DISCOVERIES ARE MADE IN SICILY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18959, 4 January 1930, Page 10

DISCOVERIES ARE MADE IN SICILY.

EXCAVATIONS THROW LIGHT ON EARLY LIFE. Discoveries which may throw important new light on the early civilisation and religion of Sicily, before the Greek colonisation, have been made during recent excavations near Girgenti, on the site of the Greek city of Agrigentum, writes Mr C. Martin in the “ Daily Telegraph.” Close to the ruined timples of Jupiter, Diana, and the Dioscuri, which show how noble must once have been the splendours of Pindar’s “ most beautiful city of mortals,” labourers were digging holes for tree-planting when they came upon a round stone structure which proved to be an altar of the Greek-archaic period. This discovery led to the excavation of two more altars of similar construction. The greatest interest, however, attaches to certain prehistoric objects of shaped stone, and in particular to two polished stone adzes, which have been found near the altars. These implements have been approximately dated as belonging to the second millennium 8.C., and were evidently used in relegious rites. It is conjectured that the implements may have been so employed by the Greeks, who found them on their arrival. and adopted them in their own worship out of respect for their great antiquity. But there remains the most fascinating hypothesis that these implements mark the spot as the scene of religious practices in existence before the Greeks came, and may yield some clue to the indigenous worship of the Sicilians. The largest of the altars, and the first to be revealed, is about 4ft high, and consists of three circular strata of dressed stones, each layer somewhat thinner than the one below it. A final layer forming the top of the altar is missing —evidently plundered at some early date for building purposes. Each separate stratum is composed of two rings, the inner of wedge-shaped stones and the outer in the form of a rim binding the whole together. The centre of the altar is hollow, the cavity being evidently the receptacle into which worshippers dropped their votive offerings, for it was found to be full of little statues, vases and other objects. Further excavation disclosed two other altars nearby, both enclosed like the first within rectangular walls marking off the patch of ground sacred to each deity. One of these altars is very small, and is built over a natural cavity in the rock about 6ft deep, intended as a receptacle for offerings. No finds, were made here, however, as the altar had been plundered, and was empty. The other, unearthed only a few feet away, revealed a rich store of statuettes, votive lamps, vases, cups, goblets and dishes, all of earthenware. The first altar uncovered was apparently built between 580 and 550 8.C., and dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, but the subsequent finds have not been identified. What gives peculiar interest to the discovery is that so many altars should have been found in the same place. Two others of similar design were excavateff* in 1925 and 1927, making a total of five, with a sixth already located with tolerable certainty.