IFA Archaeology Journal

Selinunte 2021

Digital Reconstruction of Temple R. Digital Model by Massimo Limoncelli.

While the pandemic continues to disrupt archaeological investigations around the world, the Selinunte mission was able to make a number of significant discoveries thanks to a small on-site team in Sicily and a robust virtual season.

At Selinunte, thanks to the support of the local Archaeological Park and careful COVID protocols, team archaeologists returned to the investigation of Temple R, the oldest monumental stone temple in the Greek colony’s main urban sanctuary. In 2011, a trench (SAS N) was sited to the northeast of the temple to study the temple’s unusual entrance platform, but never excavated. Under the supervision of IFA alumnus Andrew Farinholt Ward, excavators from the University of Milan Andrea Bertaiola, Agnese Lojacono, and Luca Restelli discovered a well-preserved stratigraphic column, revealing not only the northern part of the extant entrance platform, but also a previously unknown earlier phase to the platform associated with the Temple’s original construction phase (ca. 570 BCE). Bounded by this earlier platform, excavators discovered a mound of ash atop a large goat horn and two crossed spears – further evidence for the diverse rituals that accompanied ancient construction. The mound of ash suggests that Temple R’s original altar might be preserved to the immediate south of SAS N, beneath a large fallen block of neighboring Temple C. Future excavation will test this hypothesis.

overhead view of a trench on the excavation site. Saggio N at the end of excavation, with the blocks of the later entrance platform above, and the original phase of the platform below. Photo by Andrew Ward. .
Close up view of two hands removing a large fragment from the dirt. Excavation of marble kouros arm. Photo by Andrew Ward.

Another significant finding came from the later Hellenistic strata, when a great leveling fill was laid across the area. Amongst the rubble of this fill, excavators discovered the upper arm of a marble kouros. Perhaps part of the same arm as another marble fragment discovered in 2017, this discovery represents our first evidence for the presence of this canonical type of Archaic Greek sculpture in Selinunte.

Besides excavation, the on-site team also used the 2021 season to conserve, record, and study previously excavated materials in anticipation of future publication. Thanks to the work of Cornelis Neeft, a number of imported Corinthian vessels and local imitations were assembled from hundreds of separate fragments. These and other findings were announced to local, Italian and German media sources.

Thanks to the participation of students of the Institute of Fine Arts, the Università degli Studi di Milano, and volunteers from other institutions, a simultaneous three-week virtual season allowed for the review of previous publications and the highlighting of new avenues for research. IFA doctoral candidates presented their work, including Rebecca Salem on Selinunte’s Temple B, Peter Thompson on his quantitative analysis of the excavation’s pottery, and Dashiell Jordan on qualitative approaches to this same ceramic assemblage.

fragments of ceramic vessels, partially reassembled on a black background. Imported Corinthian vessels partially reassembled from previously excavated ceramic fragments. Photo by Raffaele Franco. .

We look forward to the entire team’s return to Selinunte this coming summer and want to highlight the flexibility and passion of the Institute students who allowed for the mission’s research objectives to progress despite the challenges of the pandemic. Once again, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Regione Siciliana and the Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana, to the Director of the Parco Archeologico di Selinunte e Cave di Cusa, Arch. Bernardo Agrò, and to our sponsors.

Fig 7 Caption: Imported Corinthian vessels partially reassembled from previously excavated ceramic fragments. Photo by Raffaele Franco.