce, and much of the timber architecture at Roca also served ceremonial purposes, some with cultic functions[7]. Rectangular timber-framed dwellings are also known from the late Bronze Age, for instance at Monte Croce Guardia and recently near Timpone della Motta at Contrada Damale, while impressive Iron Age apsidal houses have been identified at Matelica (21.5 to 24.5 m long and 6 m wide)[8]. However, the recently discovered monumental apsidal buildings at Satriano di Lucania (22 × 12 m), at Timpone della Motta (estimated at 26 × 9.50 m), and perhaps also at Incoronata cannot yet be placed in any Italic architectural tradition[9].
8The special position that timber construction and carpentry occupied in the indigenous culture is evident from elite burial and hoards. Male graves at Macchiabate and also in the Metapontino and Siritide contain various types of axes, saws and chisels, while tombs of rulers – e.g. T31 at Valle Sorigliano and the central CR burial at Macchiabate – reveal that carpentry skills were associated with the very top of the Chonian elite[10]. Hoards are another indicator of the importance of wood working. An interesting carpenter’s hoard from Cape Cimiti south of Crotone was dated to BF3–1Fe1, while others were found near Cirò[11]. Information on similar hoards from the vicinity of Luzzi and Cerchiara is sketchy, but at Cerchiara near Francavilla Marittima two or perhaps three axe deposits were located in quite close proximity[12].
9The presence of Greek apsidal timber constructions at sites archaeologically or textually associated with the Sybaritide is striking. Possible prototypes are the apsidal buildings at Eretria and the enormous 10th-century BC building at Lefkandi, Euboea, as pottery from the first half of the 8th century BC from Timpone della Motta shows clear Euboean influence[13]. In Eretria, for example, the daphnophoreion (Bay Hut, 7.50 × 11.50 m) was constructed with pairs of posts, and this type of building developed into the nearby apsidal hekatompedon [14]. Whether this indicates a continuous cultic and ritual development from the household (oikos) of a chief towards joint rituals by urbanizing groups – as Alexander Mazaraikis Ainian claims – for the moment remains an open question[15]. The recently discovered apsidal temples at Nikolaïka and Ano Mazarakis are in the territory of Achaea; and Nikolaïka is ancient Helike, from where Sybaris was founded in c. 720 BC according to Classical sources[16].
10Apsidal building Vb seems to be the earliest of the larger apsidal structures in southern Italy, although evidence for older buildings may yet emerge at Incoronata, and the earliest stage of the 'residenza ad abside' at Satriano di Lucania is also placed in the 8th century BC[17]. As for the apsidal buildings on Timpone della Motta, two scenarios are possible: local development from the mentioned rectangular Damale structures, or adoption of a Greek model. The latter would refer only to the ground-plan, because a striking difference exists between Greek and Italic apsidal structures: namely the wall foundations and posts in Greek structures are placed on stone bases, while the posts in Italic buildings are placed directly in the ground. This latter method exposes the feet of the posts to moisture, and overhanging roofs are needed to prevent rainwater from soaking into the postholes. Greek builders or a direct copying of Greek building traditions are thus unlikely. The adoption of a Greek ground-plan in this early phase is yet another argument against the proposition that the colony of Sybaris instigated the creation of a sanctuary of Timpone della Motta. Rather the reverse seems likely: initially, it may have been the elites at Torre del Mordillo and Francavilla Marittima that stimulated the rise of Sybaris. For now, the issue remains undecided due to the sparse evidence available for the first phases of Sybaris and of the Chonian settlement that – given the evidence from the Macchiabate burial field with its hundreds of graves – must have been on a considerable scale.
Remains and Functional Elements of Building Vb
11 Walls (Fig. 1, posts indicated in light brown): An apsidal east wall supported by posts is represented by their holes (diameters from c. 40 to 50 cm and depths from c. 35 to 50 cm). Another feature is a north-south wall at the west end indicated by further postholes[18]. These can be attributed to building Vb, because the back walls of Temples Vc and Vd lie further west and overlap, and the distance to this west wall is too little for it to fit into the plan of Temple Vc. The postholes are severely eroded, with two covered by a water basin associated with a Christian chapel in this area. An internal dividing wall running through GIA trenches AC02/AC04 roughly corresponds to a one that could go with the later Temple Vc. A row of heavily eroded postholes on a different orientation show that an earlier dividing wall existed here. The course of the south wall cannot be reconstructed, no suitable postholes were found further to the south; they probably had vanished when the bedrock surface along the south edge was levelled, which event happened several times. The postholes of the west wall and the dividing wall in AC02/04 abutted the north wall of Vc, indicating that (some of) the postholes were part of building Vb too.
12None of the buildings on the top of Timpone della Motta seem to have been destroyed by fire, for no fired clay wall material has ever been found. All the identified clay fragments were of thorcis (unfired clay with straw) associated with cooking rings (forni) and of impasto associated with cooking stands (fornelli)[19]. It is therefore impossible to decide whether the walls were made of rammed earth, wattle-and-daub, or mud brick. Because of the closely spaced postholes in the south-eastern curve of the apse rammed earth/pisée is a possibility, while the absence of a stone plinth leaves perhaps only wattle-and-daub as a realistic option.
13 Altar (Fig. 1, indicated in light brown): Upon excavation a squarish patch of conglomerate bedrock with rounded corners (1.60 × 2.12 m) in the western part of the structure was found to be covered with ashes. The surface of the feature was heavily burned to a purplish colour and a narrow gulley (only a few centimetres wide) had been cut around it. The rock in this section is more solid and slightly elevated above the surrounding area. Bronze personal objects similar to those from local female graves were found in that lower area (Fig. 7–16), together with a substantial ash deposit further to the south containing, among other things, calcined animal bone. Together, these elements make it likely that the feature functioned as an eschara.
14 Ashes: A large primary ash deposit (observed over a 20 × 4–5 m area, to a depth of up to 2 m; indicated in Fig. 1) covered the south-western edge of the top terrace and ran up against the postholes of the south walls of Temple Complex V. Trenches AC19–AC20 contained pure ashes mixed with fragments of both unburned and calcined animal bone fragments and pottery sherds dating to the 8th century BC. Although the ashes, which broke up at the slightest touch with a shovel, were excavated in spits of 10–15 cm, no chronological sequence could be observed[20]. A preliminary excavation report associated all ashes with the altar. However, we later realized that the burn marks on virtually all the impasto pots suggest that they had been used for cooking in situ at that location (see below). The presence of cooking-oven elements point to the same conclusion. In other words, actually there were two types of ash that had accumulated: in the west associated with the altar and in the east with cooking fires. The calcined animal bone fragments, many of them from young animals, likely belong to the former structure and the unburned animal bones to the latter events. Several litres of ashes were analysed for botanical remains by the Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus: no such remains were found in the westernmost part supporting the presence there of an altar, but they were in the easternmost, so arguing for the preparation of food[21]. Preserved pottery from the ashes, for instance the small mug (Fig. 19 a), indicate the beginnings of ritual activities, as they were associated with ashes and calcined animal bone[22].
