Continuity down through the ages: Proof of a thousand years' use of a Sicilian farmland estate

PhysOrg ^ | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 | Australian Science Fund

[SunkenCiv]

Archaeological excavations have provided the first substantiation that a farmland estate in Sicily boasts a history which reaches back over a thousand years. Numerous finds demonstrate the continuous use of the land complex as a nexus of settlement and economic and religious life between the 5th and 16th century. The findings are the result of two projects of the Austrian Science Fund FWF which comprise the first in-depth archaeological exploration of Sicily's Byzantine period...

While the ancient era saw the island dominated first by the Greeks and later the Roman Empire, in the High Middle Ages it was the centre of the Norman state in Southern Italy. The full four centuries of Byzantine rule prior to that are less well known -- not least due to the fact that the period has been the subject of little scientific analysis. Thanks to two projects at the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Vienna, however, important data has now been brought to light regarding settlement activity during this epoch, as well as the period's economic and religious history...

On the whole, there are suggestions of continuous use from Late Antiquity until the early modern era... Investigations commenced in 2001 with a detailed exploration of the site using the most advanced ground-penetrating radar. The georadar allows the non-invasive identification of hidden building structures under the soil... a church and a former Roman villa rusticafrom Late Antiquity. The finds were subsequently exposed over the course of several excavation campaigns.

Thanks to numerous building remains, the church was able to be dated to the early Norman period (from the year 1061 onward). To the surprise of the entire team, subsequent work even revealed the apse of an older building probably with ritual function dating from Late Antiquity.

[SunkenCiv]

The history of a Sicilian farmland estate is set in stone. Excavations show thousand years of existence.

[SunkenCiv]

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[mamelukesabre]

Greeks in sicily??

never heard of it.

[Tainan]

Who lives there now?

There is a lot of really old stuff located under the surface of the earth.
Just waiting to be dug up and talked about.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

My grandparents immigrated from Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily back in the early 1900’s. This is an incredible find and I would LOVE to see it!!!

[Renfield]

The Greeks were there before the Italians.

[Pelham]

Syracuse. Greeks occupied Sicily and the toe of the Italian boot for many centuries.

[afraidfortherepublic]

My husband’s family traces themselves back more than 600 years in Sicily.

[ZULU]

Sicily was part of Magna Graecia before the Romans. Most large cities in Sicily started life as Greek cities - Messina, Palermo (Panormos), etc. Even southern Italy. Naples (Napoli) was once Neapolis and that is good Greek.