The original plan of an archaic temple dedicated to the goddess Athena and containing numerous archaeological finds - including a helmet from afar - discovered after decades of investigation
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himStill new treasures emerge from the marvelous archaeological site of Paestum, a colony of Magna Graecia which every year attracts millions of visitors from all over the world. Archaeological excavations have just brought to light the remains of the ancient temple of the goddess Athena (dating back to the XNUMXth century BC), but also painted ceramics and two helmets - probably Etruscan, brought to the Greek colony after the battle of Alalia (in Corsica) .
Archaeologists have focused their efforts on the acropolis of the ancient colony of Hyele (Today Velia), founded around 540 BC by the Phoceans (merchants from Asia Minor). Thus emerged the plan of a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena whose existence was known from documentary sources but of which there were no empirical traces: according to the observations of the archaeologists, the temple had a rectangular shape (18 by 7 meters) and a beaten earth pavement.
Continuing excavations to unearth the temple's original flooring, the researchers recovered numerous objects that give a glimpse of the daily life of the temple - some decorations in baked clay, tiles that were part of the roof, vases, weapons consecrated to the goddess. Among the war objects, also a helmet of clear Etruscan origin: evidently it is an relic dating back to the battle of Alalia, from which the Focei returned defeated.
@ Paestum Museum
The purpose of the archaeological excavations - still far from conclusion - is twofold: on the one hand, there is the desire to understand what the initial organization of the Acropolis of Velia was, on the other hand the new findings will allow to solve chronological problems of the main sacred structures of the city. The presence of an archaic temple, prior to the main temple of the acropolis already unearthed, was already hypothesized in the 90s - but so far not enough elements had been found either to locate it or to imagine a plan.
The archaeological finds at the acropolis of Elea-Velia suggest a sacred destination of the structure - declares the Director General of the Museums and Director Avocante of the Archaeological Park of Paestum and Velia, Massimo Osanna. - In all likelihood, the relics offered to the goddess Athena after the battle of Alalia, the naval battle that saw the Greek refugees of Phocaea and a coalition of Carthaginians and Etruscans, between 541 and 535 BC about off the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Corsica and Sardinia.
The two helmets have yet to be cleaned in the laboratory and studied. A more careful analysis could reveal the presence of inscriptions - useful for reconstructing the origin of these objects and also perhaps the identity of their owners, who lived more than 2500 years ago. Meanwhile, new excavations are already planned within the archaeological area of the park, in search of new pieces to retrace the long history of the Greek colony.
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Source: Paestum Museum
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