Panel 8.2 – Agrigento: Archaeology of an ancient city. Urban form, sacred and civil spaces, productions, territory


Organiser/Chair:

  • Luigi Caliò (Università di Bologna)
  • Giuseppe Lepore (Università di Bologna)

External Discussant:

  •   Johannes Bergemann (Universität Göttingen)

Speakers:

Panel abstract

Every ancient town with its own buildings, its executive and production structures constitutes a model for common living, being an administrative and operational point of reference for a wide portion of the territory.
The most recent researches carried out and coordinated by the Parco in the site of Agrigento, in cooperation with a number of Universities, are defining a more concrete profile for Akragas/Agrigentum, as a unitary and integrated system eligible, on a large scale, for community needs management: from public spaces to private ones, from facilities to cult places, from necropoleis to production sites, from the exploitation of the chora to the handing of the port areas - all the most important political and economic functions correspond to the urban system. Particularly, the plan of the city is newly interpreted, along with the profile of sacred and civic areas, the inhabited and the production places and ways, from archaic period to Late Antiquity; economical organization is shed a new light, as it is investigated according to archaeological evidence, no more only through literary sources or the magnificent architecture of the Valley temples.

Paper abstracts

1. Oscar Belvedere and Aurelio Burgio (University of Palermo)

Il territorio di Agrigento
The aim of this paper is to present the methodological approach and results derived by different projects focused on archaeological survey. The first one is an intrasite survey, and it regards the city of ancient Agrigento and its surroundings. The others regard the territory near Agrigento, both in the East, where the University of Palermo has carrying out the “Cignana project”, and in the West, where the study of ancient landscapes is conducted by a series of thesis; it needs to highlight that all these researches use the same methodological approach.
The Agrigento project is articulated in several phases: first of all the realization of a GIS platform, using the software ArcGIS Deskstop (8.3), in which we inserted several layers, particularly the marks detectable by remote sensing. The second step was the fieldwork, carried out in the 2008-2010; the realization of excavations and the study of potteries and other remains from the fieldwork are the later steps. The fieldwork was carried out using intensive and systematic approach, noting density and distribution of archaeological remains (potteries, structures and architectural fragments), collecting selected wares, significant from cultural and chronological points of view. These data allowed us to made thematic maps as “visibility map”, “archaeological map”, and “field density map” (tipically referred to density of pottery in a square meter), and finally a “chronological map” that could be a starting point for next researches. The preliminary results regard both the urban and the sub-urban areas. The excavation in the urban area of Agrigento close to Poggio Meta/San Marco (NW of the public area of Poggio di S. Nicola) is part of this project; it was integrated with tomography and georadar, and with finalized orthophotos made by drone. In the fields outside the ancient city, the survey documents several kinds of sites, some still unknown, like farms and crafts areas.
The other projects analyze some well defined contexts, around the roman villa of Cignana, and in areas close to the Mediterranean coast (particularly between the modern villages of Siculiana and Montallegro). The archaeological data attests that many large sites (farms, villages and maybe any villa) were inhabited in these territories during the Late Roman period. Finally, this is strictly connected with the results of some landing places excavated by the Soprintendenza of Agrigento West of city, and it contributes to highlight the economic interrelations between the ancient city and its surroundings.

"Archaeological Survey in Agrigento and its Hinterland" (Fulltext)

 

