Excavations at Paestum 1982 Author(s): Werner Johannowsky, John Griffiths Pedley, Mario Torelli Source: American Journal of Archaeology,

Vol. 87, No. 3 (Jul., 1983), pp. 293-303 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/504797 Accessed: 26/01/2009 09:40
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Excavationsat Paestum 1982*

WERNER JOHANNOWSKY, JOHN GRIFFITHS (Pls. 33-37)
Abstract
Excavation was resumed in the extramural sanctuary in the "localita Santa Venera" at Paestum. Earlier excavations had established the existence of a sanctuary on this site, but the identity of the divinity worshipped and the architectural and cultic history remained unknown. Unpublished material suggested continuity of use from the Greek period through the Lucanian occupation into Roman times. The site is also notable for its size and location-close to the wall and south gate of the city-and unusual architectural features revealed in the clearing of the site in fall 1981. Objectives in 1982 included: the discovery of strata undisturbed by earlier excavations; the recovery of an outline of the architectural history; the identification of the divinity worshipped at the site; and investigation of details of the cult. Excavation west of the Oikos temple had apparently been thorough, but within the temple and in (as well as in front of) the rectangular hall to the east, undisturbed levels were encountered. Architectural members of the Doric order suggest the existence of a temple or treasury on the site in the 6th c., followed in the 5th by the building of the rectangular hall, to which a colonnade was added in the 4th. The Oikos temple was built either in the 5th or the 4th c., while the interior of the rectangular hall was completely overhauled in the 1st c. B.C., and a piscina for fishfarming was built directly opposite in the early 2nd c. A.C. Reinterpretation of an inscription found on the site long ago suggests that the deity worshipped here in the 1st. c. B.C. was Bona Dea, thus linking a major cult at Rome with a city of Magna Graecia. The continuity of use of the Paestan site may indicate that the Greek divinity from whom Bona Dea may derive (Damia) was worshipped here, and that it is from Poseidonia/Paestum that Damia/Bona Dea was introduced to Rome. * The work was immeasurablyassisted by the cordial help and support of many officersof the Soprintendenza.Most notably we are indebtedto Angelo Ardovino,Vice-Directorof the Archaeological Museum of Paestum, to Antonella Fiammenghi, Ispettriceof the Soprintendenza, and to AntonioTaddeo, foreman(assistente)of all archaeological work conductedin the Paestumregion.The work force was highly skilled, experiencedand effectiveand was formed of the following men: Vincenzo DiBartolomeo, Antonio Ciervo, Giuseppe DeFiore, Carmine Federico, Cosimo Federico, another Cosimo Federico,Arturo LaCorte and Luigi Pinto. The following constitutedthe excavationteam:Area Supervisors,Monica Barran, AndreaBerlin,James Higginbothamand ConcettaMasseria;Registrar, Mary Ann Eaverly;Photographer,Susan Webb;Architects, Ezio Mitchell and Jackie Royer; Assistant to the Field Director, RebeccaMiller; Field Director,John Pedley. The excavationis organized and controlledby the following committee:WernerJohan-

PEDLEY AND MARIO TORELLI

In May and June 1982, the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Salerno, the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology of the University of Michigan, and the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Perugia resumed excavation at the extramural sanctuary in the "localita Santa Venera" just outside the south wall of the ancient city, close to the south gate (ill. 1). Work was undertaken at this site in 1952 and 1954 by Pellegrino Sestieri' and in 1974 by Mario Napoli,2 but the identity of the divinity worshipped remained undetermined and the architectural and cultic history uncertain. Much of the pottery and many of the figurines from the earlier campaigns are in the Museum in Paestum; these materials indicated that the site had been used from the sixth century B.C. through the fifth and fourth centuries and the Hellenistic period until the fourth century A.C.3 We are therefore dealing with a divinity whose worship continued through the Lucanian occupation of the site and into the Roman period, and with an extraurban sanctuary whose continuity of use is of signal importance in the history of religion; this continuity is almost without parallel in similar sanctuaries of South Italy.4 The large scale and the location of the site are further evidence that it is a major state cult which is being investigated. Moreover, the present work constitutes the first important excavation of a Greek sanctuary in Paestum since the 1930s; and this is the first monumental sanctuary outside the city walls of Paestum to be systematically examined. Furthermore, since there is no full modern publication of various
nowsky,John Pedley and Mario Torelli. Funding was providedby the Universities of Michigan and Perugia, by the Soprintendenza of Salerno, Avellino and Benevento and by some anonymous supporters. I P. Sestieri,FA 1953, p. 131, no. 1710, fig. 39. 2 No written recordsof this work have yet been found. 3 ProfessorSharon Herbert kindly spent a week in Paestum at the outset of the excavationand generouslyprovideda typological and chronological outline of the pottery.In the courseof the season, RebeccaMiller wrote a valuable reporton the terracottafigurines. 4 At Foce del Sele, the sanctuarywent out of use at the end of the Greek period. Continuityfrom Greek cult through Lucanianoccupation to Roman times is extremelyrare, with Cumae perhapsfurnishing the only other known and archaeologicallydocumented example.