15In the 6th century BC, a secondary ash deposit was formed out of the first, by spreading the material over the levelled remains of Complex V before applying a thick gravel layer (see section 3). The finds and composition, identical to the primary ash deposit, are striking. As a large part of the original 8th-century ash layer now sat on top of the ‘yellow soil’ of the 7th-century Temple Vd, the stratigraphy was locally reversed. This levelling off of the primary ash deposit in the context of a drastic restructuring of the sanctuary suggests that it had accumulated to a very considerable amount and depth. That the preservation and retention of ashes and bone were deliberate – probably done out of respect for and to order the ritual acts they represented – is confirmed by the enormous amount of this light material still present on a hilltop that is often exposed to strong winds. In the Stratigraphic Units AC03.US13/14 the locally well-preserved secondary ash layer was sieved, producing pottery fragments as well as animal bone: 1061 unburned, 331 calcined fragments, involving 97 juvenile and 42 foetal fragments of farm animals.
16 Looms: The presence of many large and heavy loom weights (Fig. 17 a–c), over hundred specimens in trenches AC02 and AC04) of roughly similar impasto types suggests that building Vb housed one or more looms[23]. These likely stood against the dividing wall of Vb, probably on its east side. The builders of Temple Vc had dumped the fragile, poorly fired and large impasto weights into the Vb wall’s foundation trench before constructing a new wall on top. Preliminary publications mention the position of the loom weights as primary, but upon further analysis it became clear that the fairly orderly rows of loom weights were due to the manner in which they had been neatly packed into the space of the wall’s foundation trench, together with fragmented cooking stove and pottery fragments. Rather than being a primary assemblage, the loom weights are therefore a secondary deposit, but one not far removed from their postulated original positions.
17In the GIA 1991–2004 excavations, human activity was recognized by the analysis of assemblages, a refinement of the Harris Matrix excavation method that distinguishes Stratigraphic Units (US) based on soil data[24]. Objects from US contexts with defined soil characteristics are regarded as belonging to grouped chronological components of the excavation. The next step is to ask to what extent these grouped US objects can be considered comprehensible representations of human activities, for instance because of their contemporaneity. If that seems to be the case, that group of objects is considered an archaeological assemblage: “An assemblage is an archaeological term meaning a group of different artefacts found in association with one another, that is, in the same context. An assemblage is a group of artefacts recurring together at a particular time and place and representing the sum of human activities”[25]. In the case of the superimposed Complex V buildings, many US groups qualified as assemblages because their primary deposition could be identified, despite having undergone a secondary manipulation in the next construction phase; the loom weights just mentioned are a case in point[26].
18The larger weights are particularly nicely decorated, and rather heavy. In a separate publication of the loom weights, we explained that these decorations do not represent labyrinths/mazes, as was suggested earlier[27], but meandering swastikas (an aspect of solar iconography), and that the patterns may be associated with similarly patterned textiles in two colours, probably executed in a tapestry weaving technique, which would explain the heaviness of these weights[28]. So far, the large, decorated loom weights of Timpone della Motta are unique. Similar though not identical specimens have been found only in Canale Ianchina[29]. Smaller loom weights of a more usual mass and type (Fig. 17 e) find parallels in female, Italic-Oinotrian graves[30]. To the best of our knowledge yet another category, the small and very light 'pinched' type (Fig. 17 f), has not been identified at any other Italian site[31], but similar small weights do occur in the Greek archipelago, where their postulated dates are either uncertain or given as much later[32]. The 8th-century date for the Timpone della Motta weights of this type rests firmly on their provenance from the oldest Vb-associated find groups and on their presence in an 8th-century Francavilla Marittima grave and in a dwelling from the same period[33]. Large quantities of spindle whorls of both impasto and refined clay often occur together with the loom weights and in other contexts (excavated or looted). These various types of whorls also mostly date to the 8th century BC[34].
19 Cooking area: The same infill that contained the large loom weights also produced fragments of impasto cooking stoves (Fig. 18), which do not turn up at all from later assemblages associated with Temple Vc. In earlier publications, the GIA team associated these objects with wool preparation and dyeing, and/or with the cooking of meals for a large group of people. Such activities are conceivable in the house of a leading family but also as ceremonial cult-related activities. Both interpretations are equally likely, and the female activity area with the loom weights and cooking stove fragments may have been used for both activities. The excavation results reveal a connection between women, animal sacrifice, weaving, and cooking, corresponding exactly with the scenes worked into the “Verucchio Throne” (Fig. 22) for which various explanations have been proposed (see below).
20 Finds: Other objects meaningfully associated with building Vb besides loom weights, spindle whorls and cooking-stove fragments fall into three categories: personal items found at bedrock level, most likely related to (dedications of?) garments; objects from infills that were manipulated by contemporaries and/or by the later builders of Vc; and objects from quite recently looted and disturbed areas. The latter two categories will only occasionally be mentioned. Small, mostly personal bronze objects were found in fissures in the bedrock and in a powdery dark brown soil immediately above it (Fig. 6–16). The pendants, buttons and fibulae have parallels in the 8th-century female tombs at Macchiabate and further away. The following types are represented: fibulae of shield, plaquette, 4-spiral and serpentine types; pendants of anthropomorphic couples, droplets, spectacle, sun wheel and duck-shaped types; bronze buttons, pierced discs, many bronze rings including some that are rhomboid in cross-section, and with them also bronze tubes and spirals from musical instruments and different types of flexible spirals coming from dress and cap ornaments[35]. In the local tombs, such objects are associated with women of high status. A few decorated loom weights were also found isolated at bedrock level in the altar area. Stylistically their decoration is similar to other specimens, but central motifs of a deer and of a man with a sword on one of the weights are unique, which may indicate that they were dedicatory objects (Fig. 17 a). Fragments of a bronze dagger (AC2640), and sword elements (AC2623) were found in the soil on top of the conglomerate rock.
21Some groups of finds were manipulated by contemporaries and/or the builders of Temple Vc: thus, AC02.US30 and AC04.US30-34 Units with loom weights, spindle whorls, handmade matt-painted pottery, impasto pottery and personal bronze objects. These are related to Stratigraphical Units AC03.US38 and AC18.US13/US15/US17[36]. In Trenches AC03 and AC18, such objects are associated with more ceramic fragments, including pottery which, in J. K. Jacobsen’s and G. P. Mittica’s terminology for locally produced Euboean-inspired wheel-thrown pottery, are called bowls (scodelle) of types 1 and 2, and drinking cups (skyphoi) of types 1 (Fig. 19 c) and 2[37], all dating to the first half of the 8th century BC and imitated by local potters (Fig. 19 c and b). The GIA team coined the term ‘Oinotrian-Euboean ware’ for the special production of mixed Italic and Greek types in refined clay, wheel-thrown and decorated in a glossy paint, to emphasize the fact that this pottery is part of Italic-Oinotrian culture[38]. This is of particular interest since certainly its inspiration and possibly its production too are Euboean[39]. Local wares also use a refined clay and are fired at high temperatures, but they are handmade (mostly coiled) and decorated in matte paint. The two traditions developed side by side; the only crossover is the occasional use of matte paint on wheel-thrown vessels, but this does not necessarily imply a sharing of expertise. The date of the earliest Oinotrian-Euboean wheel-thrown pottery from local clay at Timpone della Motta is based on comparisons with similar ceramics in grave contents at Pontecagnano, and thereby dated to the second quarter of the 8th century BC[40]. By that time, itinerant or immigrant potters had already established their workshops and familiarized the locals with their products. Although indigenous local potters experimented with motifs like undulating/wavy bands and crosshatched motifs adopted from foreign traditions, they did not take up the wheel until c. 700 BC[41].