2. Natascha Sojc (Universität Augsburg)

Das extraurbane Heiligtum in der Contrada Santa Anna
Das extraurbane Heiligtum in der Contrada Santa Anna wurde westlich außerhalb des antiken Akragas bereits im ausgehenden 6. Jh. v. Chr. errichtet. Etwa 400 m vom westlichsten Stadttempel, dem Tempel des Vulkan, entfernt, befanden sich im 5. Jh. v. Chr. mehrere architektonische Strukturen, deren Nutzung als sakrale Zonen durch zahlreiche Deponierungen von Artefakten sowie organischem Material bezeugt ist. Während der südliche Teil dieses Areal seit einer Notgrabung der Soperindentenza Archeologia auf einem privaten Grundstück seit Ende der 1960er Jahre vor allem aufgrund eines Bronzehortfunds der Forschung bereits bekannt ist, wird der nördliche ausgedehntere Teil des Heiligtums erst seit 2012 erforscht. Die laufenden Ausgrabungen der Universität Augsburg, die im Vortrag vorgestellt werden, bringen vor allem neue Informationen zum Ritualverhalten der Bewohner von Akragas ans Licht: Im Heiligtum von Sant’Anna, das visuell und akustisch mit dem Stadtinneren verbundenen war, wurden vor allem lokal produzierte Objekte hinterlassen und preiswerte Lebensmittel konsumiert, wodurch sich ein integrative Charakter des praktizierten Kultes offenbart. Außerdem werfen Deponierungen von Artefakten aus indigener Herstellung Fragen nach der Verbindung des Kultortes zum binnenländischen Hinterland auf.

"Il santuario extraurbano in contrada Sant’Anna" (Fulltext)

 

3. Elisa Chiara Portale and Monica De Cesare (Università di Palermo)

Lo spazio sacro presso la cosiddetta Porta Aurea: infrastrutturazione e contesto socio-economico
A seguito delle ricerche in corso da parte dell’Università degli studi di Palermo, si propone una nuova lettura d’insieme dell’area sacra situata sul margine meridionale della città di Akragas, finora percepita sostanzialmente attraverso i templi monumentali più noti (Olympieion e cosiddetto Tempio di Ercole) ma in realtà frutto di una complessa sequela di interventi di infrastrutturazione e riconfigurazione monumentale, legati all’evoluzione socio-politica e alla crescita economico-materiale della città dal suo sorgere alla conquista romana.
After the ongoing research work of the University of Palermo, we’ll give a general overview of the sacred area in the Southernmost part of the town of Akragas. This area has been perceived till now mainly through the well-known monumental temple of Zeus Olympios and “Hercules”. It is indeed the result of several building activities aimed at giving facilities and at enhancing monumentality, related to socio-political transformations and economic and material growth of the city, from the beginning to the Roman conquest.

"Lo spazio sacro nella parte centro-occidentale della Collina dei templi: infrastrutturazione e contesto" (Fulltext)

 

4. Luigi Maria Caliò (Università di Catania)

Gli spazi pubblici di Agrigento ellenistica dalla progettazione al cantiere
La definizione di una nuova pianta della città di Agrigento ha portato una nuova visione della forma urbana e all’individuazione dell’agorà della città. Si tratta si un enorme impianto quadrangolare nel quale si affacciano edifici politici e sacri e le grandi abitazioni degli isolati ellenistici. L’importante salto di quota che si trova nella zona meridionale di questo spazio ha permesso l’individuazione di una cavea teatrale che i recenti scavi, condotti dal Parco della Valle dei Templi e dall’Università di Catania, hanno parzialmente messo in luce.
Ne emerge un complesso ellenistico, databile nelle prime fasi nell’ambito del III secolo a.C. che costituisce in nucleo della città ellenistico romana. L’insieme monumentale costituisce uno dei più antichi esempi di piazze con teatro che caratterizzano i grandi spazi delle città occidentali tra il III secolo a.C. e la romanizzazione.
The definition of a new plant of the city of Agrigento offers a new vision of the urban form and allowed the identification of the agora of the city. It is a wide quadrangular space, along its edges the most important political and sacred buildings and the large houses of Hellenistic blocks were built. The steep slope located in the southern part of this space has allowed the discovery of a theater cave that the recent excavations, conducted by the Park of Valley of the Temples and the University of Catania, partially highlighted.
More generally, a Hellenistic complex emerges, dating back to the early stages of the 3rd century BC. which is the nucleus of the Hellenistic and Roman city. The monumental setting is one of the oldest examples of squares with theater that characterize the great spaces of western cities between the 3rd century BC. and romanization.