293

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WERNER JOHANNOWSKY, JOHN GRIFFITHS PEDLEY AND MARIO TORELLI

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lll. 1. Paestum 1982, schematicplan showing site in relationto city wall

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EXCAVATIONS AT PAESTUM1982

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archaeological aspectsof any urbanor suburbansanctuary in Paestum, this excavation and the planned publicationwill be the point of controlfor much material found earlier and now in the Museum. Also of significance in this regard is the important stratigraphical and architectural work now being conducted in the heart of the city by E. Greco and D. Theodorescu, whose first volume has already appeared.5 In September1981, thanks to the generosityof the of the Inlocal Soprintendenza and the collaboration stitute of Archaeologyof the University of Perugia, the site was clearedof bramblesand overgrowth;the majorwalls of the sanctuary,as originallyfound and cleared by Sestieri and Napoli, were exposed and drawn. It was evidentat oncethat it was a dilapidated architectural complexof which, at most, only the bottom coursesof masonryaboveancientgroundlevel remained.It was also clearthat the plan was highly unusual in two respects:in the faceted ring of blocks

(hereafterreferredto as the circularwall) within the Oikos to the west, and in the approximatelyhemispherical niches on two flanks of the Rectangular Hall to the east (ill. 2). These architecturalfeatures, which seemed likely to reflect unique cultic activity, were the focus, along with intriguing discoveries south of the RectangularHall, of our investigations in 1982 (ill. 3). The objectivesof this first season of work were: to discoverwhat strata remained undisturbedafter the work of Sestieri and Napoli; to begin to decipherthe architectural historyand phases of the site;to identify the deity to whom the site was consecrated; and to examine details of the cult. Sestieri'spublishedphotographof work in progress at the site gives some idea of the westwardlimit of his excavations,and suggests that his men began at the easternend of the site and dug westward.6 Apparently his effortswent up to and includedthe Oikos,but continued no fartherwestward. East of the west wall of

Ill. 2. Paestum OikosandRectangular Hall 1982,general planoutlining

5 E. Greco and D. Theodorescu,Posidonia-Paestum1 (Rome 1981).
6

Sestieri (supra n. 1).

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in 1982 Ill. 3. Paestum 1982 planshowing excavated squares the Oikos we found rich depositsof early material,in contrastto the sterility of the earth to the W: accordingly, we concludethat, in the area of the Oikos and RectangularHall, Sestieri'sexcavationsdid not penetrate to earlier levels, while W of the west wall of the Oikos, Napoli removedpracticallyeverything.7The rich finds of archaicmateriallay for the most part in fill, but some were sealed beneatha heavy stratumof rubble.Sincethese sixth and fifth centurydepositsare uncontaminated by later materials,our first objective for 1982 has been realized:we have retrievedlevels of ancientactivityundisturbed by earlier excavators.
THE OIKOS (pl.

33, fig. 1) Two squares (6.8 and 8.8 in ill. 3) were set across the NW and NE cornersof the building to examine the foundationsand to clarify the relationshipof the circularwall to the rectangularwalls which encloseit,
7 Commentsare drawn fromthe reportof Area SupervisorConcetta Masseria. 8 In the followingremarkswe draw on the reportof Area Super-

anothersquare and to subsidiarywalls. Subsequently, of (7.7) was dug to the S to investigatethe foundations the interior of the circularwall (pl. 33, fig. 2). One paving slab still in situ (pl. 33, fig. 3) preservesthe floor level within the structurein the latest phase of use. The square at the NW corner (6.8) includedan area to the W of the west wall, where the earth was foundto be altogethersterile. Within the Oikos the circular ring of blocks evidently cuts into the blocks which form the rectangle aroundit (pl. 33, fig. 3): a priori then, it seemsthat the rectanglemust precedethe circularwall. But pottery found adjacentto the foundationson which these two structuresrest may suggestthe reverse.8 The foundationsof the N wall of the Oikos, as so far excavated,of the E wall, and of the wall linking the Oikos to the RectangularHall (ill. 3, Squares8.8; 9.8) are similar:they are laid at the same level and are
visor Andrea Berlin. It must be stressedthat this was an exploratory season and that the quantityof potterywas small.

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made of fist-sized limestone rocks (ranging in size from 0.25 x 0.25 x 0.10 m. to 0.15 x 0.15 x 0.05 m.), packedin the same density. Preliminarystudy of the pottery from the foundationof the N wall of the rectangle gives the fifth century B.C. as the latest date, but pottery-admittedly a single thus far diagnosed sherd among several-from the foundationof the E wall gives a latest date of the fourth.9The large ashlar blocks of the exterior walls of the Oikos may then have been put in place no earlier than the fourth century B.C. The circular wall within the rectangle rests on a pebble foundationwhich sealed a soil stratum yielding material dating at the latest to the sixth century; the latest datable material within the pebble foundation is fifth century. A strict interpretation would then-if we are persuadedby the evidenceof the lone sherd-suggest that the circular wall preceded the rectangle. However, at the N the circular wall above floor level is thin, hardly able to sustain additionalcourses of masonry and evidently requiring buttressing; the moreover,the rectangleis cut into to accommodate circle. A strict interpretationof the ceramicevidence may then be deceptive,and it seems possible that the with the circle. Potrectangleis in fact contemporary tery samples were small, and conclusive evidence bearingon this difficultpoint will be sought in future seasons. At a lower level within the Oikos we encountereda layer of concrete-like calcareous deposit which is found across the site at different levels; this crosta, which needs closer geological inspection, had apparently been cut through at some point in antiquity to form a channel, the purpose of which is still unclear (ill. 3, Square 7.7). Possible interpretationsinclude a bedding trench for foundation blocks of an early structure,or a conduitfor the passage of water.
THE RECTANGULAR HALL (pl. 34,

