New investigations in the North-East quarter of Motya. The archaic cemetery and Building J

Abstract

In June 2013 the University of Palermo excavations on Motya were resumed. The main goal of the new project is to investigate the north-east quarter of the Phoenician settlement and its urban development since the time of its foundation. Two main areas of excavation were opened. In the early cemetery sixteen cremation burials of the archaic period were uncovered. The most striking discoveries, never attested before, were a tomb containing Hellenistic offerings, and the occurrence of archaic infant cremations. The second excavation was conducted east of Zone K in Building J, which is characterized by its use of a fine ‘pier and rubble’ construction technique. Two rooms have been partially cleared: one with a pillared doorway and a plastered mud-brick bench, the other containing a stone vat in the centre. A thick destruction layer, containing among other things bronze arrow-heads, is clear evidence of the siege and fall of Motya in 397 BC.