Trinacria, 'An Island Outside Time': International Archaeology in Sicily

Trinacria, the ancient name for Sicily extending back to Homeric Greek, has understandably been the focus of decades of archaeological research. Recognizing Sicily’s rich prehistory and pivotal role in the history of the Mediterranean, Sebastiano Tusa - professor, head of heritage agencies and councilor for Cultural Heritage for the Sicilian Region - promoted the exploration of the island’s heritage through international collaboration. His decades of fostering research initiatives not only produced rich archaeological results spanning the Palaeolithic to the modern era but brought scholars from a range of schools and disciplines to work together in Sicily. Through his efforts, uniquely productive methodological, theoretical and interpretative networks were created. Their impact extends far beyond Sicily and Italy.

To highlight these networks and their results, the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, the Swedish Institute in Rome, the Norwegian Institute in Rome, the British School at Rome and the Assessorato dei Beni Culturali of Sicily, with generous support from the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, assembled this anthology of papers. The aim is to present a selection of the work of and results from contemporary, multi-national research projects in Sicily.

The collaboration between the Sicilian and international partners, often in an interdisciplinary framework, has generated important results and perspectives. The articles in this volume present research projects from throughout the island. The core of the articles is concerned with the Archaic through to the Roman period, but diachronic studies also trace lines back to the Stone Age and up to the contemporary era. A range of methods and sources are explored, thus creating an up-to-date volume that is a referential gateway to contemporary Sicilian archaeology.

Table of Contents

Preface (Valeria Li Vigni Tusa)
List of contributors

Introduction (Arja Karivieri, Peter Campbell, Kristian Göransson and Christopher Prescott)
In memory of Sebastiano Tusa, 2 August 1952–10 March 2019 (Paola Pelagatti)

1. Topographical research and geophysical surveys at Naxos in Sicily 2012–2019
Maria Costanza Lentini, Jari Pakkanen and Apostolos Sarris

2. Francavilla di Sicilia: a Greek settlement in the hinterland of Naxos
Kristian Göransson

3. The praedia Philippianorum: a late Roman estate at Gerace near Enna
R. J. A. Wilson

4. Akrai, south-eastern Sicily: a multidisciplinary study on the impact of ancient humans on the natural landscape
Roksana Chowaniec, Rafał Fetner, Girolamo Fiorentino, Anna Gręzak and Matilde Stella

5. The Marzamemi Maritime Heritage Project: from the seabed to the museum and beyond
Justin Leidwanger, Elizabeth S. Greene, Leopoldo Repola and Fabrizio Sgroi

6. The Hellenistic house in motion: reflections on the CAP excavations at Morgantina (2014–2019)
D. Alex Walthall

7. The Morgantina baths in their urban context
Sandra K. Lucore

8. Sicily in the Iron Age and the concept of the Greek chora
Johannes Bergemann with a contribution by Rebecca Diana Klug

9. The Himera Project of the University of Bern: a collaboration with the Parco Archeologico di Himera
Elena Mango

10. Halaesa (Tusa, Messina): undertakings of the French Archaeological Mission, 2016–2019: the discovery of the theatre and problems in its excavation
Michela Costanzi

11. The research project led by the University of Zurich on Monte Iato: the last 10 years
Christoph Reusser

12. The gymnasion of Iaitas/Ietas discovered? New excavations in the eastern quarter on Monte Iato
Martin Mohr

13. The Salemi Survey Project: the longue durée of interior western Sicily 1500 BC–AD 1500
Michael J. Kolb, Pierfrancesco Vecchio and Rossella Giglio

14. The ‘Archaeological Map of Lilybaeum’
Donatella Ebolese, Mauro Lo Brutto, Antonella Mandruzzato, Debora Oswald and Martina Seifert

15. Mapping cross-channel connections: the Arizona Sicily Project, preliminary report of the 2018 and 2019 seasons
Emma Blake, Robert Schon and Rossella Giglio

16. The Battle of the Aegates Islands, 241 BC: mapping a naval encounter, 2005–2019
Sebastiano Tusa, Peter Campbell, Mateusz Polakowski, William M. Murray, Francesca Oliveri, Cecilia A. Buccellato, Adriana Fresina and Valeria Li Vigni

17. I.Sicily and Crossreads: a digital epigraphic corpus for ancient Sicily
Jonathan R.W. Prag