and a number of blocks of the W. Although the groundlevel in antiquityis now lost, and no threshold blocks are preserved,it seems that entranceprobably was from the W, i.e., from the directionof the Oikos. The S wall, as preserved,yields no evidenceof doorways and is provided with a bench(?) along the greater part of its length. A number of euthynteria blocks indicateswhere floor levels were, but it seems that these floor levels were cut throughand destroyed by Sestieri's excavation. The S wall of the building was frontedby a colonnade,the stylobateof which is preserved along with one monolithic limestone column and capital of the Doric order,the deterioration of which must be due to moisture in the earth (ill. 2; pl. 34, fig. 5). This column and capital evidently formed part of the colonnade at the front of the building, aligned with the facade of the Oikos. Other column drums of sandstonefound nearby must have belonged to another structural phase or building. South of the colonnadeis a drain (ill. 3); preservedin situ is the westernmostblock, which gives the length of the building (ca. 24.00 m.). The drain was apparently fed by rainwaterfromthe guttersof the adjacent portico, and drained from both E and W into a cistern, whose preservedhead is clearlya Romanversion of an earlier feature with the same function (ill. 3, Squares 11-12.5). Room A (ill. 2) Along the interior of the S wall of the Hall, a second wall(?) of limestone blocks with a core of earth and rubble boundwith a chalkymortarwas installed. This feature has yet to be explored fully, but it may simply have formedthe footing of a bench facing into and across Room A. The next E-W wall to the N of the S wall of Room A has been mostly robbedout; its foundationswere, however, apparent in Square 11.7 (ill. 3; pl. 34, fig. 6). Since the space between these walls is considerable(ca. 8 m.), we suggest that this Room A was hypaethralt0; thus, the unusual nichesto E would have facedonto an open space.

fig. 4)

GeneralDescription The large rectangularbuilding E of the Oikos, and joined to it by the linking wall mentionedabove, pre- Room B servesthe lowest courseof masonry-with occasional Investigation(ill. 3, Square 12.8) of the two easterblocksof the secondcourse-of the N, S and E walls ly niches (pl. 34, fig. 7) of the three built against the
9 Fourth century:kantharoshandle, P82 P115, Locus no. 8815. Other potteryfrom this locus included22 sherds of coarse ware, 5 of blackglazed wares, 10 of painted wares and 1 of red ware; there was also one lamp fragment.The kantharoshandle appears to be the latest datable piece, although the red ware sherd (intrusive?)

presentsan obviousdifficulty. 10For another hypaethralhall in curiousarchitecturaland cultic context,perhapslinked with ours by religiousfunction,see M. Cebeillac, "Octavia,epousede Gamala, et la Bona Dea,"MelRome 85 (1973) 517-53, esp. 550.

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WERNERJOHANNOWSKY, JOHN GRIFFITHSPEDLEYAND MARIOTORELLI

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Xi '1-

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(wTEL1O DI COLONNAAt, Mlfy&EO Dti PAe.T-tM

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4. PaestumMuseum,Dori 111. .c capitalfrom previous excavations A column drum sults.11 N wall yielded surprising res is installedat the centerof each niche; all are similar in diameter and condition, and are clearly reused ;oil beneath the column from another building. The s drums was much disturbed, and since it is possible that the drums were moved by earlier excavators, materialfromthis layer is useless for ascertainingthe date of the architecturalphase represented by the drumsand niches (which-to judge from the fact that the former are concentricw ith the latter must be contemporary). wall forming :urvilinear The limestoneand rubblec the niches is built against th ie N ashlar wall of the Hall and againstthe N-S walIs (one to the W and one to the E) of limestonefieldsto ines (ill. 3, Squares 11.8 vall appears to rest on a and 13.8). This curvilinearM layer of rubble which existed under the whole room; becausethis rubble stratumseems to run beneaththe )rovide a terminus post curvilinear wall, it should F ice, however,no trace of quem for its construction.Sin nd anywhere, and since floors of any period was foul the rubble stratumappearedimmediatelybelow top:rthis stratumshould be soil, it is questionablewhethe 'om the rubble stratum consideredsealed. Pottery fr was mostlyarchaicand classi( cal,but the latest datable sherdswere two fragmentsof'Arretineware. s the E limit of the comThe N-S wall which form, and againstwhich the curviplex (ill. 3, Square 13.8),
1 The following commentsdraw on the report of Area Supervisor Monica Barran. 12 Archaic pottery:two joining fragmentsof an Attic black figure

