Timpone della Motta

The Timpone della Motta is an archaeological site located on a hill 2 km southwest of Francavilla Marittima in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. Rising 280 meters above sea level, it overlooks the coastal plain of Sibari and the Gulf of Taranto. The site matters profoundly for the history of Greek colonization in Italy: its acropolis sanctuary produced the first known ancient Greek temples on the Italian Peninsula, marking a critical moment in the transmission of Greek religious architecture to non-Greek peoples and the subsequent development of Magna Graecia. The hill was inhabited from the Middle Bronze Age through the fourth century BC, spanning indigenous Oenotrian, colonial Greek, and finally Bruttian periods. Today it operates as an archaeological park, also referred to as the Parco archeologico didattico di Francavilla Marittima, the Parco archeologico Timpone Motta e Antiquarium, and Timpone Motta, Macchiabate.

Human presence at Timpone della Motta began in the Middle Bronze Age with a horseshoe-shaped hut on what later became the acropolis. During the Iron Age, in the ninth and eighth centuries BC, the hill hosted a substantial Oenotrian settlement. In the last quarter of the eighth century BC, long rectangular wooden temples dedicated to Athena replaced native apsidal dwellings on the acropolis; these represent the earliest known Greek temples on the Italian Peninsula, constructed with Greek designs but native techniques. The nearby Greek colony of Sybaris was founded around 720 BC, and scholars believe Oenotrians and Greeks cooperated in this religious construction. In the second half of the seventh century BC, the Sybarites took control of the sanctuary, demolishing the wooden temples and erecting mudbrick structures atop them. A major building program in the sixth century BC saw stone temples replace earlier constructions, while colonial houses spread across the plateaux. The site continued to import Attic pottery even after Sybaris fell in 510 BC. Abandonment came with the Bruttian conquest in the fourth century BC. Much later, a Byzantine chapel was built atop Temple V's foundations, though no settlement is attested for this period. The first excavation of the Macchiabate necropolis began in 1963 under Paola Zancani Montuoro. Illegal excavations plagued the southern slope and necropolis during the 1970s and 1980s, with looted artefacts entering private and museum collections internationally. Rescue work on the acropolis occurred in 1986-87, followed by systematic excavations and surveys from 1991 to 2008 conducted by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology. Excavations have continued since 2009.

The archaeological finds from Timpone della Motta are housed primarily at the Museo Nazionale Archeologico della Sibaritide. The collection encompasses material spanning from the Middle Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period, with particular concentrations from the eighth through fourth centuries BC. The assemblage includes architectural elements from successive temple phases, votive offerings, pottery, and bronze ex-votos. Notably, the site yielded thousands of hydriskai, small water vessels whose presence is significant because the hill lacks natural water sources, indicating they were carried up for ritual purposes. The collection also incorporates repatriated materials from illicit excavations that were recovered from the Getty Museum, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, and the University of Bern.

The most significant single find is a bronze tablet bearing a dedicatory inscription by Kleombrotos, son of Dexilaos, an Olympic champion who dedicated an aedicule to Athena in exchange for keeping the tenth part onboard of his winnings. This inscription provides direct epigraphic confirmation of the sanctuary's dedication to Athena. The votive deposit also included substantial quantities of pottery and bronze offerings. The textile production evidence is remarkable: more than 300 spindle whorls and numerous loom weights, including decorated examples from a large weaving installation, were recovered from the eighth-century BC apsidal building. These objects, combined with the altar remains containing unburnt animal bones and pottery fragments but no plant remains, support the interpretation of a cultic function for the building. The succession of temple architecture, from wooden post-hole structures to mudbrick to stone foundations of riverbed cobbles, constitutes a unique stratigraphic sequence documenting the evolution of Greek sacred architecture in Italy.

The hill itself is composed of Plio-Pleistocene fan-delta deposits with thick beds of conglomerated river cobbles forming the cap rock and several terraces along the slopes. It sits on the left (northern) bank of the seasonal Raganello river. The acropolis near the hilltop contained the sanctuary with three temples, surrounded by a defensive wall. The sanctuary was organized around a central plaza, with Temple I to the northeast, Temple V to the southwest (built over the earlier weaving house), and Temple III to the northwest. Temples I and V ran parallel to the plaza's length, while Temple III faced the plaza. The Macchiabate necropolis lies at the foot of the hill, separated from it by the Carnevale gully. Settlement terraces dot the slopes, with Plateau I yielding evidence of continuous occupation from the Middle Bronze Age through the archaic period. The ancient Greek city of Sybaris lay 15 km to the southeast.

The site is located near Francavilla Marittima and Civita, in the foothills of the Pollino range. It is administered by the comune of Francavilla Marittima, with official information available through the municipal website. The archaeological park serves an educational function as indicated by its designation as a parco archeologico didattico. Visitors can access the site to view the excavated areas including the acropolis sanctuary and settlement terraces. The finds are displayed at the Museo Nazionale Archeologico della Sibaritide, which serves as the primary repository for the site's material culture. The International Francavilla Archaeological Project maintains scholarly engagement with the site, and virtual museum resources are available for remote access.