Zooarchaeology of Ancient Greek Sanctuaries in Southwestern Sicily addresses the topic of ancient Greek sacrificial practices that were performed in the western colonies of Sicily between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. The approach is primarily centered on zooarchaeology, focusing on the analysis of faunal assemblages derived from three crucial sacred areas associated with the outstanding poleis of Selinus and Akragas. Adopting a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, the study incorporates current methods in zooarchaeology alongside taphonomic investigations to explore how animals were used for ritual purposes. By repositioning animals within their central role in ancient sacrificial practice, the results have enriched our understanding of the various ritual activities that took place in Selinus and Akragas, providing a more complete view of how religious beliefs were expressed by the ancient inhabitants of these cities. The analyses have confirmed customary patterns of animal sacrifice as reported by literary and epigraphic sources (e.g. thysia and holocaust) as well as shedding light on less frequent ritual practices followed by ancient Greek communities (e.g. foundation sacrifices). Thanks to the large quantity of remains analyzed, the results go beyond the characterization of the sacrificial practice performed in the two poleis, providing significant insights from an extra-regional perspective involving the wider ancient Greek world. The book constitutes the first synthesis on the zooarchaeology of Greek Sicily, providing a substantial amount of new data which fills a noted void in zooarchaeological research due to the still limited use of faunal assemblage analysis in defining the religious landscape of ancient Greek Sicily.
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
A Sicilian Prelude: Introducing Ancient Greek Sacrificial Practice
Animals, rituals, and society: integrating zooarchaeology into the study of
ancient Greek sanctuaries
Short History of the Greeks of Sicily
Animal sacrifice in ancient Greek religion
Zooarchaeology in classical archaeology in Sicily: An unsolved (never faced)
debate
Methodology
Sampling strategies and recording protocol
Taxonomic identification
Faunal assemblage quantification
Body parts quantification
Ageing and sexing animals
Biometry
Beyond the zoo: Interpreting the taphonomy of a faunal assemblage
The Urban Sanctuary of Selinus
A brief history of Selinus and its sacred topography
The faunal assemblage
Animal processing and consumption
The Peri-Urban Sanctuary of Malophoros
The Gaggera Sanctuaries
The faunal assemblage
Animal processing and consumption
The Peri-Urban Sanctuary of S. Anna
A brief note on Akragas history and sacred topography between 6th and 4th c.
BCE.
The faunal assemblage
Animal processing and consumption
Discussion on Rituals and Remains
Human/animal interactions in the ritual trajectories of the three
investigated sanctuaries
Broadening the point of view. A Mediterranean perspective
Leaving Old MacDonald farm The ritual role of other species.
Beyond the Sacred
Concluding Insights
Bibliography
Link to Online Appendices
Roberto Miccichè, PhD in Classical Archaeology, is an osteoarchaeologist with over twenty years of professional field experience. He has been actively engaged in numerous archaeological projects across Sicily, collaborating with esteemed institutions such as the University of Augsburg and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Rome. His expertise encompasses the analysis of both animal and human remains, integrating traditional archaeological approaches with advanced scientific techniques to explore the complex dynamics of past societies. Currently, he serves as a lecturer at the University of Palermo, where he directs the Laboratory of Archaeozoology, fostering interdisciplinary research and mentoring students in zooarchaeology and bioarchaeology. He is also a member of the executive board of the Italian Association of Archaeozoology (AIAZ). His work continues to contribute significantly to the understanding of human-animal relationships in the ancient Mediterranean, highlighting their economic, cultural, and symbolic dimensions.