linear wall of the easternmostniche abuts, does not cut through the rubble stratum (althoughthe rubble was foundboth to E and W of it); evidentlythe rubble was laid against either side of the wall which itself displays Roman characteristics-it is made of limestone fieldstonessmoothlydressedto formrectangular blocks of uniform size (ca. 0.22-0.28 x 0.04-0.055 m.), and it employs mortar. It seems, then, that the rubble stratumwas a foundationfill depositedat the time of the Roman amplificationof the site, and is to be interpretedas contemporaneous with the framing N-S walls, with the curvilinearwall and with the column drums. Beneaththe rubble,the soil stratummay definitely be considered sealed;it is distinguished by large quantities of archaicpottery(pl. 34, fig. 8).'2 This soil stratum sits on the limestonecalcareousdepositwhich appears frequentlythroughoutthe site, as, for example, at a lower level within the Oikos. Stratigraphically, then, the sequencehere is: topsoil,foundationstratum of rubble,sealed soil stratum,limestonedeposit. The foundationof the E-W intermediatewall recoveredin Square 11.7 providesa southernboundary for Room B. Sincethe wall itself has been for the most part robbedout, we are below the level of the threshold, so that the means of accessto the three niches remains uncertain.Yet.the constructionof the foundation is similar to that of the foundationsof the E and W walls of Room B: we concludethat all three features are contemporary. South of this wall, in Room A, the limestonecalcareousdepositwas again encountered;in this area, however,an irregularchannel (pl. 35, fig. 9; ill. 3, Square 11.7) appeared, varying in width from 0.80 to 1.10 m. and veering southward. Since the outline is so irregular,this feature may not be man-made.It does, however,have a possiblecounterpart in the cutting in the calcareousdepositfound in the Oikos (Square7.7). Date of the North Wall of the RectangularHall Trencheswere dug againstthe N wall of the building both inside and outside (Squares 12.9; 13.8), to find the bedding trench for the wall; the bedding trenchhad cut throughthe calcareousdeposit(pl. 35, fig. 10) and had been filled with fist-sized limestone fieldstones in a bedding of hard-packedearth. The
eye cup, P82 P1; two joining fragmentsof ray-basedskyphos,P82 P12; Attic black figurebody sherdwith chariotscene, P82 P3.

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latest datable pottery recovered from this bedding trenchwas of the fifth centuryB.C., which may therefore serveas a terminuspost quem for the construction of the ashlar wall. Both in measurementsand modeof constructionthis wall appears uniform all along the northernboundary,and evidently representsa single architecturalphase.
Portico

yielded latest datable material of the sixth century, while the latest datablematerialfrom inside the drain gave a date of fourth/third century B.C., a terminus ante quem for the use of the drain.15
SQUARES LOCATED OUTSIDE THE SANCTUARY WALLS

Explorationof the stratarunning up to the foundations of the stylobateof the colonnadealong the S side of the Hall (pl. 35, fig. 11) and its associateddrain and cistern has yielded the following tentative sequence (ill. 3, Squares 11.5; 12.5).13The latest datable material from associatedstrata suggests that the stylobate blocks and those forming the open drain were put in place sometime during or after the fourth/third century B.C.'4 Although no evidencesecurely places the catchbasin which interrupts the drainin this chronological phase, no stratigraphicevidence argues for a later date, and it is probablethat a catchbasinwas associatedwith the drain when first built. The bottom of the extant basin is formedfrom the upper part of a Doric capital (pl. 35, fig. 12), the profile of which seems late archaic in date, and which-although badly damaged and only partially visible-compares well with the profile of the Doric capital foundon this site long ago and now in the Paestum Museum (ill. 4). Subsequently,the cisternbeneaththe stylobate,fed from the catchbasin, was elaborated by adding the cover blocks now visible, and a lead pipe linked the catchbasin and cistern (pl. 35, fig. 14); these cover blocksevidentlydemandedsome trimmingof adjacent stylobateblocks,as the spacersused to plug the resulting gaps sugges.. Together with the lead pipe, this trimmingsuggests Roman workmanship. At a lower level a covereddrain running N-S was encountered(pl. 35, fig. 13); it seems to head in the directionof the cistern,but its passage was effectively blockedby the catchbasinof the open drain complex. Soil strata into which this covereddrain was inserted
13 Remarksare drawn from the reportof Area SupervisorJames Higginbotham. 14 Fourth/third century: body fragment of lamp, Howland Type 25. 15Fourth/third century:lamp fragment,Howland Type 25B. 16 On Roman fish-farming,see J. Kolendo, "Parcsa huitres et viviers a Baiae sur un flacon en verre du Mus6e National de Var-

