The sanctuary of Zeus at Velia

The archaeological excavations in the sanctuaries of Velia, carried out by the Institute of Classical Archaeology of the University of Vienna from 2004 to 2008, have allowed the localisation of a total of nine cult places on the central ridge of the town and, at the same time, provided a solid base for further investigations and documentations. Among all these sanctuaries cult-place 8, the so-called terrace of Zeus, distinguished by its prominent position on the eastern end of the central ridge and dominating the eastern quarter of the town, is the less well explored of all. The earliest testimonies for this sanctuary are three cippi with inscriptions for Zeus Ourios, Pompaios and Olympios Kairos dated to the 2nd half of the 5th c. BC by paleographical criteria. At a moment still to be determined, but most probably in the early Hellenistic period this early cult place was transformed into a large terrace with an extension of 91 x 95m that did not present any traces of architecture apart from a long altar of 25,20 x 6,85m in the eastern part and an enclosure with several stelae immediately north to it. Hitherto this terrace always has been regarded as a separate sanctuary but after a big fire in 2008 new surveying results from the elevated area to its east led to the hypothesis that the architectural remains found there and actually named cult place 9 could be integrative part of the sanctuary of Zeus. Aim of the actual project is the completion of the exploration of the sanctuary with the establishing of a reliable chronology of its development as well as the study of various aspects of the worship of Zeus at Velia. For the first part two field campaigns are planned that will concentrate on the excavation of the still unexplored area of so- called cult place 9 and will include the documentation of the actual visible remains. This research will be accomplished by minor investigations on the terrace itself and by the study of finds, mainly pottery, and of possible animal remains. On this basis a better knowledge of the organization and the diachronic development of the site a new interpretation of the sanctuary should be possible. The discussion will comprise topics like the typology of the sanctuary, in comparison with other sacral complexes of the time, the importance of the worship of Zeus, seen in connections with the political situation at Velia, in particular the tyranny and the relationship of the town to Athens and the renewed interest in the cult of Zeus in the early Hellenistic period with possible connections to the Epirote area and the sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona. In a wider frame it will not only concentrate on the religious life in the sanctuary, but also take into consideration the impact and connections of the cult of Zeus on the political, cultural and socio-economic development of the colony.

Aim of the project was the topographical study of the so-called terrace of Zeus, one of the most ancient and at the same time most monumental sanctuaries of Velia, a Phocaean colony in South Italy. During three extensive field campaigns (2011-2013) we excavated an area of about 1.800 m2 on the large terrace and on the adjoining cult-place 9, but it turned out to be extremely difficult to reconstruct the chronological development of the site because of the damage done by previous excavations and reconstruction work in the 1920s and 1930s. We found evidence that cult-place 9 was organized in two terraces with a large hall and a smaller enclosure on the higher terrace and a small cult-building on the lower one, while the only construction on the large terrace of Zeus (cult- place 8) was a large altar on the east side. The study of the building technique of the terrace walls, but also of the typology of the complex with parallels in the Eastern Aegean made us suppose that the terrace was constructed in the second half of the 3rd c. BC and thus in the period after the Roman expansion to Southern Italy. This date corresponds to that of the famous altar of Hieron II at Syracuse which might have functioned as a model. Excavations of the terrace walls in the east and in the west brought evidence for a phase of re-organization of the entire sanctuary complex in the 2nd c. BC. The re-examination of the huge altar on the eastern side of the terrace led us to the discovery of a smaller previous altar and of remains of the burnt animal sacrifice. These reorganization was accompanied by rituals which we call closing rituals: Remains of the previous cult-buildings (in particular tiles and antefixes from the roof) were deposed together with vessels (cooking pots, transport amphorae) used during cult meals connected with this closing ritual.Stelae with inscriptions for Zeus Ourios and other deities found in the 1950s gave evidence for an early cult place of the 5th c. BC, but in spite of the extensive exploration both of cul-places 8 and 9 during recent research no architectural remains could be connected with this early cult evidence, so that we have to assume that they were thoroughly destroyed by the construction of the Hellenistic terrace. We discovered however a large surface quarry that presumably can be connected with the reconstruction of the nearby city walls at the beginning of the 4th c. BC. To the same period belongs a water conduit that was found on cult-place 8 which secured the water supply of Velia from the 4th c. BC onward.The excavations on cult-place 9 also brought to light a massive stratum which contained sigillata Africana of the 5th c. BC as well as very characteristic cooking pots of this period. Most probably two small constructions, made of re-used ashlar blocks, so-called spolia, can also be dated to this period. This extremely interesting record gives new insights into the frequentation of the central ridge in late antiquity, but also to the general development of the town in this period.