"Agrigento e il teatro nell’urbanistica della città. Storia di un centro monumentale" (Fulltext)

 

5. Valentina Caminneci (Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi) and Maria Concetta Parello (Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento)

L’impianto termale dell’Insula IV del Quartiere Ellenistico-romano
Le nuove ricerche condotte nel Quartiere Ellenistico Romano, vasto settore di abitato dell’antica Agrigentum, indagato negli anni Cinquanta del secolo scorso, hanno messo in luce i resti di un edificio termale subito ad Est delle tre insulaescavate, nell’area presumibilmente occupata dall’insula IV. Si tratta del settore riscaldato di un piccolo complesso, del quale si conservano in fondazione due ambienti, di cui uno absidato con l’ipocausto e le suspensurae. Allo stato attuale si può ipotizzare che l’edificio termale fosse di pertinenza e a servizio del quartiere abitativo. Le strutture, abbandonate dopo il periodo tardoantico, sono state spoliate e sconvolte in età altomedievale, quando nell’area si impiantarono officine artigianali. Obiettivi della ricercafutura sono il completamentodello scavo del monumentoin tutta lasua estensione e la definizionedella cronologia delle fasi costruttive e di abbandono.

"The Bath in the Insula IV of the Hellenistic and Roman Quarter of Agrigento" (Fulltext)

 

6. Sergio Aiosa, Paolo Barresi und Mariangela Liuzzo (Università Kore di Enna)

For a socio-economical reading of the living contexts: insula I in the Hellenistic and Roman District of Agrigento
According to the latest researches recently organized by Regional Archaeological Park of Agrigento, whose aim was the definition of the ancient town of Akragas / Agrigentum as an integrated unitary system, we paid a new attention to the forms of living, particularly in the area of the so-called “Quartiere Ellenistico Romano” (Hellenistic and Roman District). This area was excavated in the ‘50s and ‘60s of the last century, but the publication by Ernesto De Miro was edited only in 2009, making it possible to know more about it. In this paper, we want to focus on the insula I of this District, dominated by two large houses, I A/B and I E/F, that overlook the public area of the agorà with a high difference in height.
The House I A/B derives from the union of two independent housing units, in order to give to the new house a larger extension, one of the largest of the whole Quarter, and to improve its luxury devices, on the model of the most famous Pompeian houses with double atrium and peristylium adiectum. Since the new plan of the house shows a nearness to the Italic models, together with a deep transformation of the previous reception rooms, whose articulation was typical of the Hellenistic peristyle house, we assume an Italic origin of the house's owner; perhaps he was one of the many negotiatores attested by the literary sources, who reached Sicily to take care of his interests, probably related to the commerce of sulfur, rather than a member of the local elite who adopted the way of life Roman conquerors to the point of transforming the plan of his own house.
The largest surface within the three insulae of this District characterizes the house I E/F, or “house of the gazelle”: for this reason, and for its high-quality decoration as well, both in wall painting and opus sectile, we can focus its role as a place of representation and expression of its owners’ wealth. This role can have already begun in late hellenistic age, but the house must have reached its higher level in Roman imperial age: also in this house, the finding of tegulae sulphuris can be connected to the sulfur diffusion. For this study we realized a campaign of integrated detection, with 3D laser scanning and GPS technologies, with the aim of supporting an unitary and multiscale reading of the insula I, analyzed in relationship with the urban asset of the District and in its specific morphological and architectural components, both material and decorative.

"Per una lettura socio-economica dei contesti abitativi: L’insula I del Quartiere ellenistico-romano di Agrigento." (Fulltext)

 

7. Michele Scalici (Università di Bologna)

Production sites in Agrigento: the kilns outside Gate 5
From August 2017, the University of Bologna and the Valley of the Temples Park of Agrigento carry out a research aimed to identification and study all the production sites within the perimeter of the ancient city and in its district.
In this communication I am going to present one of the most significant contexts has been identified: it is a production site immediately outside the urban walls, comprising at least two large kilns. The topics related to the function and location of this area will be discussed in relation to the other production sites in Agrigento.