22As remarked, local Oinotrian/Chonian potters were inspired by skyphoi in the Oinotrian-Euboean style to place two horizontal handles on bowls, whereas the traditional local cups always have a single vertical handle and a decoration of an undulating band or bands below the lip (compare Fig. 19 c and b). The change may well have occurred when wide cups and horizontal handles became necessary to be able to drink wine in the Greek style.
The Function of Apsidal Building Vb
23An attempt to elucidate this aspect was based on a number of points. First, the discovery of many painstakingly decorated loom weights, found in a row and in a sanctuary likely to be dedicated to [H]Eilenia, epiklesis of Athena. Then a theory put forward by Paola Zancani Montuoro and others that recognizes elements from the Bronze Age in the 'labyrinth' decoration of the loom weights. And finally, the worship of Athena as evidenced by the Kleombrotos inscription. In the contemplation of these matters, the GIA team sought to link the new finds to what is known about this goddess as a protectress of weaving and about her peplos-fashioning tradition in ancient Athens[42]. Nostos traditions associate Athena [H]Eilenia’s temple with Epeios and Lagaria[43]. This linkage seemed to be confirmed by several other newly discovered features, such as an eschara, bronze personal women's jewellery, and a large quantity of ashes with calcined animal bone. Critique levelled at the GIA team’s arguments have handily reminded us how difficult it is to prove a sacred function based on archaeological finds[44]. Nonetheless we still believe the hypothesis is valid, especially since it is now possible to produce several other relevant observations in its support.
24That women are associated with apsidal building Vb is evident. Firstly, loom weights, both in general and at the local Macchiabate cemetery, are exclusive to female burials, as are the type of bronze pendants found associated with building Vb. Based on this information, we may characterize building Vb as a female activity area (hence its name ‘Casa delle Tessitrici’). Secondly, the bronze anthropomorphic-couple pendants from building Vb, Tomb Strada I, several other women's tombs, and one child’s grave point to a specific set of beliefs (Fig. 10. 20 d). In his recently constructed typology, Francesco Quondam classifies the Vb pendants as type B2 variante a; he also proposes an 8th-century chronology in which these types represent the early stages, up to c. 750 BC[45]. The bronze smiths of the Sybaritide, where production was started, probably borrowed the iconography from Phoenician-Cretan prototypes. While the exact meaning still eludes us, links with the concept of hieros gamos and with a formalized approach to marriage and death are unmistakeable[46]. Local coroplasts also ‘translated’ the bronze pendants into terracotta figurines that were deposited in the graves of young girls, among which the earliest example is Temparella Tomb 2 at Macchiabate (Fig. 20 e)[47]. Single terracotta figurines found in other burials of young girls (Fig. 20 a) were based on similar figurines from graves in the Aegean islands, as is evident not only from the similarity between the figurines but also from the fact that a head of a terracotta figurine imported resembling those from the Aegean islands was among the material looted from Timpone della Motta (Fig. 20 b)[48]. Aegean island terracottas are known from such funerary contexts as a Seraglio tomb on Kos (Fig. 20 c), a tomb at Ialysos on Rhodes, and Tomb 2 from the Balassos plot at Ayia Anna on Skyros[49]. These terracottas in turn are descended from terracotta handmade and incised 'bell dolls' known from Protogeometric burials at the Athenian Kerameikos and from the Perivolia burial ground at Lefkandi[50]. Susan Langdon has established a connection between these terracottas, the bridal attire associated, and a belief in a posthumous marriage for deceased female virgins. In short, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the Italic-Chonian aristocratic families at Francavilla Marittima as early as the first half of the 8th century BC were quite familiar with customs and ideas from the eastern Mediterranean, and particularly with the formalized ceremonial elements concerning marriage and death[51].
25Some finds from building Vb, specifically bronze rings (Fig. 13. 14 a) with a rhomboid cross-section, bronze spirals (Fig. 12 a–d) and small tubes are elements of costume pendants that produce sounds; these are known also from tomb T60 where chimes, a calcophone, and a rasp formed from rhomboid rings were found (Fig. 21 a. b)[52]. The buried woman must have fulfilled a specific role in her society, not only because of the many tinkling pendants from her costume which link her to building Vb, but also because most of these had been placed not on the body but alongside it, and above all because from the position of the torc it seems the woman’s head was protected by a large bronze basin of a type with an outwards folded rim, wrapped in a piece of cloth, probably her mantle: four 4-spiral fibulae going with the cloth were found above her earrings and underneath the basin (Fig. 21 a)[53]. That Italic aristocratic women fulfilled special ceremonial and/or ritual functions is especially evident from the various magnificent bronze bowls deposited in their tombs[54]. In the Archaic period these objects were still closely associated with respected priestesses holding commanding positions. The Locri pinakes illustrate this rather well; they show a priestess carrying a bronze bowl and a stick for instance, while walking in front of a line of girls who are about to offer a very large garment[55].
26The presence of much bronze scrap, the absence of bronze vessels and the survival of smaller bronze objects only in fissures or directly on the bedrock all suggest the presence of a bronzesmith workshop(s) in the 6th-century phase Ve. In these workshops, bronze objects must have been broken up, melted down and recycled (the implication is that there were enough larger objects around to make it worthwhile to set up a workshop). Bronze phialai were part of the 6th-century ritual assemblages; these were also among the objects looted in large numbers on the acropolis[56]. Evidently the primary focus of the workshop(s) was the production of new phialai from old material collected, at a time before the large gravel layer was laid down[57].
