Kolophon et Polieion. À propos de quelques objets métalliques archaïques de Policoro

Abstract

The paper analyses metal objects of the 7th century found in southern Italy and Ionia, emphasizing the presence of Ionian
imports and imitations in Policoro and its hinterland from around the middle of the 7th century BC. Special attention is
paid to the so-called “fishing and hunting votive deposit” on the Castello hill. The data support the hypothesis according
to which settlers from Colophon arrived around 660/50 BC in Policoro, where they instigated the transformation of an
already existing settlement into an Ionian “colony”. The author underlines that the mud brick fortification on the Castello
hill at Policoro has close parallels in Ionian cities. This holds not only for the construction technique itself, but also for
the spatial organisation of the settlement as a whole. According to the author, the arrival of the Ionian settlers provoked
a division of the community into an aristocratic, Ionian elite living on the fortified Castello hill (= Polieion) and a
“mixed” population living outside the walls (= Siris, a name referring probably to a larger area).