Morgantina Studies, Volume IV
Morgantina Studies, Volume IV: The Protohistoric Settlement on the Cittadella
ROBERT LEIGHTON
Series: Publications of the Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University
Copyright Date: 1993
Published by: Princeton University Press
Pages: 428
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zvr7j
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Morgantina Studies, Volume IV
Book Description:

Excavations conducted at Morgantina by Princeton University and the University of Illinois have revealed substantial Iron Age remains beneath the Greek town on the Cittadella hilltop. In this volume Robert Leighton presents a full study of this extensive protohistoric settlement in Sicily. The broad scope of evidence, particularly the survival of long houses and tombs with much of their structures and contents preserved, permits an unusually thorough examination of indigenous cultural traditions prior to the foundation of the Greek town in the Archaic period. An illustrated catalogue of the finds presents more than 700 artifacts from the site, most of which are previously unpublished.

The author discusses all the excavated protohistoric areas in detail, and presents a full range of maps, plans, excavation photographs, reconstruction drawings, and radiocarbon dates. The diverse body of finds includes a wide variety of pottery forms as well as tools and ornaments of both metal and stone that document local crafts, metallurgy, and numerous aspects of daily life. In studying these objects, Leighton draws on parallels with material from the Italian peninsula and considers the evidence of the historical sources, revealing links between Sicily and Italy in the protohistoric period.

Originally published in 1993.

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eISBN: 978-1-4008-6334-1
Subjects: Archaeology
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-iv)
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. v-viii)
  3. Editors’ Preface
    Editors’ Preface (pp. ix-x)
    Malcolm Bell III and William A. P. Childs
  4. Preface
    Preface (pp. xi-xii)
  5. Abbreviations
    Abbreviations (pp. xiii-xvi)
  6. List of Text Figures
    List of Text Figures (pp. xvii-xviii)
  7. List of Plates
    List of Plates (pp. xix-2)
  8. Introduction
    Introduction (pp. 3-10)

    The remains of the protohistoric settlement on the Cittadella were excavated over a period of fourteen years, between 1957 and 1970, initially under the direction of Richard Stillwell and Erik Sjöqvist, and subsequently of Hubert L. Allen. Although the contributions of many individuals who were associated with the expedition over the years have been mentioned in the preliminary reports and in the first volume of this series, it behoves me to remember those who were most directly involved with the excavations described in this report: the late Kyle M. Phillips and the late Carl Eric Östenberg, R. Ross Holloway, Donald...

  9. I The Excavations
    I The Excavations (pp. 11-48)

    The excavations in 1967 and 1968 on the summit of the Cittadella hill (Farmhouse Hill) brought to light evidence for occupation during the Iron Age, Archaic, and later periods. Trench 2 was located close to the summit of the hill, at about 568 meters a.s.l., in the most prominent location of Area III (Figs. 2–5; Pls. 4 and 6:b).’ A well-preserved naiskos of the Archaic period (sixth century B.C.) was revealed in this trench and a number of probes were made in the vicinity with the intention of tracing the development of the building and dating its construction. The...

  10. II The Finds
    II The Finds (pp. 49-96)

    Various kinds of pottery are represented in the protohistoric and later layers at the site. Apart from differences in the shape of vessels, the following wares can be distinguished on the basis of general stylistic and technical criteria: handmade coarse ware, plumed ware, painted geometric ware of local type, wheelmade painted geometric ware of the finer Siculan geometric class, wheelmade plain ware, and incised ware.

    Four classes of fabric have been noted, which are briefly described below: coarse ware, medium coarse ware, medium fine ware, and fine ware. They represent a broad and fairly subjective preliminary classification based on criteria...

  11. III The Iron Age Tombs
    III The Iron Age Tombs (pp. 97-110)

    The rock-cut chamber tombs of the Cittadella hill in Area III were mostly located on the steep slopes around the 500 meter contour where a number of burial areas were identified (Necropoleis II, IV, and V) with depositions dated mainly to the Archaic period.¹ Necropolis IV lay on the northwest slope of the Cittadella hill, between about the 450 and 490 meter contours, overlooking the Gornalunga valley in an area where the terrain sloped down steeply (Fig. 2). The necropolis consisted of fairly disparate clusters of tombs, many of which had been disturbed by clandestine excavations. Three oven-shaped tombs (tombe...

  12. IV Chronology
    IV Chronology (pp. 111-126)

    The material assemblage from most of the protohistoric habitation contexts at the site, where pottery predominates over metal artifacts, does not provide particularly sensitive indicators upon which to base a refined chronological sequence. Given the scarcity of diagnostic bronze types, such as fibulae, the establishment of absolute dates for some habitation layers is problematic. Moreover, uncertainty surrounds the question of the duration of Ausonian pottery types and the Ausonian II period in different parts of Sicily. The absolute chronology of the protohistoric period on the Cittadella depends in part upon comparisons with other Ausonian sites where similar material is found...

  13. V The Protohistoric Period
    V The Protohistoric Period (pp. 127-162)

    Morgantina is situated close to the center of Sicily, about 54 kms. inland from the east coast and about 48 kms. from the south coast near Gela (Figs. 1, 35–37). The site lies in the foothills on the eastern edge of the higher plateau country of central Sicily, south of the Simeto, Dittaino, and Gornalunga rivers, which flow eastward over the Catania plain to the Ionian Sea. Numerous locations on the site provide commanding views of Mt. Etna and the Catania plain to the north and east, the Belmontino valley to the south, and the limestone tablelands of the...

  14. VI Catalogue of the Finds
    VI Catalogue of the Finds (pp. 163-224)
  15. Table of Relative Proportions of Weighed Pottery
    Table of Relative Proportions of Weighed Pottery (pp. 225-228)
  16. Concordance of Inventory and Catalogue Numbers
    Concordance of Inventory and Catalogue Numbers (pp. 229-234)
  17. Index
    Index (pp. 235-240)
  18. PLATES
    PLATES (pp. 241-406)
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