CALTANISSETTA
Sicily.
A prehistoric and
Greek settlement revealed by recent excavations. Remains of huts of the Chalcolithic period, with Serraferlicchio, S. Ippolito, and Castellucio style pottery, have
been found in the area of the present cemetery and on
the San Giuliano mountain which towers over the modern town. This area yielded important terracotta male
and female figurines of the Early Bronze Age, very probably connected with a great prehistoric sanctuary. Other
discoveries attest to the existence of a later indigenous
center which from the 7th c. B.C. established contacts
with the Greek colony of Gela. Traces of this settlement,
with Corinthian, Geloan, and local imitation pottery,
have been found on Monte San Giuliano, and tombs
containing vases of Geloan type with geometric decoration have been uncovered near the present athletic field.
Finally the discovery of a 5th c. B.C. Greek antefix in
the castle of Pietrarossa demonstrates the presence of
sacred buildings in Greek style at that time.
An archaeological museum contains all the material
found in the last ten years at the ancient sites in the
surrounding territory, especially Sabucina, Gibil-Gabib,
Capodarso. Greek imports and colonial material predominate, thus demonstrating the progressive Hellenization of central Sicily between the 7th and 4th c. B.C.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. Orlandini,
Kokalos 8 (1962) 108ff;
id.,
Kokalos 12 (1966) 36ff; id.,
Sicilia Archeologica
(1968) 17ff; id.,
BdA (1968) 55ff.
P. ORLANDINI
