RESOURCE PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES OF AN ELYMIAN POLITY (MONTE POLIZZO) WESTERN SICILY: AN INVESTIGATION OF CLAY AND INDIGENOUS CERAMICS

This interdisciplinary research seeks to characterize a suite of human cultural materials (ceramics) and compare them to local natural resource (clay) materials from Monte Polizzo western Sicily. These archaeological data are derived from an indigenous Sicilian culture known as the Elymi. The Elymian culture, an 8th to 4th centuries BC Sicilian polity, are thought to be the descendants of refugees from the Trojan War (12th century BC). Petrographic analyses, X-ray Diffraction, and Scanning Electron Microscopic techniques are being used to identify the lithic and mineralogical composition of the anthropogenic and natural materials. A goal of this research is to not only geologically characterize these materials, but to gain a greater understanding of the Elymian culture and their natural environment. These data will lead to an enhanced understanding of the interrelationships between the natural environment, the Elymians, and their trading partners. Initial results from the Terravecchia Formation (Tortonian, 11.6Ma) samples show a higher abundance of monocrystalline quartz with very few types of feldspar. Calcite cement has overtaken many of the lithic and mineral grains. X-ray Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy are underway and beginning to define the two sample sets.