5th-Century BC Himera and the Campanian Connection: Petrographic and Archaeological Studies on Western Greek Amphorae from Poseidonia and Elea Unearthed in the Necropolis of Himera

Abstract

Within the frame of an in-depth study of the corpus of about 560 western Greek transport amphorae (6th–5th century BC) yielded from excavations at the necropolis of the Dorian-Chalcidian colony of Himera in North-western Sicily, one of the most interesting issues consists in the determination of their provenance. Based on archaeological considerations, nearly 100 items have been attributed to southern Campania, specifically to Poseidonia and Elea. The present paper proposes a detailed combined archaeological-archaeometric investigation of 16 samples discovered at Himera and one at Jerba (Tunisia), of presumed Campanian provenance, compared with 4 local reference samples from Poseidonia and 6 samples of western Greek amphorae found at Pithekoussai and Elea, attributed to Poseidonia by previous archaeometric analysis. All samples have been submitted to a macroscopic fabric examination according to the standard methods of FACEM (Fabrics of the Central Mediterranean) and to petrographic investigation (polarised light microscopy) and digital image analyses of microstructures. Our study points to a Campanian provenance of the investigated amphorae and their distinction in a large group from Poseidonia and a small group from Elea. The identification of a numerous assemblage of 5th century BC Poseidonian transport vessels at Himera substantially underlines an earlier hypothesis about its ‘Campanian connection’ and allows for the reconstruction of an important Tyrrhenian commercial axis.

The Beginning of Western Greek Amphorae Production in Western Sicily: Archaeometric and Archaeological Studies on 6th–5th Centuries BCE Amphorae Manufactured in Himera

“…On the basis of both context dating and morphological comparisons, at present, the hypothetically local series represents the earliest amphora production of colonial Greek Sicily. The present joint study offers an archaeometric and archaeological characterization of western Greek amphorae manufactured in Himera (for a similar study on southern Campanian amphorae found in Himera, see [7]). It constitutes a benchmark for further research on the role of Sicily's westernmost Greek colony within the wider frame of the regional and supraregional commercial interaction between Greek, Punic and native communities in this border-region.…”