To the S of the Rectangular Hall, Square 11.3 (subsequentlyexpanded to N and E) was opened in line with the covered drain. Here three sides of a piscina were uncovered(pl. 36, fig. 15); the walls, as far as investigated,consistof verticalrectangularslabs backed by earth and stones topped by horizontally laid slabs which cover the earth and stone backing. The featureas a whole is characterized by dilapidated and crumbling masonry caused by contact with calcium-rich water; it came as no surprise to learn that the spring which feeds the stream flowing a few meters N of the site was highly calcic. Several details are significant.About 0.44 m. from the bottom of the pool and ca. 1.20 m. from the S baulk of the square, both E and W walls are pierced by holes plugged by amphorae(pl. 36, fig. 16). A Vshaped water chute atop the N wall providedaccess for water into the pool. A circular cistern or holding tank appeared at a higher level. The amphorae,the necks of which are built into the walls of the pool, with the bodiesand bases protrudingoutside, are features typical of Roman fish farming establishments, and were evidentlyused by fish or eels as secureplaces for laying eggs:obviouslywe have such an installation in close proximityto the sanctuary.'6 Three phases of activity may be discerned,which carry the history of the site down into the Mediaeval period.The earliestphase, fourth/third centuryB.C., is representednot by any architectural feature,but by soil strata which were cut into by the Romans to accommodate the pool and its paraphernalia.In the second period, two phases are identified'7;first, the one in which the piscina was constructed and in which the soil strata have yielded latest datable material of the
sovie,"Puteoli 1 (1977) 108-27, especiallyn. 16; W.F. Jashemski, The Gardens of Pompeii (New York 1979) 109, fig. 178, n. 94 (these referencesare owed to Steve Ostrow). The literary sources are liberal in the evidencethey provide:Pliny, NH 9.78-81; Cicero,
Columella, De re

ad Att. 2.1.7; Varro, De re rustica 3.17.3-9; rustica 8.17.1-16.

17Accordingto the excavator,James Higginbotham.

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first/second century A.C.18The excavatorplaces all position,and it is probablethat continuedexcavation will yield similar dates for the other exterior walls. the walls of the piscinaand the water chute atop the N wall in this phase. A second Roman phase is charac- Only the shell of the building now remains, and we terized by the plugging of the amphorae, suggesting have as yet no clue to the interior arrangement. that the piscina was no longer used for eel or fish Alternatively,the N wall of the Hall couldbe part of the temenos wall which would also incorporatethe farming, and by earth strata in which the latest datN wall of the Oikos. able materialis third/fourth centuryA.C.19The third is Fourth in area evidenced and latest period represented this CenturyB.C. The Oikos was built either now in fifth century,and was joined to the Rectanor the or tank hewn circular cistern holding by the roughly Hall N of a level to the the built at gular by at least one (probably two: see high (pl. 36, fig. 17) Sestieri's associated with this the latest datable material photograph21) linking wall. The S facade pool; of the RectangularHall was amplifiedwith a portifeatureis Mediaeval. co, drain and cistern, and aligned with the facade, Another square was opened directlyin front of the probablytetrastyleprostyle,of the Oikos to the W. Oikos (Square 7.4); here we came upon an explora- First Century B.C.-First Century A.C. The interior of the RectangularHall was repairedand provided torytrenchperhapsdug by Napoli in 1974, and therewith new interior walls and foundationsfor pavefore we stoppedat once. Immediatelyto the W, howments now lost. It was embellished with a bench of two blocks a corner foundation ashlar ever, forming a sizable structurewere encounteredand may repay along the S wall and with five niches set against the N and E walls, each of which was adornedwith a furtherinvestigation.To the N, Square 12.10 was uncentral Doric column drum. To judge from a better furrows of modern productive, yielding only deep the calcaabove preservedexample at the extreme W of our site (ill. plowing immediately widespread reous deposit. Similar features appeared in Square 3, Square 3.8) where the opus signinum floor is intact, these niches were water-proofed and served 12.9, which did, however,serve the useful purposeof trench for the N wall the some cultic purpose (pl. 36, fig. 18). the of uncovering bedding Hall. Second Rectangular CenturyA.C. The pool for fish or eel farming was installed directly in front of the Rectangular PROVISIONAL SUMMARY OF ARCHITECTURAL Hall.
PHASING

The following tentative chronologicalframework may then be proposed: Sixth Century B.C. The Doric capital found on the site some years ago (ill. 4), the similar capital found in 1982 which was reused as the bottomof a catchbasin, and the metope of Europa and the Bull, now in the Naples Museum but also from this site,20argue for the presence somewhere on the site in the sixth centuryof a Doric temple or treasuryelaborated with the usual order and with sculptured stone metopes. No foundations, wall blocks or column drumsof this building have yet been identified. Fifth CenturyB.C. The lowest course of blocks of at least the N wall of the RectangularHall was put in
18 First/second century:lamp handle BroneerType 21; red ware plate, P82 P114. '9 Third/fourth century:fragmentsof Hayes Form 197. 20 P. Zancani-Montuoro and U. Zanotti-Bianco, Heraion 1 (Rome 1951) 133-35, fig. 39; H. Kahler, Das griechische Metopenbild (Munich 1949) 58, 104, pl. 52. 21 Sestieri (supra n. 1). The secondwall is shown in our ill. 2 (not

POTTERY

AND SMALL FINDS22

The potteryretrievedrangesfromthe sixth century B.C. to the Medieval period. Of painted wares, fragments of importedCorinthianand Attic black figure were recoveredfrom the lowest levels, while deposits of mixed fill throughoutthe site yielded Corinthian, Attic black figure and red figure and East Greek imports alongside locally producedimitations of Corinthian and of Ionic cups (pl. 37, fig. 19). Shapes represented include the amphora,aryballos,kylix and skyphos. Among black glazed wares, Attic pottery was comparativelyscarce, as was (locally made ?) Gnathian, but black glaze of local manufacturewas common, as was an iridescent metallic variant dubbed
in ill. 3) linking the NE cornerof the Oikos to the NW cornerof the Rectangular Hall. Sestieri's photographpublished in 1953 shows this ashlar wall distinctly, yet no blocks were found in position there when the site was cleared in September 1981. We can only surmisethat local activityhas removedthem. 22 The following commentsdraw on the report of the Registrar, Mary Ann Eaverly.

