Material Engagement in Archaic Sicily: On Phoenician Pottery Findings from Ritual Contexts of Greek Settlements

Abstract

The Phoenician pottery findings from Greek settlements constitute a significant source of data to understand cultural interactions in Archaic Sicily, whose investigation in the past was strongly suggested by major scholars and was systematized for the first time only in 2014. This extensive study was conducted within the framework of a contextual analysis, which gave to the material recorded an added value and new research insights. Nevertheless, within the set of contexts previously analysed, those related to the ritual sphere acquire a specific value, as they well express the ontological primacy of material engagement. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to analyse cultural interactions between Phoenicians and Greeks in Sicily through an update and a new understanding about Phoenician pottery findings from ritual contexts, also by taking into account new important discoveries.