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Primer on the Thapsos culture (MBA)





With the Middle Bronze Age the foreign relations involving southeastern Sicily and the Aegean and east Mediterranean areas dramatically increased . This period is defined as Thapsos facies and is parallel to the late Middle Bronze Age-early Recent Bronze Age of the Italian mainland sequence.

The period is named after the ancient name of the Magnisi peninsula, lying in the modern gulf of Augusta. The two main sites are Thapsos itself and Cannatello. The latter is located in central-southern Sicily (Agrigento): it is a settlement made up of round and rectangular huts surrounded by a circular defensive wall. Three different phases has been identified on stratigraphical grounds (De Miro 1998), all belonging to the Middle Bronze age. The levels yielded both local Thapsos-type pottery and Aegaean imports (De Miro 1998, 1999). It is documented Myceanean pottery (see exemplification from the Cesnola Collection) spanning from MIC IIIA to MIC IIIB, as well as Cypriot pots of different fabrics: Pithos Ware, White Slip, Base Ring I. Other foreign vessels come from the same territory of Agrigento, namely from the settlement of Madre Chiesa and from the Thapsos’ levels at Serra del Palco di Milena (Castellana 2000; La Rosa 2000).

A rich archaeological evidence comes from the name-site of the period. At Thapsos the archaeological excavations began in the late XIXth century, when Paolo Orsi (Orsi 1895) explored a cemetery made up of several rock-cut chamber tombs. They yielded a large amount of grave goods, comprising local pottery, bronze tools, jewelleries, weapons (daggers and knives), vessels imported from Mycenaean Greece and Malta (the real nature of the later ware was not properly recognized by the excavator). He first pointed out the ties between Thapsos culture and overseas contemporary communities.

An even greater amount of new documentation came into light only later: during the 1950’s a new sector of the cemetery was explored and new tombs with local and imported vessels were found (Gentili 1950; Bernabò Brea 1966; for the Mycenaean imports found until late 1950’s see Taylour 1958). At the close of 1960’s Luigi Bernabò Brea started the first researches focused in a non-funerary areas, located in the core of the peninsula, where he unhearted some rectangular residential structure (Bernabò Brea 1970).

The majority of new data was brought to light between the 1970’s and 1980’s: a large sector of a residential quarter was unhearted by Giuseppe Voza in a wide area lying in the central-western sector of the peninsula (Voza 1985). Besides, the excavator found a new group of chamber tombs, again with a rich array of imports: vessels from Cyprus (Base Ring II, White Shaved) were discovered for the first time (in tomb D and A1) along with a rich inventoire of Mycenaean pots (Voza 1973). In the central part of the peninsula, moreover, it was discovered a group of tombs characterized by inumations inside jar (enchytrismoi, in Greek terms).

As for the residential quarter, the researches allowed to identify groups of buildings with different plans: circular huts with sub-rectangular annexes in the northern area; wide complex rectangular complexes in the central sector; quadrangular huts in the central-southern zone. The excavator identified three different layers in the residential quarter and proposed to ascribe to Thapsos’s first phase the round huts with annexes, to a second phase the complexes, the the third and last phase the quadrangular huts. He assigned to the Thapsos culture the first and second phase, spanning from XIV to XIII; to the Final Bronze age the last phase. His view was in contrast with the “traditional” culture sequence put forward by Bernabò Brea at the close of 1950’s (Bernabò Brea 1958). In Voza’s view, Thapsos and Pantalica Nord (traditionally ascribed to the XIII century) cultures would be contemporaneus. On the other hand, Bernabò Brea rejected such a hypothesis pointing out, between other things, the stratigraphical problems related to the Thapsos’s residential quarter sequence (Bernabò Brea 1990).

Whilst the basic acquisitions about the Middle Bronze Age name-site can be easily summarized as stated above, the huge amount of data gained not only by Thapsos but also from surrounding sites (Cozzo del Pantano, Plemmirio, Matrensa, Molinello di Augusta: see further references in Alberti 2004) keeps on stimulating the attention and the reflections of several scholars. Thapsos and the other Middle Bronze age sites in Sicily are, in fact, key-sites for the issue of the interrelations between locals and foreign cultures (for a good synthesis of the various research themes and problematic related to that site, see La Rosa 2004).

