Trade of western Greek amphorae from Himera´s perspective

This project focuses on the study of western Greek amphorae, that is to say transport vessels designed for the commerce of agricultural surplus produced by many southern Italian and Sicilian Greek foundations during the 6th-5th century BC. On the basis of archaeological and archaeometric research (petrographic and chemical analysis), important typological differences between the series produced by Greek towns of the Tyrrhenian-, Calabrian and Ionian-Adriatic area have already been observed, but information about the development of the productions of the mighty Sicilian colonies appears to be still very scarce. For this reason, the analysis of about 630 western Greek amphorae from the necropolis of Himera on the north-western coast of Sicily, economic distribution centre not only for the indigenous sites of its hinterland, but also for the Punic-Sicilian colonies and Carthage, offers a peerless opportunity to elaborate a chrono-typological serialisation of this highly important ceramic class. The generally very well preserved vessels from Himera - the largest ensemble of western Greek amphorae ever excavated in the Mediterranean - have been reused in children burials as containers for the bodies of unborn individuals or children deceased during the first month of their life. The amphorae from Himera, together with 150 fragments from other selected Sicilian sampling sites, will undergo a detailed analysis of the textual composition of their ceramic pasts according to the standardised methods implemented for FACEM1 which will allow the creation of fabric groups, in part to be related to already known production areas. Selected samples out of these groups will be submitted to archaeometric analysis and compared with the edited geochemical of southern Italian and Sicilian sites. This procedure which considers both archaeological and archaeometric methods, in combination with a typological study of the material, will create an extraordinary large data-collection intended as a benchmark for further research on western Greek amphorae. The present assemblage will provide detailed information about provenance and chronology of western Greek amphorae in circulation in 6th-5th century BC north-western Sicily with a particular emphasis on the quantitative incidences of regionally produced vessels versus commodities imported from supra-regional areas. In reference to these latter ones, we have to verify previous hypothesis according to which Himera`s international economic relations were chiefly linked to the Tyrrhenian route, that is to say to south- central coastal Italy. The conceivable identification of important quantities of amphorae from the Ionian-Adriatic region (specifically from Corfù), the Straits of Messina area or from south-eastern Sicily (Gela-Agrigento) could highlight other possible provenance areas. 1 See www.facem.at.

In the overall context of studies on trade in Antiquity, the correct provenance identification of transport amphorae recovered in archaeological excavations represents one of the most approved methods for research on commercial relations and economic strategies. This project focused on provenance studies on western Greek transport amphorae, that is to say on ceramic vessels produced by the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia and Sicily and conceived for the trade of agricultural commodities, in the present case most probably wine. The investigation of an extraordinarily large assemblage of 556 western Greek containers found in children graves yielded by the necropolises of Himera in northwestern Sicily was supplemented by smaller selections of finds from colonial Greek, native, and Punic settlements scattered all over the island. Methodologically, our studies are based on non-destructive analyses of c. 1200 ceramic samples chipped from the artifacts. By the use of microscopy and digital photos of freshly broken surfaces these are compared with reference samples of already attributed pottery productions of the data-depository of FACEM. This archaeological procedure has been combined with archaeometric analyses (petrographic and chemical analyses) undertaken on 325 selected samples. This multidisciplinary approach has been crucial for reliable provenance attributions of the whole assemblage. Our research has enabled the identification of twelve clearly defined production centres of western Greek amphorae and the determination of new diachronic typologies. A first selection of "international" distribution, conceived for large-scale, maritime export, includes the series of Sybaris (the earliest one of the beginning of the 6th century BCE), Rhegion, Corkyra, and - towards the end of the 6th-century BCE - Locri. In Sicily, only these groups appear to be widly distributed across the whole island. A second batch includes the newly defined Sicilian series of the following towns: Himera, Akragas, Selinus, Entella and Panormos/Solus. Exception made for Agrigento, the western Sicilian amphorae productions have been distributed only on regional scale. As a working hypotheses, we assume that a large part of these containers has been destined to the inland native communities. Finally, the 5th-century BCE amphorae issue of the Campanian colony of Poseidonia is best documented in Himera, but completely lacking from contemporaneous Sicilian Greek towns. This specific find category represents though an archaeological marker for Himera's often claimed "Tyrrhenian connection" and privileged socio-economic relations between the two cities. The numerous historical and archaeological considerations derived from the in-depth analysis outlined above set a benchmark for further research in Sicily and beyond. In particular, the analysis of the finds from Himera contributes substantially to a deeper understanding of the colony's full integration within the system of "international" maritime commercial routes during the 6th-5th centuries BCE.