27Fragments of a dagger and a sword may indicate that building Vb was (also) visited by males, insofar as these objects were not likely used by women in ceremonial and/or ritual activities[58]. In this context it is worth mentioning a remarkable similarity between Tomb T60, with its bronze basin wrapped in a mantle, and the recently discovered burial De Leo I[59]. Apart from one iron axe, the princely person buried in De Leo I, an event that occurred at the end of the first half of the 8th century BC, received no weapons. Instead, a cloth-wrapped bronze cauldron with inward folded rim, an Oinotrian-Euboean krater (Fig. 33 a), and both a locally produced and an imported cup as well as a bronze omphalos cup were deposited with him. The absence of weapons and the presence of a wrapped cauldron in De Leo I indicate that the man buried there held a special status, deriving from heroic concepts and thinking. The man was buried in a fetal position and on his right side, a local practice although his burial also contained Greek elements. Cauldrons wrapped in fabric recall Homeric references to cauldrons being used as urns for the cremated and the cloth-wrapped remains of heroes, an Aegean practice[60]. The famous Eretria West Gate cremation pit graves with cauldrons also include female burials (tombs 7, 10 and possibly 13). Jan Paul Crielaard comments: “At Eretria the custom was separated from gender considerations and had become a token of the high elite status of a small group within the local community, instead of being a token of individual (male) excellence, as seems to be the case in most other instances.”[61]. The Macchiabate female T60 and male De Leo I burials, both inhumations, take this process of detachment a step further and leave us guessing as to the role of the woven fabrics. Another highly significant factor is the potentially earlier date and greater number of the Italic cauldrons and basins compared to those in Greece. Moreover, Italic objects have been found in the Eretrian sanctuary, implying mutual influences at work[62].
28Assuming that such special social functions demanded special fabrics brings us back to the many loom weights and spindle whorls; the textiles in T60 and De Leo I are likely to have been produced locally, in building Vb. The oldest truncated pyramidal weights from Satriano di Lucania as well as the weights from Timpone della Motta come from elite residences with cultic functions; both sets are made of impasto, uneven in weight (several of one kilogram or more), and pierced with large holes (diam. 1 cm or wider). Such weights suggest thick yarns and a very coarse, tabby fabric as the result[63]. This explanation appears to contradict the sophisticated function of the fabrics we just discussed, nor does it match the intricate patterns on the Timpone della Motta weights. As a solution we had suggested they were employed in some sophisticated tapestry weaving technique, but it is difficult to reconcile that supposition with the observation that the fabrics of this period were twills produced on looms with four heddles as Margarita Gleba convincingly argued[64].
29The loom weights, cooking stands, and knives from Building Vb allow yet another important parallel to be made: Verucchio, with its evidence for timber-framed architecture, carpentry, and weaving traditions. Verucchio is one of the few archaeological sites where wooden and textile objects have been preserved. Similar objects may be postulated for Timpone della Motta, albeit perhaps in different techniques and styles. The presence of such objects may be also deduced from the carved scenes on the famous Verucchio throne that show young women weaving, cooking, and making offerings (Fig. 22)[65]. These same three activities can be inferred from the objects and ashes associated with building Vb to have been carried out by the women working there. Yet another clue that the apsidal buildings and their activities at Timpone della Motta may have resembled those depicted on the throne and that they too may have featured similar wooden decorative elements like waterbirds, deer, horses and sun wheels is the fact that these same motifs are known from Timpone della Motta, executed in metal and amber or incised on loom weights[66].
30Patrizia von Eles' interpretation of the carved scenes on the throne from Lippi tomb 89/1972 at Verucchio, dated to the end of the 8th century BC, is based on the central scene (Fig. 22 a). This shows two women with knives or swords attacking unidentifiable objects, possibly animals, amidst statues (perhaps totem images), and surrounded by human figures seated on high scaffolding in an outdoor sanctuary[67]. Other scenes show the arrival of a high-ranking man and woman, each in a cart with sacrificial objects, possibly animals or persons. The male is seated on a throne and may therefore represent the person buried in the tomb, while the woman could be a priestess or/and the highest-ranking woman of his household. We believe, with Patrizia Von Eles, that the scenes on the upper panel, below the sun wheels, take place at a sanctuary (Fig. 22 b. c). They show young women weaving special cloth and preparing special foods. Von Eles mentions the preparation of mola salsa (roasted emmer wheat and salt) by the Vestals of Rome as a parallel.
31We hope that this brief review of the evidence for the purpose of Building Vb and for the familiarity of the users with eastern Mediterranean customs and parallel from the Adriatic sub-coastal region suffices to prove that the structure had a special function associated with elite persons and customs. Such contexts likely also incorporated rites in which prescribed parts of animals slaughtered on the eschara were sacrificed to a deity to request a favourable outcome, concerning for instance marriage, fertility, or journeys overseas. The Chonians appear to have adopted such altar-centred rituals from traders and other respected outsiders, in the same way as they adopted banqueting and drinking rituals, the Epeios legend and (H)Eilenia/Athena as protectress of themselves, craftsmen, and young women[68]. The apsidal building Vb was completely built over later, with no area of finds left undisturbed.
32Whoever the Vb building belonged to, it seems quite clear that already in the first half of the 8th century BC marriage rules were controlled by an elite. That these rules invoked higher powers is evident from local bronze and terracotta figurines with the iconographies of anthropomorphic couples and bridal maidens. Other high-quality, non-indigenous and/or prestige objects based on foreign models suggest that marriage was a way to extend social relations and power, according to Claude Lévi-Strauss’ alliance theory[69]. This implies an established pattern in which marriageable women were not only exchanged within Italic societies, but also married off by these societies to foreigners. The clearly feminine aspect of Building Vb, the anthropomorphic-couple iconography, and the coming-of-age/marriage ceremonies associated with the subsequent Temple Vc all suggest that this focus on marriage had already got under way in period Vb. 'Mixed marriages' have been an object of study since Buchner’s and Coldstream’s groundbreaking questions; now physical examination of skeletal remains is a promising avenue for future investigation[70]. In our opinion, based on the ‘agency’ of terracotta and bronze anthropomorphic objects, marriage for elite girls was already linked to eastern Mediterranean conventions. The ritual manipulation of costly bronze vessels and textiles in elite burials provides another clue as to how deeply cultural values borrowed from a Mediterranean elitist culture had already taken root. The erection of these monumental buildings on the hilltop emphasized the power of one or more local families and their need for dominance and ceremony. In addition, Temple Vb was linked to arguably legendary beliefs first attributed to the earlier Bronze Age structure right underneath it.
33In this early period, graves were the arenas for the most important socio-economic and religious manifestations. Developments in Building Vb can only be understood with reference to the funerary sphere. In the next phase this is, however, much less the case, as the expression of these values gradually shifted locales, towards the sanctuary. Temple Vc, the building which succeeded Vb, certainly housed only rituals.
Three Monumental Timber-Built Temples, 725–675/650 BC
34Rows of postholes cut into the conglomerate bedrock mark the location of three monumental timber-built temples on Timpone della Motta[71]. Their arrangement – a central temple flanked on each side by two identical examples – as well as their similar architecture suggest they must have been built more or less simultaneously (Fig. 23. 24. 25). All three are buildings divided into sections along their length and with frontal porches, suggesting an opening above the entrance.
35Between 1963 and 1969, the Leiden archaeologist Maria W. Stoop uncovered the remains of Temples I, II and III. The layout indicated by the 6th century BC wall foundations in stone of Temples I and III is the same as that formed by lines of postholes cut into the conglomerate bedrock[72]. Stoop paid little attention to these postholes[73], but Dieter Mertens acknowledged their importance, dating them to the 7th century BC because of an abundance of pottery from that period and the alleged absence of older, indigenous pottery[74]. We now know that the construction of these timber buildings started in the final quarter of the 8th century BC and that impasto pottery was in fact abundant[75].
