Refining Motya’s Urban History with Landscape-Scale Investigations

Abstract

Motya was a major Phoenician centre of western Sicily during the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, yet compared to its Greek neighbours, relatively little is known about how the island city developed over time or how its urban spaces were organised at its height. Scientific archaeological investigations, which have been semi-continuous since the 1960s, have mainly focused on its monumental features, burial spaces, and industrial installations, providing only a partial picture of the city’s history and development. New results of intensive survey and excavation of the eastern half of the island help to close the gaps between the site’s most prominent features and show that a significant section of Motya was orthogonally planned as early as the mid-6th century BCE, an act that all but erased possible traces of earlier occupation, if the islet was ever intensely occupied. Despite this, at least one part of the investigated area was spared reorganisation of space and exhibited a distinct layout that suggests a separate function. This research demonstrates the potential for intensive surveys on settlements to contribute to site histories and correct possible bias for continuity that would arise in chronologies created from data from temples, monuments, or other persistent places in urban sites.