Space and Identity in Ancient Motya

01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021

Geophysical survey carried out in 2017 at modern Isola San Pantaleo revealed the architectural plan of a significant section of the Punic city of Motya, a major port in the central Mediterranean during the 6th and 5th century BC.
The spatial relationships between structures seen in the results hold clues to understanding how society was organized in Motya and to connect Motya's organization to contemporary trends in urban planning across the Mediterranean.
Specifically, they indicate a shared community of practice of urban planning with a possible
Levantine origin. This pattern of organization suggests that domestic structures and new
urban foundations, at Motya and elsewhere, were intentionally built to accommodate a
multi-ethnic population. We the new seek to investigate this hypothesis with additional geophysical survey and test excavation.
Geophysical survey will use multi-channel frequency-stepped ground-penetrating radar survey as well as an additional earth resistance survey and extensive magnetic survey. Excavations will target features identified in the geophysical survey and be carried out with the aim of recovering dateable cultural and radiometric materials to refine our interpretations.