Remains of Temple Vc
36 Walls (Fig. 1, postholes and postulated walls in blue): Maria W. Stoop encountered the first two postholes (AB, AD) of timber-built Temple Vc below the remains of the double-apse of the Christian Chapel (chiesetta) and the associated water basin (pozzo, 1.60 × 1.65 m)[76]. More recently, the important finds associated with these postholes prompted a GIA excavation, initially together with Dr Stoop. To her and the GIA team’s surprise, the first feature to be encountered was a very thick (in places almost 2 m) gravel feature, initially interpreted as a sterile natural layer. However, upon further investigation it became clear that the gravel was in fact an artificial platform, raised in the 6th century BC on top of all the earlier building remains, but only in the south-west corner of the hilltop. Today, the remains of the chapel, associated water basin, and a few sub-modern shacks used by charcoal burners constructed on top of the gravel layer have disappeared because of constant looting activities. Finally, a disastrous attack by clandestine diggers one weekend in 1993 forced the GIA team to change tactics and switch from an open-area excavation with trial pits (of a metre square) to a succession of larger trenches (at 4 m2) (Fig. 1)[77].
37Of the postholes of the north wall of Vc, eight specimens are known[78]. The postholes of the west wall are cut through by the west wall trench of Temple Vd. The south wall involves 15 postholes (up to 50–60 cm deep, with diameters of 40–50 cm) (Fig. 26). The six postholes of the east wall, cut into soil, are smaller in diameter (30–40 cm) and placed closer together than the others, which suggests a portico with sloping roof (Fig. 27). Posthole arrangements of Temples I and III indicate that both these buildings featured similar porticoes. An internal north/south dividing wall exactly follows the dividing wall of building Vb (see above). Internal postholes along the length of Temples I, III and V suggest aisles flanking a central nave, missing postholes in the west point to backrooms. The layout is similar to that of Greek temples with a central room (cella) and a backroom (opisthodomos). At this early period the plans of Greek temples vary widely; an 'Ionic style' develops much later[79].
38 Floor: The stratigraphy of GIA Trenches AC02, 03 and 04 was peculiar because of their stratigraphical units composed of layers of red and yellow soil (nicknamed ‘lasagna’ by the student excavators). Although attempts to stratigraphically separate these layers were not always successful, they do nonetheless represent two different periods: the red layer is associated with Temple Vc because of the presence in three of its post holes, while the yellow layer, which was sticky and loamy, is linked to Vd because it was smeared over many of the post holes of Temple Vc. In Trenches AC02 and AC04, the red soil areas (of 4–8 cm thick) are neatly horizontal, without pottery or animal bones in them, and show sharp boundaries at both sides of the infilled feature with the Vb loom weights and cooking stand fragments, so indicating that it formed a floor on each side of the wall of the postholes. In what way the patches of red floor material are related to the Vc thorcis cooking facilities has not become clear, but a connection is likely.
39 Cooking Area: Stratigraphical Unit 13A of Trench AC02 is particularly helpful in reconstructing a ritual function associated with Temple Vc, because it represents the remnants of a thorchis cooking area (Fig. 28)[80]. In the later Temple Vd phase, it had been covered by a layer of yellow soil on top of which were small Corinthian pots. The thorcis-controlled cooking places (forni) – evidence of more specimens could be reconstructed later – differ in material and use from the cooking stands (fornelli) used in the Vb phase. They were filled with sand and a lot of ash with charcoal. Their use as cooking areas is further made plain from the impasto cooking pots and the many animal bones in association.
40 Finds: Significant finds associated with Temple Vc appeared outside the building, being discovered in the final years of the excavation. Trenches AC16A, AC17 and AC22A yielded assemblages of various types of pottery dating to 725–675/650 BC, underneath a levelling layer of re-used dolium fragments which was sealed, top and bottom, by the yellow soil associated with the phase of Temple Vd. On the layer with the dolium fragments were set the large foundation stones of a temenos/retaining wall (named Wall 2003, associated with Temple Vd, Fig. 29) as well as cobbled pavements. The dolia originally will have belonged to the earlier Buildings Vb and Vc, where they may have stood along the south walls. These large, globular vessels (Fig. 30 a) had clearly broken at some time and were subsequently put to a new use by the builders of Temple Vd, probably close to their original position[81].
Function of Temple Vc
41The informative pottery assemblages associated with Temple Vc and found below the remnant of Wall 2003 and in adjacent areas seem to represent the remains of shared, ceremonial meals. They consistently comprise three different pottery types: impasto cooking pots (Fig. 30 b–f), matt-painted drinking cups and jugs (Fig. 31. 32 a–d), and imported and locally manufactured cups, bowls and kraters in an Euboean style (Fig. 32 e–f; Fig. 33 b–e). Small impasto cooking pots (type mug/juglet bicchiere/olletta, Fig. 30 b–e) and large impasto vessels (type conical bucket/ pithos a bombarda, Fig. 30 f) are the most common categories[82]. Virtually all of them feature burned surfaces where the vessels have been in direct contact with fire[83]. The mugs/small jars are handmade from a local clay source near the Macchiabate cemetery[84]. They represent a roughly standardized type, 12 to 15 cm high and roundish to oval, often with an in-turned lip and small lugs just below the rim. Their burned and cracked exterior surfaces betray placement near an open fire, and the discoloured interior surfaces suggest that they contained food. The many animal bone fragments associated with the larger vessels indicate that this was probably some meat stew, while carbonized barley and seeds of local plants suggest a gruel of vegetables and cereals for the smaller vessels[85]. A second category of pottery in these assemblages consists of locally produced, handmade large bowls (scodelle) and smaller cups (attingitoi, kantharoi, Fig. 31. 32 a. b) in refined clay, as well as biconical vessels decorated with matt-painted motifs in the local Fringe, Miniature and Bichrome Styles (Fig. 31 c–d, h, j, l; 32 c). All are characteristic of the final decades of the 8th century BC[86]. Kraters and drinking bowls in the Oinotrian-Euboean style represent a third category related to the krater in the aristocratic male grave De Leo I (Fig. 33 a), while the Fringe Style kantharoi are similar to a kantharos in the likewise aristocratic male grave T87. The two men buried in these tombs received not only drinking sets but also the bronze cauldrons mentioned earlier[87]. A continuation of earlier dining practices, but reinterpreted in a new form and most likely involving family groups and more Greek-style drinking, is indicated by finds such as a krater foot painted with grazing horses in the Cesnola-painter style (Fig. 33 e), krater fragments with painted birds in a style identified as locally produced Oinotrian-Euboean (Fig. 33 b. c), and a lid fragment showing a dancing human pair (Fig. 34 a). The last must have been produced by an itinerant vase painter of Greek origin, as it is comparable to a krater pyxis known to have been looted in the 1970s (Fig. 33 h)[88].
