MONTE BUBBONIA
Sicily.
The seat of an
indigenous center. The mountain, ca. 20 km to the N of
Gela and on the left side of the national highway to
Piazza Armerina, is now almost entirely covered by oak
and eucalyptus woods. The center, which under Greek
influence can perhaps be identified with Maktorion, is
mentioned by Herodotos as being near Gela (7.153).
Excavations have uncovered parts of the necropoleis and
of the ancient town. On the peak of the acropolis (529 m
high), at the W end of the mountain, the foundations of
a small shrine were found, together with some of its
beautiful polychrome antefixes in the shape of a Gorgon.
The foundations are built with large blocks and closely
resemble those of the Athenaion in Gela. The terracotta
antefixes, datable to the middle of the 6th c. B.C., are
also of Geloan type.
The city was protected by a dry stone wall that followed the edge of the mountain for ca. 5 km. This wall
probably dates as early as the 6th-5th c. B.C. A defensive
wall barring access to the acropolis must on the other
hand date from the end of the 4th c. B.C. The inhabited
quarter occupied the long B plateau, where aerial photography clearly shows a system of regular streets oriented N-S. An archaic kiln in good state of preservation has also been found near the walls.
The necropolis has yielded some native graves of the
8th-7th c. B.C., followed at the end of the 7th c. onward
by tombs purely Greek in typology and grave goods,
comprising exclusively Corinthian, Ionic, Attic, and
Geloan vases. Most of the material from the excavations
is in the National Museum of Gela.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. Orsi,
NSc (1905) 447ff; (1907) 497;
D. Adamesteanu,
RendLinc (1956) 5ff; id.,
ArchCl 7
(1955) 179ff; id.,
RA 49 (1957) 165ff; id.,
Atti V Convegno Nazionale di Fotogrammetria e Topografia (1957); P. Orlandini,
Kokalos 7 (1961) 145ff; id.,
Kokalos 8 (1962) 85ff.
P. ORLANDINI
