Ricerc@Sapienza

Grapevine ( Vitis vinifera ) is one of the most important fruit crops of the past and present world, both economically and culturally. The wild and domesticated forms, respectively Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris and V. vinifera subsp. vinifera , differ by an array of traits, including the form of their seeds that may be retrieved in archaeological assemblages. These are smaller, rounder and with a shorter stalk in the case of wild grapevine, and larger, more elongated and less sharply sculptured in the cultivated varieties [1].

Two altars with Egyptian gorge from the city-walls of Motya · During the xxxv-xxxviii seasons of excavations carried out in years 2015-2018 along the north-eastern side of the fortifications, by Rome «La Sapienza» University Expedition to Motya, two incense altars were found.

Archaeobotanical remains from the Phoenician – Punic site of Motya, set in the Marsala Lagoon in Western Sicily (Italy), were collected through flotation and sieving during the excavation campaigns of 2017–2019. Analyses focused on a sacrificial favissa, on the SW side of the Temple of Cappiddazzu, dedicated to Melqart/Herakles, where the buried remains of seven bovines were also found. Plant remains, preserved mostly by mineralisation, provide information about ritual practices.

Overview on the Phoenician Tophet of Motya (TP, Sicily)

In several articles published between the end of the 60s and the 70s, Anna Maria Bisi dealt with the style of Phoenician painted pottery in the colonies in a specific way. The scholar recognizes the complexity and the importance of the historical and cultural issues related to the study of this ceramic class, and her remarks are current still today. In particular, she stressed the wide contribution of the Cypriot and the Hellenic decorative tradition into the formation of the West Phoenician figurative repertoire.

The earliest Phoenician settlement in the 8th century BC on the island of Motya is thoroughly illustrated with new discoveries by Sapienza University Expedition: the earliest temples of Baal (Shrine C14 and Temple C5) and Astarte (Shrine C12), the Tophet, the earliest necropolis and the 'Funduq' (Building C8) in Area C. Ceramic materials and other finds are also published.

The present study concerns the analysis of the plant remains found in the archaeological site of Motya, a
small islet (ca. 40 ha) located in the Stagnone di Marsala, a coastal lagoon of western Sicily. Due to its
strategic, harbored position in the middle of the Mediterranean and the presence of fresh-water springs, the
site was chosen by Phoenicians as a settlement in the 8th century BCE until the siege of Motya in 397/6 BCE.
The study of macro-remains, retrieved using bucket floatation, focused on two closed contexts: the votive

The site of Motya, also called Mozia or Mothia, is a small islet in the middle of the Mediterranean, found in the Marsala lagoon, along the western coast of Sicily. Due to its strategic and harboured position, as well as the presence of a fresh-water source, the site has
been constantly occupied since the 17th century BCE. Motya is best known for its PhoenicioPunic occupation, which started in the 8th century BCE and continued until the siege of Motya, in 397 BCE.

The current research aims to reconstruct plant cultivation and plant use of the Phoenicians at Motya, a small island set along the Western Sicilian coast, through the study of macro- (seeds and charcoal) and micro-fossils (pollen) and the support of archaeological evidence. The archaeological settlement is most known for its Phoenician-Punic occupation (late 8th century B.C.

The archaeobotanical analyses carried out at the archaeological site of Motya (Sicily, Italy), a small island found in the Marsala Lagoon, in Western Sicily (Italy), are presented. Although the Phoenician-Punic period (late 8th century BC – 397 BC) represents the main occupational phase of the archaeological settlement, the island was occupied by indigenous populations since the 17th century BC and continued to be inhabited after the Siege of Motya (397/6 BC).