Papers by Maria Costanza Lentini
The architectural terracottas recovered from the site of Naxos in Sicily, both those of revetment... more The architectural terracottas recovered from the site of Naxos in Sicily, both those of revetment and (to a lesser degree) those of sculptural type, are surprising in quantity and in quality. They are also remarkable for the number of types represented, for the most part datable to the archaic period. Particularly eloquent in this regard is the case of the suburban sanctuary to the west of the Santa Venera stream, extending along its right bank, outside the walls of the city and facing onto them.
The extraordinary quantity of terracottas recovered contrasts with the relative exiguousness of the
surviving structural remains in the area, insufficient as a basis on which to attempt a reconstruction of the original layout of the sanctuary.
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Systematic excavations have revealed all that remains of the ancient dockyard of Naxos, the first... more Systematic excavations have revealed all that remains of the ancient dockyard of Naxos, the first Greek colony in Sicily. Four slipways have been uncovered. Light has been shed on the operations carried out within the shipsheds, with the definition of side-passages and the discovery of traces of red and blue pigment, showing that at least parts of the ships were painted in the shipsheds..The ships housed were triremes, but probably of a narrow type. No traces have been identified of hauling machinery. A fourth-century burial in the corner of one shipshed shows that by then the dockyard was out of use (confirming the historical tradition of the destruction of Naxos by Dionysios I in 403 B.C.). The existence of sand ramps, probably supporting timber skid ways, provides conclusive evidence that the shipsheds were roofed. The two southern slipways seem to have been extended westwards (landwards) in the second phase; and here there are traces of a final burnt destruction. A remarkable series of antefixes (Silenoi and Gorgoneia) and other terracotta architectural elements and cover-tiles, found mainly in shipshed 3, derive from an earlier building on the same site, which seems to be an early phase of shipshed with an unexpectedly rich decoration of its roof. The Silenoi and Gorgoneia may have alternated – and the Silenoi were emblematic of Naxos.
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Here is presented a review limited, though not exclusively so, to the tableware that predominates... more Here is presented a review limited, though not exclusively so, to the tableware that predominates among the mass of pottery recovered. e contexts taken into examination are: the Si Street levels (US439, US442), which are the richest in pottery, the grit floor (US400A-US400) and the underlying curvilinear buildings. The first two contexts are datable to the late 8th /early 7th centuries B.C., whereas the last ones date from the late 8th century B.C. As far as the ceramic imports are concerned, the Euboean imports are exceeded by Late-Geometric and Protocorinthian ones which gradually became less frequent from the first decades of the 7th century BC. Apart from skyphoi, the shapes that recur with greatest frequency are: kraters and/or louteria, shallow bowls or dishes, oinochoai and also hydriai. e following analysis of vessels is by shape.
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The discovery of the dockyard of the Greek colony of Naxos has added greatly to our knowledge of ... more The discovery of the dockyard of the Greek colony of Naxos has added greatly to our knowledge of the city’s topography; it makes clear the specifically maritime character of the city and is slowly revealing evidence relating to the city’s political order and its involvement in Athens’s Sicilian avventura. Much of the site had been uncovered between 1981 and 1983 and generally defined as a harbor installation. Firm identification came in sondages of 1998–2000 and excava- tion of a wider area in 2001.
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ecent excavations of ancient dockyard sites have revealed a number of examples of a type not pre-... more ecent excavations of ancient dockyard sites have revealed a number of examples of a type not pre- viously well known: with built up ramps of hard-packed earth, or earth and rubble, or sand. These are less easy to conserve than rock-cut slipways or slipways with built up stone ramps; there is some evidence that they needed maintenance already during their period of use. Examples of these types are discussed, with the methods being pro- posed for their conservation, in order where possible to make them permanent and accessible. A proposal for com- parative study of some of these vulnerable sites had been proposed, and deserves to be renewed.
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The Annual of the British School at Athens, 2003
Remains discovered in excavations at Naxos in 1981-3, underlying structures belonging to the sett... more Remains discovered in excavations at Naxos in 1981-3, underlying structures belonging to the settlement which has been recognized as the mansio mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary, have now been firmly identified as the dockyard of the Greek city, the first Greek ...
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The fifth-century BC orthogonal city grid is the best-known and most-researched aspect of urban N... more The fifth-century BC orthogonal city grid is the best-known and most-researched aspect of urban Naxos, the first Greek colonial foundation in Sicily. The recent excavations at the crossroads of plateia A and stenopos 11 and the area of the shipsheds have resulted in a wealth of new data. The topographical work carried out since 2012 has resulted in the first georeferenced plan of the city. This work has now evolved into a three-way collaborative fieldwork project between the Archaeological Park of Naxos and the Finnish Institutes at Athens and in Rome which will result in a thorough revaluation of the whole urban territory.
