Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "BUTERA Town SICILY" .
Probably the site of an ancient Sikanian center, the first to come
into conflict with the Greek colony of Gela, founded in 689 B.C., ca. 20 km to
the SE. Quite probably Butera should be identified with ancient Omphake, the Sikanian
town which, according to Pausanias (8.46.3), was conquered by Rhodio-Cretan colonists
from Gela led by its founder Antiphemos. The formidable location of this site,
on a high and steep mountain that dominates the plain of Gela, explains both the
presence of an important native town and the need for rapid conquest by the Greek
colonists in defense of the fertile plain.
Excavation has clarified, at least partially, the history of the settlement.
The large necropolis in the area Piano della Fiera contained four levels of tombs;
the deepest layer (1st stratum) comprised grotto-like tombs (a grotticella) with
carved covers, indigenous vases with painted or incised decoration, bronze fibulae
and razors datable from the 8th c. B.C. to the early 7th. A few vessels already
document Greek influence. The next layer (2d stratum) dated to the second and
last quarter of the 7th c. B.C., clearly reveals contact with the Greek colonists
of Gela. Most of its burials (several hundred) show close parallels with the archaic
necropolis of Gela, while others are of local type, with stone enclosures and,
in one case, a characteristic large "dolmen" tomb, still preserved in
situ. Funerary customs are also mixed, and both inhumation and cremation occur.
Frequent and typical is the custom of partial cremation, with the skulls of the
dead preserved in vases. Funerary gifts include Protocorinthian, Geloan, and local
pottery. That this necropolis was abandoned for over three centuries is indicated
by the lack of tombs with Corinthian, Ionic, and Attic vases. The following layer
(3d stratum) indicates a resumption of city life in the second half of the 4th
c. B.C., probably as part of the reconstruction program carried out in Sicily
by Timoleon. This phase is characterized by monumental stepped tombs surmounted
by columns (epitymbia) and funerary gifts of Sicilian red-figure vases. The topmost
layer (4th stratum) revealed rather poor graves of the 3d c. B.C. containing unpainted
alabastra (fusiform vases).
Investigation on the slopes below the modern city has revealed a few
protohistoric huts and a Hellenistic building, but the chronological gap noticed
in the necropolis remains unsolved. A few more items were yielded by the excavation
of a votive deposit in a rural sanctuary below Butera, in the vicinity of Fontana
Calda, along the present torrent Comunelli. According to a graffito on a vase,
the sanctuary was dedicated to a female deity referred to as Polystephanos Thea,
probably a nymph comparable to Artemis, whom the votive figurines represent with
bow and hound. Some objects from the votive deposit go back to the archaic period,
but the vast majority of the offerings are vases and statuettes of the period
of Timoleon (second half of the 4th c. B.C.). The cult continued, however, till
Roman times, as shown by lamps of late Republican and Imperial date. Further evidence
from the Greek and Roman periods can be found in various areas of the Buteran
territory. Greek farmhouses datable between the 6th and 3d c. B.C. have been identified
or excavated at the locations Fiume di Mallo, Priointo, Milingiana, S. Giuliano,
etc. Graves of Roman Imperial date connected with farmhouses or small villages
have been explored in the vicinity of Priorato e Suor Marchesa. All the material
from the excavations of Butera and its territory is in the National Museum of
Gela.
P. Orlandini, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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