The Site of an Unidentified Greek Settlement? New Surveys in Coda Volpe on Eastern Sicily

Abstract

This study examines Greek colonisation’s potential for archaeology in relation to Coda Volpe district on eastern Sicily where necropoleis indicate the existence of unidentified both Greek and Roman settlements. Recent initial surveys near the Simeto delta suggests the location of a periphery, without any previous systematic study, prospecting or geophysical survey. As landscapes are discursively constructed along established theories, locating peripheries can yield new dimensions between material and landscape; i.e., topographical reconstruction, analysis of ancient sources and Archaic sites, and after comparison with recent studies such as for identifying poleis using an interdisciplinary, multi-scalar framework for studying living quarters and combining landscape archaeology with micro-archaeology to trace hybridities where biology, geology and geomorphology shape patterns of human activity. As archeologists interact with local culture a creolizerad archaeology has been suggested to help prevent ”simple” solutions to practical archaeological problems. Sicilian Archaeology ’began’ with Paolo Orsi, on Etna’s slopes, in the central mountains and on the coasts. This narrative is broadened by inclusion of a periphery in Coda Volpe, with a re-evaluation of Orsi’s contemporary Carmelo Sciuto Patti’s interpretation on the possible location of Symaetus.