Thapsos

This article is about the prehistoric village in Sicily. For the medicinal herb, see Verbascum thapsus. For the North African city, see Thapsus.

Thapsos
Site notes
Θάψος (Greek)
Thapsos had a large necropolis of cave tombs with vertical entrance shafts or dromos entry-corridors.
Shown within Italy
Location	Priolo Gargallo, Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
Coordinates	37°09′13″N 15°13′46″E / 37.15361°N 15.22944°E / 37.15361; 15.22944Coordinates: 37°09′13″N 15°13′46″E / 37.15361°N 15.22944°E / 37.15361; 15.22944
Type	Settlement
Condition	Ruined
Ownership	Public
Management	Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. di Siracusa
Public access	Yes
Website	Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi

Thapsos (Greek: Θάψος) was a prehistoric village in Sicily of the middle Bronze Age. It was found by the Italian archaeologist Paolo Orsi on the small peninsula of Magnisi, near Priolo Gargallo. In its vicinity was born the Culture of Thapsos, one of the most important prehistoric cultures in Sicily (identified with the people of Sicani).

History

A rock-cut tomb in the necropolis

The site is very interesting for its village - the first known city in Sicily - and for its rich necropolis. David Abulafia writes:

A settlement at Thapsos, an offshore island in eastern Sicily, offers evidence of a sophisticated, imported culture, Mycenaean in origin. The settlers created a grid-like town with streets up to four metres wide, spacious houses built round courtyards, and tombs full of Late Helladic wares from the Greek lands, suggesting 'a veritable foreign colony on the site'. Indeed, the closest analogy to the layout of the houses in Thapsos is to be found at the other end of the Mycenaean world, on Cyprus, at Enkomi near Famagusta. It is almost as if a blueprint for a trading colony had been created and then transformed into reality at both ends of the Mycenaean world. Thapsos has yielded very many small perfume containers of Mycenaean origin. For it was a centre of industry, specializing in the production of perfumed oils for an 'international' market. But Thapsos was not simply an offshoot of Mycenae. It produced plenty of coarse grey pottery in Sicilian styles, indicating that Thapsos contained a mixed population.^[1]

Notes

↑ David Abulafia, The Great Sea:A Human History of the Mediterranean (Oxford University Press, 2011; ISBN 019975263X), pp. 34-35.

Bibliography

S. Tusa, La Sicilia nella Preistoria, second edition, Palermo 1992.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thapsos.

Official website

Archaeological sites in Sicily

Province of Agrigento	Heraclea Minoa Akragas Valle dei Templi - Temple of Concordia - Temple of Heracles - Temple of Juno - Temple of Olympian Zeus

Province of Caltanissetta	Gela

Province of Catania	Aetna (city) Katáne Palike Sant'ippolito caltagirone

Province of Enna	Centuripe Morgantina Villa Romana del Casale

Province of Messina	Abacaenum Halaesa Naxos Ancient theatre of Taormina Tindari Villa Romana di Patti

Province of Palermo	Entella Grotta dell'Addaura Hippana Ietas Himera Pirama Soluntum

Province of Ragusa	Akrillai Hybla Heraea Kamarina Kaukana

Province of Syracuse	Akrai Santoni Casmenae Cava del Rivettazzo Colonne di San Basilio Helorus Netum Megara Hyblaea Syrakousai Ear of Dionysius Galermi Aqueduct Greek Theatre of Syracuse Grotta del Ninfeo Temple of Athena Temple of Apollo Necropolis of Cassibile Necropolis of Pantalica Thapsos Villa Romana del Tellaro

Province of Trapani	Eryx/Erice Drepanum Halyciae Grotta del Genovese Monte Polizzo Motya Segesta Selinunte Temple C Temple E Temple F Cave di Cusa

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, August 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.