42The Greek-style ceramics in these Vc assemblages from the GIA excavation can be supplemented with vessels looted in the 1960s and 1970s that include the iconographically important ‘Ticino pyxis’ and most likely a krater from the Antikenmuseum and Sammlung Ludwig in Basel (Fig. 33 g)[89]. The combination of locally manufactured Greek-style kraters and impasto cooking pots used in a traditional Italic-Chonian way offers an intriguing insight into the different participants in these ritual performances. The assemblages found in cracks and crevices on the southern edge were in all probability placed there by the families who used Temple Vc for ritual occasions. They do not seem to have suffered much handling in the building of the succeeding structure, as is suggested by the less fragmentary state of these vessels compared to those from secondary deposits. The burn marks on the impasto cooking vessels suggest a food preparation technique today called ‘slow cooking’. Earthenware pignatte are still used in Calabria today to cook, for example, dried beans at an open fire, and the impasto vessels from the assemblages appear to have been similarly employed. By implication, the patches of red, gritty soil on top of some areas of the conglomerate may be linked to this form of cooking. This hypothetical reconstruction supposes that while the food was simmering, families participated in the prescribed rituals[90].
43Another important component of the ritual practices associated with Temple Vc can be deduced from fragments of terracotta figurines of the 'Copenhagen type' (Fig. 35)[91]. These are handmade statuettes with large heads and rather oddly raised arms. Stylistically, such heads can be traced back to terracotta production at the Hera sanctuary at Samos, dated to around 680 BC[92]. The curious gesture of the raised arms of these figurines differs from the usual open-armed stance – known since the Minoan period – or an abbreviated version thereof as seen in the funerary terracottas from Macchiabate discussed earlier[93]. Unfortunately, the hands were lost, but they can probably be reconstructed as being held parallel to the head, because this terracotta resembles a much-debated representation on a krater-pyxis, known as the ‘Ticino pyxis’. This vessel originally derives from Timpone della Motta, as does the intact Copenhagen terracotta (confirmed by fragments of like specimens found during the GIA excavations)[94]. The scene on the pyxis can be interpreted as a wedding procession of singing and dancing boys and marriageable girls, the latter pour a libation to an enthroned goddess at the end of the dance[95]. The mythology associated with Athena suggests that this scene represents the moment when the girls symbolically sacrificed their virginity to the virgin goddess, after which they were free to marry[96]. A terracotta parthenos figurine was likely dedicated to Athena to commemorate the rite-de-passage. The combination of figurines displaying this specific gesture that merges surrender of the virgin self and worship, and the cooking vessels and drinking utensils suggests that such assemblages were part of marriage/coming-of-age festivities. The dedication of the utensils used during the festivities together with the terracotta dedicated by the marriageable maiden to the goddess, as a witness to that part of her life, marked a final act of closure.
44Traditionally, terracotta figurines on a base were thought to represent cult statues. A radical re-think occurred when it was noted that bases were not limited to cult statues but also appeared with dedicated statues carrying inscriptions referring by name to ordinary mortals[97]. Seen in that light, the Copenhagen type terracottas are the successors of the funerary terracotta figurines (section 2) and represent participants in coming-of-age/wedding ceremonies as shown on the Ticino pyxis. The recurring presence of fibulae in the assemblages makes it likely that garments or woven cloth were part of the dedications too, perhaps wrapped around the total assemblage.
The Functions of Temple III and Temple I
45The great diversity of finds hitherto encountered makes their absence at the central Temple III even more striking, especially as the structure stands at the highest point and has the most carefully balanced proportions – and so might be considered the most important (Fig. 25 b). This situation may be due to the poor preservation of the soil here but finds were scarce even in places where there was soil. Clearly, Temple III was differently used. It is not inconceivable that building III in an early form was an elite residence next to which Vb functioned as a sacred house of the weavers. After partial restructuring, it may have become the house of the goddess and the place where her cult statue stood.
46It is widely assumed that the earliest cult statues were largely unworked pieces of wood (xoana) that were ritually treated and for example dressed and bedecked in jewellery[98]. Iconographic data suggest the presence of a simple seated cult statue at Timpone della Motta which in various periods was differently dressed:
- The female elite bronze costume jewellery from the altar area of building Vb suggests an act of dressing up occurred in this sacred sphere, as does the presence of looms. Above, we pointed out the importance of wood and fabrics in Chonian culture; these are the same material elements that make up early cult images too. Reifying the concept of a deity and facilitating a religious experience a particular piece of wood covered in fabric was the focus of veneration.
- Based on the ‘Ticino pyxis’, we may argue that the cult statue worshipped in the latter part of the 8th century BC was of an enthroned type[99].
- Juliette de la Genière identified a small terracotta figurine among the Stoop finds as a representation of a cult statue (Fig. 35 d)[100]. This damaged figurine, 8.3 cm high, features raised, stumpy arms. According to Andrea Babbi the carefully modelled body indicates that the coroplast was familiar with Samian terracotta production, and he suggested a date at the end of the 8th century BC[101]. The figurine’s incised necklaces and belt pendants of an indigenous type show that such jewellery – similar to that from the earlier period – was dedicated to the cult statue, implying that it was dressed in indigenous fashion[102].
- The seated Athena with a large rosette likewise could claim to reference the same wooden object, but now it is encased in bronze and gold in parts. Several fragments of terracotta figurines of enthroned goddesses were found on Timpone della Motta, some during the excavations run by Stoop in 1963–1969, while others are part of the A-B-C collections, representing material looted from the site. Another large fragment was recently featured in the sales catalogue of Atlantis Antiquities[104]. Together, these terracotta fragments represent an important series of locally produced figurines showing the goddess with a chest ornament of a large rosette (Fig. 35 f) and dating from c. 550 BC. The type follows the tradition of the ‘Athena in naiskos’ image, but with more jewellery, a reference to the practice of adorning cult statues with real jewellery[105]. The terracottas possibly refer to a cult statue of Athena (Erganê?) with an eight-petal flower ornament and a folded garment or piece of fabric on her lap. The goddess sits on a throne, her folded hands supported by the armrests. Between her hands, her lap, the visual centre of the figurine, is conspicuously empty. This empty space together with the figurine’s odd proportions raises the possibility that we should imagine a folded garment on the knees. The placement of the large chest ornament in a position where Athena usually wears her Gorgoneion strongly suggests that this ornament was an important element of the original cult statue. Another clue to the statue’s appearance is a fragment of a gilded silver-foil petalled-flower, as well as an almost complete gold specimen, both found on the temple plateau of Timpone della Motta[106]. These highly traditional objects could hark back to the Mycenaean period. In the Archaic period, we encounter them in the major sanctuaries along the Ionian Coast: those of Hera Lacinia, of Kore at Lokroi Epizephyrioi, and of Apollo Alaios at Cape Krimisa (the latter of a different type though). The Francavilla rosettes were almost certainly associated with a cult statue of a seated Athena, as they resemble 6th-century specimens from Delphi found together with fragments of the famous chryselephantine statue identified as Apollo. Another conspicuous ornament of the Timpone della Motta terracottas is the neck pendant of the figures. Similar ornaments in gold, ivory or bone were also found on the temple plateau[107].The pendants and gold-foil flowers were probably originally attached to the cult statue and to smaller figurines of that type, either permanently or on special occasions[108]. Their presence at Timpone, both on the figurines and as separate finds, is a strong indication that the Francavilla Athenaion in the 6th century BC possessed a cult statue of an enthroned Athena ‘Erganê’, possibly even a chryselephantine one.