Before taking into considerations the important cross-cultural elements of Thapsos’s culture, a point needs to be clarified. In general, the archaeological evidence clearly shows that a relevant foreign component was present in the local culture, as consequence of the overseas contacts.
Still, to valuate to what extent this component affected the local element is, in my view, a difficult task; there is the risk, moreover, to overestimate one component against the other. Terms like Myceanization or acculturation (the former perhaps moulded over the word “Hellenization”, much debated expecially in Italian mainland scientific ambient) risk to become a useless mean to explore the social change resulting from culture contacts. These terms seem to hide a way of thinking the ancient contacts as a “progressive general emulation of civilized customs by barbarians as a natural and inevitable response to contact” (Dietler 1990, p. 356). I voluntarily quote from a scholar faced with the issue of contacts related to different cultural and chronological horizons to make it clear that cross-cultural studies need a neutral and non-aprioristic view, no matters who the subjects are. Dietler’s reasoning matches the one of other scholars involved in cross-cultural Aegaean Bronze age studies (see, e.g., Steel 1998; van Wijngaarden 1999), showing that what can be labelled as the “all is Myceanean-theory” is not the only methodological coordinate.

As regards the architecture, both domestic and funerary, Thapsos reveals an interesting scenario. The complex structures of the residential quarter’s central area have been regarded as of foreign inspiration; the prototypes have been localized both in Myceanean and neareastern area (Militello 2004; Tomasello 2004). These structures are the centre of a complex restructuring of the residential quarter (Militello 2004; Tomasello 2004; for a deeper insight into the social scenario related to that process see Alberti 2006; for the social role of the complexes see also Doonan 2001; for a revision of the settlement’s phasing see Alberti 2007). It has to be noted, however, that the new planned complexes were build up according to traditional (local) techniques (Tomasello 2004).

As well as the residentail quarter, the chamber tombs bear foreign signs. At Thapsos few tombs seems to be inspired by Mycenaean tholos tombs, for they have a profile that resembles that of western Peloponnesian rock-cut chamber tombs (Tomasello 1995-1996).

As for the artefacts, the local grey hand-made pottery is rooted in the local tradition (Alberti 2004). In some cases, some pottery types have foreign prototype (Mycenaean: see D’Agata 2000, Alberti 2004; Cypriot: see Karageorghis 1995, Alberti 2005, Alberti 2008a) and/or bear engraved decorations that match Aegaean schemes (D’Agata 2000, Alberti 2004).

Imports are documented along with local wares: no Mycenaean pots is proved to be of local production but have Peloponnesian provenence (Jones e Levi 2004); pottery of Base Ring II fabric is tought to be of local (Karageorghis 1995) or Levantine (Vagnetti 1985) or pure Cypriot production (Alberti forthcoming); White Shaved jugs are genuine Cypriot (Karageorghis 1995). It is woth noting that another Base Ring jug was found in a tomb at the centre of the modern city of Siracuse, along with Myceanean pottery and a steatite seal. Maltese pottery, reprehesented mainly by red-slipped pedestalled cup with engraved decoration and belonging to the Borg in-Nadur period, has been object of a recent study (Tanasi 2008; some remarks in Alberti 2009). Some small clay models of furniture found in tombs have Mycenaean prototypes and are tought to have some religious meaning (Tanasi 2004). Few Mycenaean imports are documented at surrounding sites as well: one kylix from Cozzo del Pantano (Taylour 1958, p. 62; Tanasi 2005), one alabastron from the inland site of Floridia (Orsi 1909), a stirrup jar from the inland site of Buscemi (Taylour 1958, p. 64), a decorated sherd from Augusta-Molinello (Alberti forthcoming), two piriform jar from Matrensa (Orsi 1903).

Weapons are reprehesented by daggers and knives, whose production has been localized in the Thapsos’ centre (D’Agata 1986; for an indirect proof of such production see Alberti 2006). Besides jewels in gold, amber, faience, glass, bone, bronze, some bronze tools, discs (weights?) and vessels belonged to some tombs’ repertoire (for this materials and their significance in a social perspective see Alberti 2006).

The presence of actual resident on regular basis at Thapsos, on the basis of the available evidences, is debated (Bietti Sestieri 1997, Alberti L. and Bettelli 2005, Tanasi 2005; cautious remarks in Alberti 2006).

The chronological boundaries of Thapsos period have been provided by Myceanean imports and by the local pottery sequence (MIC IIIA1-IIIB1) (Alberti 2004, Alberti 2007, and Alberti 2008b).

The aforementioned points clearly define the international profile of Thapsos culture: they are the most visible outcome of a complex network involving foreign activities and interests on the one hand, and local dynamics on the other hand. In suming up, what the archaeological evidence shows us is the result of a process of progressive social stratification in which overseas contacts played the role of positive feedback in the local framework of social dynamics; this will lead to the birth of a chiefdom-type society (Bietti Sestieri 1988, 1997, D’Agata 1997, Militello 2004, Alberti 2006). The various foreign elements above described have to be considered as voluntarily integrated in a context with strong local character.