Archaeological investigations undertaken in 2001 and 2003–2006 concentrated on two different sectors of the city: the north and the east sides of the Schisò peninsula. In the first the unique complex of fifth-century shipsheds was discovered immediately to the north of the most likely location of the city agora. The new survey of Naxos integrates what is previously known about the topography of the ancient town and the layout of the modern city with a first systematic total station measurements of the archaeological remains. The first campaign of geophysical prospection was carried out in 2014: magnetic gradiometry, electrical resistance and ground penetrating radar were used and the last method produced most consistent results. Small-scale test trenches have been excavated to verify aspects of the city grid and targets identified in the geophysical surveys.
The urban space is defined by three wide streets or plateiai running approximately in an east to west direction and they are at regular intervals intersected by a series of narrower stenopoi. The preliminary preparations for the setting out the urban plan in the first decades of the fifth century BC involved systematic dismantling of the sixth-century structures. The orthogonal grid counts in every aspect as a re-foundation of the city: it cancelled the original colonial plan and removed all traces of previous urban identities and properties. The second post-460 BC urban phase with attested modifications of the house plans and restoration is best attributed to the return of exiles after the fall of tyranny in Syracuse.
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Chapters by Maria Costanza Lentini
The precise location of the port of Naxos, the first Greek colony in Sicily (734 BC), was long un... more The precise location of the port of Naxos, the first Greek colony in Sicily (734 BC), was long unknown due to the significant change in the ancient coastline. The recent discovery of the city’s Classical shipsheds (neoria) is crucial in this regard: the port basin was located in the south-west sector of the bay and an outline of the spatial and functional relationships between the harbour and the city plan is now feasible. It is also possible to reconstruct the basic features of the city’s ancient landscape, where the bay must have played a central role—and perhaps this reconstruction will also assist us in locating the site of the altar of Apollo Archegetes. Further research will include locating the commercial harbour and studying its relationship with the city and the agora.
The neoria block (most likely c. 28 m x 55 m) lies in the northern part of the city, on the lower slopes of the Larunchi Hill, and its orientation is slightly different from the 5th-century orthogonal urban grid. The excavations have shown that the shipsheds were inside the city walls and, furthermore, were very close to the agora which occupied the upper terrace, dominating the bay and the port. Such proximity could be an indicator of the relative importance of the military fleet for ancient Naxos. For those coming from the sea Naxos displayed the shipsheds as an
indication of its wealth and power, following the example known from other Greek poleis.
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Book Reviews by Maria Costanza Lentini
Emergency excavations carried out in 2005-2006 over an area of 1230mq in the heart of the modern ... more Emergency excavations carried out in 2005-2006 over an area of 1230mq in the heart of the modern urban centre of Messina (Piazza Duomo), brought to light a broad strip of the ancient urban plan of the city. They verified its regular grid, dated its establishment to the late 6th- early 5th century BC, and followed its development over at least four centuries. Along an east-west street artery the superimposed remains were found of three urban phases, which followed each other on the same orientation from the late 6th to the 2nd century BC. The remains of a large peristyle building were found, perfectly aligned on the North side of the street, which remained in use for a long period (mid-3nd c. - end of 2ndc.BC.); this allows us to propose the hypothesis that the agora was possibly located in this area, and that the peristyle building formed its South-West corner. Archaeometric studie were carried out on samples of materials from two kilns, one for the production of lime and the other for fictile products (bricks and amphorae) found in close proximity to the peristyle building and active at the moment of its establishment (mid-3nd century BC); these defined the production of the second kiln: bricks and Greco-Italic amphorae.
Excavations in depth identified, below the level of the regular urban plan of the archaic period, remains of a house with a rectangular plan, datable to the first half of the 7th century BC. This without doubt belongs to the first phase of the life of the colony of Zancle. Meanwhile, in the North-West sectori of the area were found two enchytrismos burials in pithoi of the late Early/Middle Bronze Age.
The evidence recounted above provides the most complete stratigraphy so far confirmed by archaeological research at Messina.
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Conference Presentations by Maria Costanza Lentini
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Papers by Maria Costanza Lentini
The extraordinary quantity of terracottas recovered contrasts with the relative exiguousness of the
surviving structural remains in the area, insufficient as a basis on which to attempt a reconstruction of the original layout of the sanctuary.
