The 2023 Field Season at the Indigenous Oenotrian Settlement at Incoronata "greca" (MT, Italy) (15 min)

Presenters

Sveva Savelli, Saint Mary?s University; and Spencer Pope, McMaster University

Abstract

The Metaponto Archaeological Project, carried out by McMaster University and Saint Mary’s University under the auspices of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti Paesaggio della Basilicata (Ministero della Cultura) continued the investigation of the indigenous settlement at Incoronata “greca,” along the Basento river, in Basilicata (Italy). The site was a preeminent Oenotrian center from the ninth to the seventh centuries B.C.E.; during the sixth century B.C.E., it was occupied by the Greek colonial contingent established at Metaponto and hosted a sanctuary dependent on the apoikia. The 2023 research was focused on the completion of the exploration of a significant indigenous inhabitation discovered on the southeastern area of the plateau in 2022.

The poli-lobate hut was investigated in its entirety revealing different phases of frequentation comprised between the last quarter of the eighth and the first half of the seventh century. Sections of the perishable elevation were recovered inside the inhabitation confirming the hypothesized semi-interred nature of the structure. Postholes were recovered allowing for a reconstruction of the elevation supported by wooden elements. Analysis of the plan of the inhabitation and the possibility that a stone wall recovered in 2022 could have been used as an entrance provide insights into the configuration of the domestic unit. Inside the hut, a dedicated cooking space was individuated in a subrectangular recess thanks to the recovery of a cooking surface with a smashed chytra in situ. Numerous vessels and utensils of Greek and indigenous origin were recovered inside the inhabitation. Through the analysis of the finds, it is possible to formulate a sequence of the phases of occupation of the hut, revealing that the area was used at different times for multiple purposes.