Publication details
Modica RG. Notizie preliminari sugli scavi della catacomba di C.da Scorrione
| Title in English | Modica RG. Preliminary news on the excavations of the C.da Scorrione catacomb |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | HYBLAEA I - Studi di archeologia e topografia dell’altopiano ibleo |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/download/9781803273143 |
| Keywords | late antiquity; Modica; settlement; hypogea; ancient viability; canyons |
| Description | Systematic surveys carried out in the southernmost part of the Iblei plateau during the last two decades have brought forward consistent evidence on a tight network of Late Antique cemeteries located between the Irminio and Tellaro valleys. This research plan is currently entering its second stage, aiming at systematic investigations, whenever possible, on particularly relevant sites by means of a cooperation agreement with the University of Hradec Králove (Czech Republic). That is the case of the archaeological excavations at Scorrione, in Modica territory. The site is located next to the road connecting the Modica plateau with the coastline; judging from the abundant funerary sites connected to it, this communication axis was intensively used during Antiquity. The cemetery of Scorrione is formed by two funerary clusters; the southernmost one is formed by at least four visible hypogea. The investigations at the site have been focused both inside and outside hypogeum D, a trapezoid funerary chamber with a central baldachin which, before the start of the excavations, was filled with detritus almost up to its sealing. The stratigraphic excavations have freed the whole of the chamber’s inner spaces, down to its trampling surface. Besides unveiling the whole of the baldachin and its access structures, the removal of the superficial layers has revealed a number of relevant finds in terms of both inhumations with grave goods and of significant architectural features. |