Lecture by Eric Del Fabbro, “Farming and festivals: Sacred and economic activity at rural sanctuaries near Metaponto”

Eric Del Fabbro (Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow, The Canadian Institute in Greece; Ph.D. candidate, Department of Greek and Roman Studies, McMaster University), “Farming and festivals: Sacred and economic activity at rural sanctuaries near Metaponto”

Studies of the ancient Greek countryside have recently begun to recognize the complexity of rural life. Rather than passive zones of agricultural exploitation, the chorai of many Greek cities were occupied by a network of domestic, cult, and productive sites engaged in a variety of activities. In particular, rural sanctuaries were integral to the formation of local communities in the chora. In this paper, we examine the social and economic organization of the countryside of Metaponto through an integrated analysis of survey data, ceramic assemblages, and GIS-based Least Cost Path (LCP) modelling. Quantitative analysis of ceramic assemblages demonstrates functional overlap between domestic and cultic contexts, while LCP modelling reveals pathways of daily mobility that align closely with the canal-roads and property divisions established during Metaponto’s classical-period bonifica. These results indicate that rural movement was embedded with the same infrastructure and ideologies of the urban center, producing a landscape where agricultural production, ritual activity, and civic identity were materially intertwined. Rural sanctuaries operated both as cultic centers and arenas of exchange, facilitating the redistribution of surplus and the reaffirmation of communal ties among neighbouring farmsteads.

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