47Like Temple V, the wooden Temple I was often rebuilt. One of the phases left deep slots cut into the rock that are difficult to interpret which is true also for the many postholes discovered during the Mertens and Schläger investigation[109]. A GIA reinvestigation and cleaning revealed a series of additional postholes to the north of the building; the Stoop diaries do not distinguish any floor levels that might be related to them. That the building was in use in the 7th century BC is evident from an analysis done by the ‘Sosandra’ team of finds from a deposit in the south corridor next to the building[110]. It seems somewhat later than the deep-deposited assemblages recovered at Temple Vc, but no specific use could be attributed to whatever phases the postholes represent.
48An important find from the late 7th/early 6th centuries is a frieze fragment, probably from this temple and made from the same mould as frieze-plaques from the Metapontion Temple CI (Fig. 36 b)[111]. The intriguing Metapontion frieze shows a procession of two women in a cart drawn by donkeys, led by a naked boy and followed by three veiled girls. The same frieze was present at Timpone della Motta and was likely originally developed there, as the Timpone fragment is crisper and therefore earlier. Another peculiarity of the Sybaris/Timpone della Motta coroplasts, unlike those at Metapontion, is that they used this same iconography on both friezes and pinakes; the latter show by themselves the same girls which on the friezes follow the cart (Fig. 36 a). Madeleine Mertens-Horn identified the scene on the frieze as a procession of women to the sanctuary of Athena[112]. We concur, with the addition that the procession was probably part of the coming-of-age/marriage rituals for girls, or perhaps only for the girl in the cart, since only she carries a fully open flower while the flowers of the girls that follow her are in various stages of still opening.
49A number of different analyses of the iconography propose an interpretation of the scene on the relief plaques from Metaponto Temple C1 as a wedding procession. This has been framed as either a mythological event, for instance the marriage of the goddess Hera, or based on actual ritual processions[113]. If the same goddess had been the focus of all the sanctuaries of Timpone della Motta, Siris-Herakleia, and Metapontion, a mythological reading of the iconography would have been plausible. However, these sanctuaries venerated different goddesses, Hera, probably Demeter, and Athena. This strongly suggests that the imagery reflects actual events, as Mertens-Horn concluded earlier. Moreover, a mythological wedding seems inappropriate for a 6th-century Athena, famously by then a maiden deity. Comparable scenes on pinakes from Locri refer to the goddess Kore/Persephone, there interpreted by Paola Zancani Montuoro and others as actual wedding processions conducted at the hieros gamos of this goddess, through which marriages at Lokroi were sanctified[114].
50Equally significant, and an unmistakeable iconographic parallel to the girls following the cart in their gesture of greeting/worship, are the girls with raised arms of the Ticino pyxis and the Copenhagen-type terracottas. These suggest yet again that the religious content, the rites, and the production of these objects at Timpone della Motta should all be viewed in the context of rites of passage for girls prior to marriage.
51That a monumental complex of three wooden temples accompanied by a wealth of objects failed to cause a stir in professional circles was probably due to the unusual and rather embarrassing nature caused by neglect and looting. The archaeologies of Francavilla Marittima and Amendolara are often used as proxies to write the history of Sybaris, where archaeological finds are unfortunately scarce. This line of interpretation follows a Greek colonial perspective. However, not a single grave at the cemeteries of Macchiabate or Uomo Morto and Mangosa can been attributed to a Greek individual. Aristocratic indigenous tombs, on the other hand, are particularly conspicuous. That indigenous aristocratic families declined as Sybaris rose to power is evident, but the alleged suppression or expulsion of the indigenous population is blatantly contradicted by the monumental wooden temples at Timpone della Motta, built in indigenous style. While the communal marriage and/or coming-of-age rites that took place there featured impasto cooking wares and matt-painted handmade pottery, especially kantharoi, they also used kraters and drinking cups, equally of local make but produced in a different tradition, wheel-thrown and decorated in glossy paint in a Euboean style. This suggests a hybrid practice including Greek ritual drinking, while the terracotta figurines, even if standing in an essentially Greek manner and fashion, yet reflect ideas about maidenhood, marriage and death circulating among the local Chonian population from beforehand.
Conclusions
52Two crafts were particularly important to Oinotrian-Chonian society in this part of what later became the Sybaritide, sadly both involving perishable materials, specifically wool and wood. The archaeologically established dolium tradition demonstrates the existence of food storage techniques since the Late Bronze Age[115]. The large container types used on Timpone della Motta show that techniques were highly efficient, although in the absence of analysis the vessels’ contents are unknown. Local communities also produced other pottery, including impasto cooking vessels and decorated matt-painted drinking vessels, bowls and biconical jars, while itinerant or immigrant Euboean potters manufactured special drinking cups and kraters. Bronze workshops were also active, perhaps even turning out cauldrons and musical instruments, and a solid tradition in axes testifies to iron smithing. Salt production conceivably occurred in the coastal lagoons, although no evidence has yet been found. Assuming that short-range transhumance was practised, which would be necessary for a high wool yield, food preservation and by implication salt production would be essential. The total list of activities means that sailors could have their vessels overhauled, their sails repaired, and their holds stocked with all kinds of products. However, the area’s chief attraction may have been its supply of wood and the high-quality products made from it, such as shields, carts, wheels, boxes, and seats; and – better evidenced – expensive patterned fabrics woven from wool.
53The graves found so far suggest that the Oinotrian-Chonian community burying its dead at Macchiabate either first settled or expanded into the lower foothills along the Raganello in the late 9th/early 8th centuries BC Presumably the new Oinotrian-Chonian settlements were by preference sited there by both the proximity of the coast and by partially navigable rivers, both of which bodies of water connected them to other, more distant regions. Shortly afterwards, this situation found a mythological expression in the adoption of Epeios as the founder of the local community. This was surely an indigenous initiative, for Greek culture looked down on manual crafts whereas the indigenous cultures valued it very highly, as indicated by the deposition of tools in elite graves and hoards.
