Fieldwork at Rocchicella di Mineo (Sicily) 2019 - 2023 (20 min)

Presenters

Brian E. McConnell, Florida Atlantic University; Emma Buckingham, University of Missouri-Columbia; Laura Maniscalco, Florida Atlantic University; and Michela Ursino, Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Catania

Abstract

Fieldwork at Rocchicella di Mineo (ancient Paliké) in eastern Sicily proceeded in several areas between 2019 and 2023. Expansion into the lower field that separates the archaeological park from the Boiling Lakes has yielded new information regarding the role of the sanctuary of the Divine Palikoi as an economic center for the indigenous Sikel communities of the Margi River Valley. Preliminary trenches in the summer of 2019, which yielded a wall segment with the same orientation as the classical and Hellenistic structures of the Grotto, prompted a magnetic survey in the fall of that year, which identified what appeared to be a series of kilns. One kiln, partially uncovered in the summer of 2022 (work delayed by the pandemic), had a square plan (3.00 m × 3.00 m), and seemed to be of Hellenistic date. Expansion of the earlier trench in 2022–2023 revealed the larger structure of the earlier wall segment, a road alignment that organized the layout of this area, and a portion of a Hellenistic structure with fired clay on the interior, as well as a considerable number of burials that can be grouped into Roman imperial and medieval clusters. Work within the Grotto complex continued to explore archaic levels, as well as structures related to the Hellenistic platform Complex P. Excavation within the bounds of the Hestiaterion in 2023 explored Iron Age levels with structures that preceded the archaic and classical phases of the site. Further reconnaissance along the western flank of the hill during the pandemic revealed the broader relation between prehistoric/archaic routes to the summit and the 220-m-long canal that gathered and redirected water perhaps to the industrial area in the field down below, as well as other structures that may have served to defend the sanctuary implied in the detailed descriptions of Diodorus Siculus.