This is where our 2019 trench begins to take shape, and this is also where I will leave the rest of the story for your own imagination. The presence of female terracotta statuettes and Ionian cups point to religious practice and something magnificently monumental. The University of Texas at Austin dug on the southeast spur of the plateau and excitedly revealed another phase of occupation during the 6th century BC. ![]() This finding alludes to commercial or craft activity in a crossover space where the Greek and non-Greek spheres collided. Hundreds of containers, amphorae and pithoi, were found in what could be a storage or warehouse facility where it is likely that an indigenous elite managed this mixed activity. From the 8th century BC down to the third quarter of the 7th century BC, there was an indigenous community open to Greek influence and commercial interaction. The Oenotrian phase sprawled from the 9th century BC until the beginning of the 7th century BC. Despite previous excavation, Incoronata has proven there is still much to be revealed. These investigations were led by University of Milan, Soprintendenza Archeologica della Basilicata, University of Texas at Austin, University of Rennes 2, and now very recently also included McMaster University. Incoronata’s vast body of growing research has been carried out by various groups on different spurs of the hill since the 1970s. Incoronata has provided a rich record of interactions during the 8th and 7th century BC between indigenous Oenotrians and Aegean Greeks, well before the neighbouring apoikia of Metaponto was founded. The Metaponto team extensively used drone technology to map out the area with high-resolution aerial imagery of the landscape. Spencer Pope began excavation.Īround 7.5 kilometres from the coast of Basilicata, the plateau site of Incoronata sits 60 metres above sea level overlooking the Basento river valley. In July 2019, after two previous seasons of surveying and gathering GPS data at a site called Incoronata in Metaponto, a team of undergraduates, graduates, and professional collaborators led by Dr. Project illustrator Miranda Siklenka matches fragments to known pottery types. Archaeologists conduct careful collection and analysis of the evidence and then it gets documented. If you dig deep enough to reveal ancient Metapontum, you will find it is rich with indigenous and Greek context regarding their earliest dynamics. What remains on the surface are modern towns like Metaponto. By the early eighth century BC, droves of Greek merchants were sailing the coasts of Western Italy forming proto-colonial contact, leading to trade posts and eventually permanent settlements. Our research was based in Southern Italy, what the Romans used to call “Magna Graecia,” or Great Greece, for its heavy Greek influence. ![]() ![]() A freshly unearthed potsherd is no less spectacular than Indiana Jones’ lost ark.Īrchaeologists who are interested in the Mediterranean civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome consider themselves Classical archaeologists. The smallest fragments tell a comprehensive story about a site. I grew up watching the thrills of discovery and archaeology’s ability to reveal secrets of the past.Īt first glance, many discoveries in the field seem far less glamorous than those represented in fiction - it may just be that you find small sherds of pottery - but these items too can reveal a lot about the past. Popular culture has seen archaeology through the lens of many famous novels and movies, most notably Lara Croft in Tomb Raider and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones. The goal: To piece together the history and artifacts of the ancient Greek settlement of Metaponto. Under the direction of associate professor Spencer Pope, Faculty of Humanities, she and a team of students traveled to Metaponto, Italy. Shanna Ingram is a fourth year biology student with a minor in classics.
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