Archaeology and Ethnicity. Untangling Identities in Western Greece

Abstract

Distribution électronique Cairn.info pour Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté. © Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.La reproduction ou représentation de cet article, notamment par photocopie, n'est autorisée que dans les limites des conditions générales d'utilisation du site ou, le cas échéant, des conditions générales de la licence souscrite par votre établissement. Toute autre reproduction ou représentation, en tout ou partie, sous quelque forme et de quelque manière que ce soit, est interdite sauf accord préalable et écrit de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Il est précisé que son stockage dans une base de données est également interdit.

Staying local: Community formation and resilience in Archaic Southern Sicily

“…Archaic Sicily, with its autochthonous population, Greek polities and Phoenician presence, is a key region for discussing intercultural interconnections in the Mediterranean (e.g. Antonaccio, 2010;Booms and Higgs, 2019;Hodos, 2006;Leighton, 2020;Shepherd, 2021Shepherd, , 2014. Castiglione di Ragusa (Figure 1), the first case-study site, lies on one of the last foothills of the Monti Iblei, overlooking the plain of Vittoria.…”

“…Since the vessels were on the same level as the skulls and partly covered the remains in the pit, it has been argued that they were deposited during the post-mortem procedure when the skulls were re-arranged and put on display (Di Stefano and Ventura, 2011). Also from the eastern burial ground comes the so-called 'Guerriero di Castiglione' (Figure 5; Cordano and Di Salvatore, 2002;Giangiulio, 2010;Mercuri, 2012a, 90-92;Shepherd, 2011Shepherd, , 2014. Although a contextual association is lacking, this sculpted limestone monument probably decorated the central tomb.…”

“…Also from the eastern burial ground comes the so-called ‘Guerriero di Castiglione’ (Figure 5; Cordano and Di Salvatore, 2002; Giangiulio, 2010; Mercuri, 2012a, 90–92; Shepherd, 2011, 2014). Although a contextual association is lacking, this sculpted limestone monument probably decorated the central tomb.…”

“…Similarly, the evidence from Castiglione gave rise to the idea of cohabitation, with the warrior monument from the eastern burial plot indicating a ‘Greek’ presence, while in the ‘indigenous’ western necropolis, ‘Greek influence was at its minimum’ (Fischer-Hansen, 2002: 165). Shepherd (2014: 130–131) has dismantled any such interpretation of the Castiglione sculpture by pointing out the ‘impossibility of assigning any clear ethnic affiliation’ to the tomb and its occupants. Rather, the tomb ‘appears to be not ethnically-based at all, but rather a deliberate selection of burial features from a range of traditions that were nowhere common but always distinctive’.…”