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"metallizzata." The local wares are in great need of In investigation. black glaze, cups, krateriskoi and skyphoi were among the shapes represented.Among red wares, there were Italian sigillata, imitationsigillata, Hellenistic red ware (Eastern Sigillata A) and Late Roman red ware, with cups, krateriskoi and plates predominantamong shapes. Of coarse wares, shapes representedby sherds recoveredinclude amphorae, casseroles,skyphoiand unguentaria. Ninety-three complete pyramidalterracottaloomweights and fragmentsof a further 7 were retrieved, as well as a single lead pyramidal weight; two discoidal weights were also found (pl. 37, fig. 20). The pyramidalweights range from 50 to 310 g.-the lead versionis 450 g.-and were evidentlya cheap dedication acceptableto the divinity. Of the 93, no less than 47 were found in one square (9.8) N of the linking wall; such a quantity of weights in such a concentration might suggest weaving activity. However, these weights were not found on a floor level or systematically arranged;and the room seems perhaps too small (ca. 7.00 x 2.50 m.) to accommodateweaving

remaineda potent force into the Roman period, and in terms of the continuityof religious use of the site, the evidence of the terracottasruns pari passu with that of the architecture.What the statistics from the 1982 season reflectis that earlierexcavationsstripped off the surfacesand floors (and most of the materials) of the Hellenistic and Roman phases. Pride of place in aestheticterms may perhapsgo to two other dedications-a small alabastronof alabaster datable to the fifth century B.C. (pl. 37, fig. 26), and an amber pendant (pl. 37, fig. 25).26These two votives were found close togetherin the SE quadrant of Square 8.8, S of the linking wall and outside the wall of the Oikos; they representdedicationsof considerablevalue and suggest that our divinity was patronizedby the rich as well as by the dedicatorsof the loomweights. A number of fragmentsof architecturalterracottas came to light, one of which, although found immediately outside the wall of the Oikos, cannot have belonged to a fifth or fourth centurybuilding:a piece of a horizontalsima, paintedplaster over terracotta,it is apparatus.23 comparableto the sima of the treasuryS of the temple More ambitious dedicationswere terracottastatu- of Athena within the city walls, dated to 580 B.C. ettes of which fragmentsof 92 were found. Most rep- Eighteen bronzecoins were found, of which seven are resentfemale figures,althoughfour males were found legible: five are Roman of the third century, and two (pl. 37, figs. 21, 22). Of the 63 which are datable, no are Greek. Since none was stratified,they tell us very less than 38 may be assignedto the sixth centuryB.C. little. The two Greek coins were found in Square 7.7; or earlier, and four more seem no later than the fifth of the 5 Roman, 4 were found in Squares 7.7, 8.8, century (pl. 37, figs. 23, 24).24The predominanceof 12.5, and 12.8 (one each) and one was a surfacefind. archaic and classical figurines might suggest that the THE CULT divinity worshippedin the sanctuaryhad greaterapfor the for Greeks than the and Lucanians RoThe identification of the divinity worshipped at peal mans; however, the terracottasfrom the earlier exca- Santa Venera is given by a fragmentaryLatin inscripvationsyield the followingpreliminarystatistics:sixth tion written on a marbleplaque and foundin previous century B.C., 51; fifth century, 45; fifth/fourth cen- excavations between 1953 and 1957.27 The text retury, 202-252 (approximately: figuresestimatedfrom cordsa generalrestorationof the shrineat the expense fourth fragments); century, 99; fourth century and of a priestess, Valeria (?) Sabina, first (?) wife of C. no less than 623.25 Thus, the divinity Cocceius Flaccus, a Paestan senator and contempoHellenistic,
century in the Vallo di Diano and in the valley of the river Tanagro, especially in grave groups of the necropoleisof Atena Lucana and Buccino.From the beginningof the fifth centurywe find there figuredamberbeads also, which at the end of the centuryare fairly well attested in Poseidonia. (Cf. Angelo Greco-Pontrandolfoin DialArch 1.2 [1980] 35.) These beads, as well as the older examples, were most likely workedin areas closeto Campaniabut on the Adriaticside of the peninsula. 27M. Mello and G. Voza, Le iscrizioni latine di Paestum 1 (Naples 1968-69), 232-33, no. 158. M. Torelli is preparinga note on the small groupof Latin inscriptionsfrom SantaVenera,to be published in ParPass.