Archaeological investigations undertaken in 2001 and 2003–2006 concentrated on two different sectors of the city: the north and the east sides of the Schisò peninsula. In the first the unique complex of fifth-century shipsheds was discovered immediately to the north of the most likely location of the city agora. The new survey of Naxos integrates what is previously known about the topography of the ancient town and the layout of the modern city with a first systematic total station measurements of the archaeological remains. The first campaign of geophysical prospection was carried out in 2014: magnetic gradiometry, electrical resistance and ground penetrating radar were used and the last method produced most consistent results. Small-scale test trenches have been excavated to verify aspects of the city grid and targets identified in the geophysical surveys.
The urban space is defined by three wide streets or plateiai running approximately in an east to west direction and they are at regular intervals intersected by a series of narrower stenopoi. The preliminary preparations for the setting out the urban plan in the first decades of the fifth century BC involved systematic dismantling of the sixth-century structures. The orthogonal grid counts in every aspect as a re-foundation of the city: it cancelled the original colonial plan and removed all traces of previous urban identities and properties. The second post-460 BC urban phase with attested modifications of the house plans and restoration is best attributed to the return of exiles after the fall of tyranny in Syracuse.
Chapters by Maria Costanza Lentini
The neoria block (most likely c. 28 m x 55 m) lies in the northern part of the city, on the lower slopes of the Larunchi Hill, and its orientation is slightly different from the 5th-century orthogonal urban grid. The excavations have shown that the shipsheds were inside the city walls and, furthermore, were very close to the agora which occupied the upper terrace, dominating the bay and the port. Such proximity could be an indicator of the relative importance of the military fleet for ancient Naxos. For those coming from the sea Naxos displayed the shipsheds as an
indication of its wealth and power, following the example known from other Greek poleis.
Book Reviews by Maria Costanza Lentini
Excavations in depth identified, below the level of the regular urban plan of the archaic period, remains of a house with a rectangular plan, datable to the first half of the 7th century BC. This without doubt belongs to the first phase of the life of the colony of Zancle. Meanwhile, in the North-West sectori of the area were found two enchytrismos burials in pithoi of the late Early/Middle Bronze Age.
The evidence recounted above provides the most complete stratigraphy so far confirmed by archaeological research at Messina.
Conference Presentations by Maria Costanza Lentini
The extraordinary quantity of terracottas recovered contrasts with the relative exiguousness of the
surviving structural remains in the area, insufficient as a basis on which to attempt a reconstruction of the original layout of the sanctuary.
Archaeological investigations undertaken in 2001 and 2003–2006 concentrated on two different sectors of the city: the north and the east sides of the Schisò peninsula. In the first the unique complex of fifth-century shipsheds was discovered immediately to the north of the most likely location of the city agora. The new survey of Naxos integrates what is previously known about the topography of the ancient town and the layout of the modern city with a first systematic total station measurements of the archaeological remains. The first campaign of geophysical prospection was carried out in 2014: magnetic gradiometry, electrical resistance and ground penetrating radar were used and the last method produced most consistent results. Small-scale test trenches have been excavated to verify aspects of the city grid and targets identified in the geophysical surveys.
The urban space is defined by three wide streets or plateiai running approximately in an east to west direction and they are at regular intervals intersected by a series of narrower stenopoi. The preliminary preparations for the setting out the urban plan in the first decades of the fifth century BC involved systematic dismantling of the sixth-century structures. The orthogonal grid counts in every aspect as a re-foundation of the city: it cancelled the original colonial plan and removed all traces of previous urban identities and properties. The second post-460 BC urban phase with attested modifications of the house plans and restoration is best attributed to the return of exiles after the fall of tyranny in Syracuse.
The neoria block (most likely c. 28 m x 55 m) lies in the northern part of the city, on the lower slopes of the Larunchi Hill, and its orientation is slightly different from the 5th-century orthogonal urban grid. The excavations have shown that the shipsheds were inside the city walls and, furthermore, were very close to the agora which occupied the upper terrace, dominating the bay and the port. Such proximity could be an indicator of the relative importance of the military fleet for ancient Naxos. For those coming from the sea Naxos displayed the shipsheds as an
indication of its wealth and power, following the example known from other Greek poleis.
Excavations in depth identified, below the level of the regular urban plan of the archaic period, remains of a house with a rectangular plan, datable to the first half of the 7th century BC. This without doubt belongs to the first phase of the life of the colony of Zancle. Meanwhile, in the North-West sectori of the area were found two enchytrismos burials in pithoi of the late Early/Middle Bronze Age.
The evidence recounted above provides the most complete stratigraphy so far confirmed by archaeological research at Messina.