9.5.2022 at 17.15 (UTC+2)
U4075 (Unioninkatu 34, 4th floor, older side of the Main Building)
Online:
https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/69211273459?pwd=Vk5JaXRiVWxPa05mQ2IxWFZhYi9HZz09
Meeting ID: 692 1127 3459
Passcode: 842572
Kristian Göransson (University of Gothenburg): Francavilla di Sicilia: a Greek settlement in northeastern Sicily
In this lecture I will present preliminary results of three seasons of excavations at Francavilla di Sicilia undertaken between 2016 and 2018 by the Swedish Institute in Rome in collaboration with the Parco Archeologico di Naxos Taormina and the Comune di Francavilla di Sicilia. Francavilla di Sicilia is situated in the Alcantara Valley, north of Mount Etna, about 20 km inland from Naxos and the Ionian Sea. The excavations help to shed light on the relatively little-studied hinterland of Naxos, the first Greek colony in Sicily, and contribute to the scholarly discussion of the interior of northeastern Sicily in antiquity. Archaeological remains such as foundation walls of buildings, terracotta roofs and large quantities of Greek pottery have been unearthed at Francavilla and these results point to an identification of the excavated site with a Greek settlement dating to the Classical period. The relationship of this ancient settlement to both the coastal city of Naxos and other known ancient sites in the interior is discussed along with the question of whether Francavilla could be the site of the ancient town of Kallipolis, known from the sources but never located.
Kristian Göransson holds a PhD in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History from Lund University. Since 2019 he is Senior Lecturer in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at the Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg. He was previously Director of the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome (2013-21019) and before that Curator of the Greek and Roman collections at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet) in Stockholm (2007-2013). Among his research interests are the Greeks overseas, particularly the Greeks in Sicily and in Libya, with a strong focus on pottery studies and ancient maritime trade. He currently runs a project financed by the Swedish research foundation Riksbankens Jubileumsfond on the Greeks in Cyrenaica and their interactions with the Libyans. In 2016 he initiated the Swedish excavations at Francavilla di Sicilia.