Into Bride Ritual as an Element of Urbanization:Iconographic Studies of Objects from the Timpone Della Motta, Francavilla Marittima

The excavation campaigns at Francavilla Marittima (1991-2004) by Groningen University revealed that a fifth building could be added to the four buildings/temples of the Athenaion on the Timpone della Motta, known since the 1960s. Or, to be exact, they revealed that a fifth complex could be added because the complicated stratigraphy shows that in the southwest corner of the Timpone's acropolis at least five successive buildings have been constructed in the same place. This study examines the bronze and terracotta figurines of hierogamy couples and/or their mortal substitutes associated with the apsidal building Vb (which was in existence during the first three quarters of the eighth century bc), ritual scenes on the painted lid of a monumental vase, associated with building Vc (in 730/720-650 bc), together with the terracotta plaques from the Vd phase (650-600 bc), which have all been interpreted as referring to marriage rituals and attesting to the importance of this originally native Oenotrian complex. The Levantine-Oenotrian roots of the hierogamy motif, which is repeated at S. Biagio and Metapontum, in combination with the fact that the first cult buildings at those sites were emblazoned with Francavilla Marittima motives shows not only that wedding rituals must have been an important element in the urbanization process but also that they contained old native Oenotrian elements.