54The apsidal buildings on the top of Timpone della Motta – and the large oval house on Plateau III not discussed here – are contemporary with the earliest Macchiabate graves such as Strada I (the Phoenician bowl and Campanian impasto pot), De Leo I (the cauldron wrapped in fabric), and Temparella 60 (with another wrapped bronze vessel, sound-producing instruments and body ornaments) as well as Temparella 2 (the terracotta couple figurine). These tombs are firmly embedded in indigenous traditions, while at the same time they reveal the presence of imported formalized ritual practices and their associated thought processes and belief systems (e.g. banqueting, (probably) xenia customs, marriage, and death) as equally a part of this community. The ruling class absorbed early on elements of heroic identification (evident from tombs De Leo I and T60) as well as the hieros gamos (evident from the bronze and terracotta anthropomorphic couples and the ‘bridal’ terracottas in girls' graves). Furthermore, it can hardly be a coincidence that weaving, carpentry and a potnia-type goddess were successfully merged at Timpone della Motta at an early date. In ancient Greek thought, weaving and carpentry were in a way related: both crafts transformed (different) natural raw materials into new and useful products. Athena was also the patroness of carpenters and shipwrights. She instructed Argus, the builder of the Argo, in the use of a ruler [Apollonios Rhod. 1.724]; while Iliad 15. 412 states “It is metis and not force that makes a good woodcutter”. While not insisting that these exact characteristics were known to the Chones, we do regard their choice of the unheroic architect and sculptor Epeios and his protectress Eilenia as evidence that the Chonian elite, having been regaled with Greek epic stories by overseas visitors, constructed their own identity around these elements. We postulate that the elite class of foreign sailing entrepreneurs of the day did not look down on the Chones, but instead appreciated their monumental timber temples with their – probably – carved decoration, and their intricately patterned woven fabrics, as suggested by for instance the ingenious meandering swastikas and figured motifs on the loomweights. Similar patterns were known in Ianchina too, and such woven fabrics may have been widely appreciated.
55The construction of three monumental temples to replace the older apsidal buildings, from the final quarter of the 8th century onwards, was likely initiated by an indigenous elite deeply influenced, through its network of overseas contacts, by Greek ideas on such buildings, but one also keen to attract foreign traders and aspiring settlers by adopting Greek forms and beliefs. One way to attract attention was to build ‘Greek’ temples in indigenous style. The southern building V was the setting for coming-of-age/wedding ceremonies involving both indigenous and Euboean-inspired pottery in ways that leave little doubt that the participants were mostly indigenous. Based on the scene on the Ticino pyxis and the related terracottas of the Copenhagen type, we may safely argue for the existence of (or at least a familiarity with) a (seated?) cult statue. In fact, its introduction may have been the reason for constructing these new buildings. Around 675–650 BC, the practices surrounding the cult image changed, in that they now involved kosmesis as well as a range of activities utilizing items such as small perfume vessels imported from Corinth (the data on the sanctuary during the second half of the 7th and the entire 6th centuries BC are not included in this article). But while the outward expressions of these celebrations gradually changed, their focus – coming-of-age and marriage – remained mostly and in essence the same.
Post Scriptum
56Recently, P. G. Guzzo has reinterpreted a scene on a decorated vessel lid from the GIA excavations 1991–2004 at Timpone della Motta (Fig. 34 a)[116]. His article, published in Römische Mitteilungen 126, contains a number of misunderstandings which need to be rectified. First, there is the lid fragment itself. Its GIA excavation number is AC17.19.10, not Acr.7.19.10. The excavations 1991–2004 at Timpone della Motta used a numbering system based on the Harris matrix system, with each number containing information about the object’s provenance. In the case of the lid fragment the number reads as:
- AC = Area Chiesetta (SW top of Timpone della Motta),
- 17. = excavation trench number,
- 19. = Unità Stratigrafica number,
- 10 = fragment number.
57The fragment is not a stray find, but part of a systematically excavated assemblage dating to 720–680 BC. However, it is correct that for years we did not have further information on the fragment due to very limited access to our finds. As to the attribution of the fragment: no less a specialist than Marina Martelli identified the decoration as by the ‘Francavilla painter’, referring to the provenance from the site of an important decorated open vessel by this master known as the ‘Ticino pyxis’[117]. G. P. Guzzo believes the GIA lid fragment does not match the pyxis, because its diameter does not fit. This may or may not be correct but cannot be verified because we do not know the object’s current location. A GIA student calculated and drew the lid’s diameter at 29.8 cm, while Guzzo gives it as 31.4 cm. Published dimensions of the pyxis give it a maximum diameter of 25.5 cm by a height of 22 cm [Jucker 1982], while Guzzo gives a diameter of 22.5 cm and a height of 22 cm without mentioning the source). Furthermore, Guzzo observes that the lid lacks the filling motifs present on the pyxis, and that the anatomy of the naked man on the fragment is sketchier than that of the men on the pyxis. While the male figures are indeed different, the female on the lid is an almost exact copy of the leading girl on the pyxis, with only the heads being different.
58In our view, the question whether the lid belongs to the pyxis or to another open vessel from the Francavilla Marittima sanctuary (several similar vessels are suspected to have been looted in the 1960s, compare notes 89 and 94 supra) is not that important, nor is the question whether the Basel krater, Ticino pyxis and GIA lid were painted by the same hand or by different painters familiar with each other’s work and commissioned by the same people. The vessel shapes, decoration styles and content of the scenes are similar enough to form a distinct group. The similarity between the vessels was observed long ago. The overall picture that emerges is one of large, open, wheel-thrown pyxides and kraters in Francavilla Marittima decorated by itinerant vase painters locally active in the decades around 700 BC. The study of the stratigraphical provenances of these vessels suggests that they played an important role in rituals otherwise dominated by cooking pots and matt-painted pottery. The situation is intriguing because it argues that special rituals existed that required such Greek-style ceramic vessels, and that the local potters initially did not make them. Further, travelling (Greek-educated) potters and coroplasts contributed importantly to the religious development by introducing various cultual iconographies.
Abstracts
Abstract
Monumental Timber Temples and Cultic Development at Timpone della Motta (Francavilla Marittima, Calabria)
Archaeological excavations have revealed that enterprising aristocracies were part and parcel of the early Iron Age Italic-Oinotrian population of the foothills behind the coastal plains on the Ionian Sea. This article discusses evidence from local architecture and material culture that the cult site at Timpone della Motta was promoted by such an indigenous aristocracy to attract a commercial and craft elite from overseas. Evidence suggests the presence of Greek practices by the first half of the 8th century BC. It would be a mistake to underestimate the intellectual capacity of the Italic Oinotrians, who in the coastal areas were also referred to as Chones or Chonians. These Chonians used nostoi foundation legends to forge crucial ties with a seafaring elite from overseas, while earlier wood-working traditions enabled them to adopt Epeios as their founder and Athena [H]Eilenia as their patron goddess. Three monumental timber-frame temples testify to the success of these attempts to attract entrepreneurs and immigrants. With their huge quantities of pottery, these buildings are evidence of the sanctuary’s supra-regional function.
Keywords
Athenaion, Italic-Oinotrian/Chonian Culture, Timber-Frame Temple Architecture, Coming-of-Age/Marriage Ritual, Lagaria-Timpone della Motta-Francavilla Marittima
Introduction
A Bronze Age House, probably Horseshoe-Shaped
Apsidal Timber-Frame Buildings
Remains and Functional Elements of Building Vb
The Function of Apsidal Building Vb
Three Monumental Timber-Built Temples, 725–675/650 BC
Remains of Temple Vc
Function of Temple Vc
The Functions of Temple III and Temple I
Conclusions
Post Scriptum
Abstracts
