Pagani, cristiani ed ebrei: le lucerne

Abstract

The paper examines some terracotta lamps and ARSW vases, two fragmentary roof tiles related to burial closure systems and a fragment of a marble sarcophagus with relief decoration. These materials are showed in the "Ettore Gabrici" room of the Lilibeo Archaeological Museum in Marsala, and come from excavations carried out in the 1980s and 1990s in several Late Roman funerary areas, such as the Corso Gramsci hypogeum, the Niccolini cemetery and the Early Christian hypogea into the Santa Maria della Grotta modern church. After a brief topographical overview of the discovery areas, the artifacts are analyzed highlighting, in particular, the production area and the chronological context, spanning from the 3rd to the 6th/7th century AD. These humble domestic and funerary tools accompany and reveal the gradual yet unstoppable transformation of the landscape that characterizes the urban areas during the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, a process from which Lilibeo itself was not immune.