23 This would be true if looms were of a size comparableto that illustratedon the Attic black figure lekythosby the Amasis Painter: Beazley, ABV 154.57. 24 Every square with the exception of Squares 7.4 and 12.10 yieldedat least one example of a sixth or fifth centuryB.C. figurine fragment; Squares 11.7 and 9.8 provided the largest number, 5 each. No example of a fragmentof a Hellenistic figurine was retrieved from the Rectangular Hall (again probably reflecting Sestieri's enthusiasm) while the largest number (6) of examples of these types came from Square 7.7. 25 Numbers taken from RebeccaMiller's report. 26 Amber is widely distributedfrom the first decadesof the sixth

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rary of Caesar.28"...[aedem Bonae] Deae a solo fa[bricandam,]opere tector[io expoliendam,] sedes et pavim[enta omnia sua] pequnia fac[ienda] [curavit] eademque p[robavit]."It is hardly necessary to emphasize the exceptionalinterest of the Paestan shrine for the history of the mysteriousRoman cult of Bona Dea.29 Beyond several inscriptions from various towns of the western part of the Roman Empire, our knowledge of specific sanctuaries is limited to two shrines at Ostia, and one each at Monfalcone near Aquileia, at Tergeste and at Glanum.30The inscriptional and monumentalevidencefrom Paestum helps to clarify various features of the sanctuariesalready known, as for instancethe presenceof sedes, seats, in the shrines. But the new Paestan building is even more importantin disclosingthe possibleorigin of the Roman cult. It is well known that the incredibiliscaerimonia,3' the secretsacrificeperformedby women in temples and private houses, was called damium, that the priestess was called damiatrix, and the goddess herself Damia.32The name of the goddessis identical to that of a divinity venerated in Troizen and in nearby states, e.g., Epidauros and Aigina, as well as in Sparta and Thera, together with another goddess named Auxesia, in what was patently a local variant of the more widespreadcult of Demeter and Kore.33 Since we know that Sybaris,the mother-cityof Poseidonia, was an Achaian foundationwhich included a contingent from Troizen, and that the Troizenians expelled from Sybaris (very likely at the end of the seventh century B.C.) are believed to have been the foundersof Poseidonia,34 it is not surprisingthat such a cult is found in Poseidonia-Paestum.From this new Paestan evidence, it is easy to conjecturethat Rome must have received the Damia-Bona Dea cult from Sybarisor Poseidoniaduring the cosmopolitanfervor
28A reconstruction of the careerand family of C. Cocceius Flaccuslis to be found in M. Torelli, "C. Cocceius Flaccus senatore di Paestum, Mineia M.f. e Mens Bona," Annali della Facolta di Lettere e Filosofia di Perugia-Studi Classici 18 (1980-81), forthcoming. 29Epigraphically,the only restorationother than Bonae allowed by the inscriptionwould be Syriae. However, except on rare occasions, inscriptionsinvokingthe Syrian goddesswrite her name Dea Syria-the words in that order-not Syria Dea. Moreover,the inand stylisticallyof the first century scriptionis prosopographically B.C., while the cult of the Dea Syria seems not to be attestedas a widespreadphenomenonuntil the first or secondcenturyA.C. For a general summary of the literary evidence on Bona Dea, see K. Latte, R6mischeReligionsgeschichte (Munich 1960) 228-31. 30 All evidenceis collectedby Ceepigraphicaland archaeological beillac (supra n. 10). 31 Cic. Har. resp. 17.37.

of the archaicage, possiblyin the sixth century,when so many Greek cults found wide acceptanceamong the various social levels of that growing society.35 Moreover,the Paestan shrine could also help identify a puzzling building on the Greek mainland, at Olympia, where the earliest German excavations broughtto light, immediatelyoutsidethe precinctwall of the Altis and close to the Leonidaion,a fifth century building analogousto the Damia-Bona Dea shrine at Paestum-an oikos enclosing a circle and a lateral This Olympicbuildinghas quadrangularstructure.36 been variously interpreted,first as a part of the early bathing complex nearby; subsequently,since several fragmentsof inscribedaltars of Hellenistic and Imperial times mentioningan anonymoushero were found in the interiorof the oikos,the buildingwas thoughtto be a heroon. Such identificationsare clearly unsatismakesno factory;Pausanias'descriptionof the area37 mentionof a heroonbut doesmention,as beingcloseto the Leonidaion, two places of cult, one to Aphrodite and the Horai with an opisthodomos dedicatedto the Nymphs, and anotherto the Despoinai, i.e., Demeter and Kore in their Western Peloponnesian (i.e., Achaian and Arkadian) versions. The hieron of the Despoinai seems to be the best possible candidatefor the identification of the so-called"heroon," into which the Eleans could have inserted a later cult of the unnamedhero, in a religious conflationnot unknown in the Greekworld. The cult of Damia appears to have flourished in Poseidonia soon after the foundationof the town; it survived the Lucanian occupationto be accepted in the third centuryby the Latin colonistsin the Roman version of Bona Dea. Its popularity in the Republican period is emphasized by anatomical ex-votos (mostly found in Sestieri'sexcavations),the only ones
32 Fest. Paul., p. 178 L: "Damium sacrificiumquod in operto in honoremBonae Deae fiebat.. .dea quoque ipsa Damia et sacerdos eius damiatrix."Still unexplained is the other name of Bona Dea handed down to us by Arnobius (1.26), Fenta (or Fenteia, mss.), often correctedinto Fauna: see G. Radke, Die Gctter Altitaliens (Munster 1965) 123. 33 See RE IV 2, col. 2054, s.v. Damia (O. Kern);cf. also RE II 2, col. 2616 s.v. Auxesia (F. Diimmler). 34 See J. Berard,La colonisation grecque de l'Italie meridionale (Italian translation,Turin 1963) 208. 35For the receptionof Greek cults in Italy and in Rome in the seventh-sixthcenturies,see M. Torelli, "Il santuariogrecodi Gravisca,"ParPass 32 (1977) 398-458. 36 The latest publication is by A. Mallwitz, Olympia und seine Bauten (Darmstadt 1972) 266-69; see also A. Schwartzstein,Eine Gebiudegruppein Olympia (Strassburg1909). 37Paus. 5.15.2-4.

