From an archaeological point of view, the recognition between religious and gaming activities is very uneasy. This is true also for the so-called Minoan pierres à cupules (or Minoan kernoi or “stone slabs with depressions”) whose most impressive specimen is surely the well known table à offrandes found in the Minoan palace at Mallia. After the most recent works on the subject (by H. Whittaker and N. Hillbom), the interpretation of the pierres à cupules as game board is now prevailing; (...) however, their possible religious function can not be disregarded. The paper aims to check the methodological problems involved in the study of these pierres, starting from the available archaeological evidence. (shrink)

Cento anni dopo il volume di E. Ciaceri, Culti e miti nella storia dell’antica Sicilia (Catania, 1911), l’opera di Roberta Rizzo si presenta come un utile strumento di studio per chi voglia conoscere il versante siciliano della mitologia antica. Più di trecento lemmi, disposti in ordine alfabetico e divisi in capitoli per ciascuna lettera dell’alfabeto, trattano di divinità ed eroi che in qualche modo — più o meno direttamente — sono connessi alla mitologia ed ai culti documentati nella grand...

A study of the sanctuaries in ancient Sicily cannot ignore the knowledge of Akragas, whose extraordinary Valley of the temples is one of the most evocative archaeological sites in the Greek world. The evidence offered by some sanctuaries of this important polis is analyzed in this volume, which collects the contributions presented in a conference held in 2016 as the result of a synergy between the Universities of Palermo and Augsburg. As rightly pointed out in the Introduction by the curators...

01. Athènes, Attique, Mégaride (Despina Chatzivasiliou) Généralités 01.01 – Ces dernières années, nombreuses sont les études qui parcourent l’histoire d’Athènes et de l’Attique, proposent de nouvelles interprétations des trouvailles anciennes et remanient les théories existantes dans la bibliographie. Une attention particulière est portée à la géographie et à l’organisation topographique des espaces, et le besoin d’un éclaircissement dans la bibliographie en croissance constante est évident....