The rich votive deposit of dozens of statuettes, various fragments, and human bones has been unearthed in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Sicily. Archaeologists believe that the deposit dates back to the early 4th century BC, when the city was trying to recover after the Carthaginian attack.
Founded as a Greek colony, Akragas, Agrigentum was defeated by the forces of the Carthaginian general Himilco in 406 BC. The inhabitants of Agrigentum fled to nearby Gela when Himilco plundered their city, but he later captured Gela as well. All Greek colonies in Sicily fell before Himilco and became vassals of Carthage. However, Punic supremacy would not last long. Timoleon of Corinth defeated Carthage in Sicily and liberated the Greek cities in 399 BC.
The votive deposit was discovered during excavations on the northern ridge of the Doric temple of Juno from the 5th century BC, in a room in the western part of the ancient residential complex called House VIIb. The deposit was buried just above the destruction level of the house from 406 BC. The positioning seems deliberate and probably had ritual significance or symbolism.
There are at least 60 items in the deposit, including terracotta figurines of deities, female busts, protomes (decorative reliefs from buildings), olive lamps, small vases, and fragments of bronze artifacts. They were mixed with a large number of bones and buried in one room of the complex. Archaeologists believe that the deposit was made after the Acrogantines returned to the city.
They collected artifacts and human remains left in fragments after the Carthaginian destruction and buried them all together in this room, perhaps because it had previously been dedicated to a certain cultic purpose before the conquest.
Archaeologists will continue to investigate the site, focusing on the complex stratigraphy that connects the deposition with the living layers and the abandonment layers of the house. The recovered artifacts will be conserved and stabilized for potential exhibition.