"Luoghi della produzione ad Agrigento: le fornaci fuori Porta V" (Fulltext)

 

8. Marina Albertocchi

Produzione e circolazione delle ceramiche comuni ad Agrigento. Lettura di un modello economico
The communication focuses on Roman and Late Roman (3rd-6th centuries AD) plain pottery found at Agrigentum: common ware is in fact a significant tool to gain indications both on food practices of a social group as well as on the level of technical skills achieved by craftsmen.
Recent publications of the excavations carried out in the town allow an up-to-date review of the spread of plain pottery at Agrigentum in 3rd-6th centuries AD. The reconstruction of a framework with defined boundaries is further facilitated by recent studies on population and on communication roads: it is therefore possible to suggest a close link between material findings, settlements and long and short-range commercial relationships.
The survey can focus first and foremost on the spread of specific pottery shapes, trying to compare their presence into urban and non-urban contexts. The possibility of using specimens from well stratified contexts (in particular from the ongoing excavations in the area of ​​the so-called Hellenistic-Roman sanctuary), allows us to define the chronological sphere of diffusion of certain well-documented types, in order to partecipate to a reconstruction of the economic activities that had taken place in the urban area at a time of great transformation. A special focus will be on the recognition of the local production chain and the relationships with imports from the North African area, already known, as well as with the eastern Mediterranean centers.

"Produzione e circolazione delle ceramiche comuni ad Agrigento. Lettura di un modello economico" (Fulltext)

 

9. Maria Concetta Parello and Maria Serena Rizzo (Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento)

Parco Archeologico e Paesaggistico della Valle dei Templi di Agrigento
Le recenti ricerche nell’area centrale della città antica di Akragas/Agrigentum, comprendente l’agorà/foro e il distretto residenziale, hanno restituito numerose tracce riferibili alle produzioni urbane di età romana e tardo-antica. Insieme ad un riesame delle evidenze messe in luce da scavi e ricerche più antiche, i nuovi dati contribuiscono a delineare l’immagine di una città in cui, al consumo dei prodotti del ricco entroterra agricolo e minerario, si affiancavano numerose attività di trasformazione e produzione. Particolarmente importanti, per l’età tardo antica, sono gli indicatori di produzioni individuati con lo scavo dell’immondezzaio che, a partire dalla fine del IV sec. d. C., ricopre il complesso piazza/tempio del cosiddetto santuario ellenistico-romano, parte della grande area pubblica di età romana La ricca documentazione riferibile ad attività artigianali, cui si affiancano abbondanti e diversificate importazioni, suggerisce l’immagine di una città, che, pur degradata e profondamente trasformata nelle sue strutture urbane, doveva conservare una certa vitalità economica e complessità sociale.

"Agrigento, archeologia e produzioni di una città antica tra vecchie ricerche e nuove acquisizioni" (Fulltext)

 

10. Enrico Giorgi, Giuseppe Lepore, Vincenzo Baldoni and Michele Scalici (Università di Bologna)

Vivere e produrre: l'insula III del Quartiere ellenistico-romano (Live and produce: Insula III of the Hellinistic-Roman Quarter)
The so-called Hellenistic-Roman Quarter of Agrigento is the main residential side in the city, discovered by the archaeological excavations, carried out from the nineteenth century until today. Since 2016 the University of Bologna and the institution Parco Valle dei Templi have conducted a research intending to outline an image - as detailed as possible - of one of the settlement blocks less focused by the scholars' attention until now: the Third Insula.
Basing on 4D documentation, three-dimensional topographical reliefs, geophysical surveys, the archive research of past archaeological excavations along with the study of findings, it is possible to delineate a detailed image of the residential and commercial structures of the block, of the people who lived and worked there, of the economic, social and productive texture of this part of the ancient city, populated from the 6th century BC to the 8th century AD.

"Vivere e produrre: l’Insula III del Quartiere ellenisticoromano (Live and produce: Insula III of the Hellinistic-Roman Quarter)" (Fulltext)