Excavating in Italy: Unearthing an Ancient Sanctuary ...continued by Susan Kane
		1 | 2 Current Finds In the past three summers on Monte Pallano, excavations have revealed the precinct of a Hellenistic sanctuary. Among the excavated finds are an increasing   Frieze plaque fragments have been restored to recreate an unusual dolphin design. number of architectural terracottas (plaques and tiles) used to decorate the roof and walls of a temple and fragments of terracotta statuary that could have stood around the precinct or also served to adorn the building. The terrracottas belong to a temple that was probably destroyed by the Romans who conquered the area in the second century B.C.. The terracottas and other debris from the dismantled temple were then used as rubble fill to form a new terracing system in the area. This recycling of materials may have helped to save many of the fragile terracottas that are now being unearthed. A number of frieze plaque fragments have been restored to recreate an unusual dolphin design. The use of this dolphin motif for architectural decoration is very rare in Hellenistic Italy. The terracotta statuary fragments (such as the head illustrated here) are of very high quality, equal to the best contemporary examples known both in Italy and elsewhere in the Hellenistic Mediterranean world. Ongoing research--and excavations--will continue to elucidate this extraordinary series of architectural terracottas and the elaborate building to which they belonged. In the summer of 2003, another group of Oberlin and Oxford students will participate in the field school excavations, helping to unravel more of this mysterious story. Go to page: 1 | 2
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