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we happen to know from Paestum, which are typical features of Latin devotion.38 The extensive restoration of the temple in the late first centuryB.C., undertaken by priestessesof one of the most distinguished Paestan families, was intended to revive an old and prestigiouscult of Paestum, from which the same cult at Rome may have derivedor couldbe thoughtto have derived-a piece of municipalpropagandanot unique in the antiquarianatmosphereof the age.39 We do not yet know how successfulthe initiativeof the local aristocrats was in re-establishing the old ceremonies. It is certain that less than one century after this pious reconstruction,the depopulation of Paestumwas so extensivethat it promptedthe Emperor Vespasian to give land to new colonists,veterans of the fleet, normally recruited among Easterners.40 This new population may explain the addition, in frontof the shrine,of a substantialpond for fish-farming, since fish played an importantrole in the cult of Dea Syria, widely popular among Easterners.41 Dea Syria, as Lucian informs us, was identifiedwith various great goddesses of the Greek pantheon, from Hera to Aphroditeand Artemis, while we also know

of epitheta of Oriental flavor given to Bona Dea, such as Caelestis.42 In this connection, we may recall that in the Apulian port-town of Egnatia, in the second century A.C., a sanctuary was dedicated to Dea Syria43 which included an oikos, a portico and a stagnum, obviously for fish-farming. With reference to this development, however, it is wiser to await further evidence about the whole area of the sanctuary both in earlier and later times, but especially in the latest stages of its life, when the site acquired its present, undoubtedly significant name of Santa Venera.
SOPRINTENDENZA ANTICHITA E BELLE ARTI 24 VIA SANTI MARTIRI SALERNITANI SALERNO, ITALY KELSEY MUSEUM THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48I09 INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF PERUGIA PERUGIA o6I00, ITALY

38On the strong relationship between this type of offering and Romano-Latincolonization,see A.M. Comella, "Tipologiae diffusione dei complessivotivi in Italia in epoca medio- e tardo-repubblicana,"MelRome 93 (1981) 717-803. 39 On this phenomenon, see M. Torelli, Elogia Tarquiniensia (Florence1975). 40Mello and Voza (supra n. 27). 41 Roman cult described by Latte (supra n. 29) 345-48. The fish-

cult is fully describedin Lucian, De dea Syria, 14.54. 42 Bona Dea Caelestis: CIL X, 4849 (Venafrum).
43 A.M. Chieco Bianchi Martini, "Santuari di Magna Grecia," Atti del Quarto Convegno di Studi sulla Magna Grecia (Naples 1965) 227-31; the stagnum is the wide elliptical construction (until now misinterpreted as an amphitheater or a tholos) in front of the shrine of Dea Syria.

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FIG. i. Paestum 1982, Oikos Temple from S

FIG. 2. Paestum

1982,

foundations of circular wall, from N

FIG. 3. Paestum 1982, Oikos Temple from W showing violation of N wall; note paving slab in situ

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FIG. 4. Paestum I982, rectangular hall, from SW

FIG. 5. Paestum 1982, water-affected column and capital

FIG. 6. Paestum 1982, foundations of E-W wall in Square 11.7

FIG. 7. Paestum 1982, two niches against N wall of rectangular hall, from S

FIG. 8. Paestum 1982, archaic pottery from lowermost stratum

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FIG. 9. Paestum 1982, channel in calcareous limestone, from E

FIG. Io. Paestum I982, bedding trench of N wall of rectangular hall from S

FIG. I i. Paestum 1982, strata adjacent to foundations of stylobate of colonnade, from S

FIG. 12. Paestum 1982, Doric capital used as base of catchbasin, from S

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Paestum I982, piscina, from S

FIG. i6. Paestum 1982, amphorainsertedin wall of piscina

FIG. 17. Paestum I982, holding tank to N of piscina

FIG. i8. Paestum I982, hemisphericalniche, column drum a

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Paestum 1982, painted wares

FIG. 20. Paestum

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1982, discoidal loomweight

FIG. 2 i. Paestum 1982, male terracotta figurine

FIG. 23. Paestum 1982, head of female terracotta figurine

FIG. 22. Paestum 1982, male terracotta figurine