The place
The region before the arrival of the Greeks: indigenous cultures and Sant'Angelo Muxaro
The second room, named after Biagio Pace, houses artifacts that attest to the presence of pre-Greek indigenous populations and the period of Hellenic colonization, which took place in the early 6th century BC, a crucial moment in the history of the region.
The first five display cases show artifacts belonging to civilizations that existed before the arrival of the Greeks. As for the Copper Age (third millennium BC), the Serraferlicchio culture is represented, named after the hill located immediately north of Agrigento. This culture produced characteristic pottery painted in black on a red or light yellow background, which has also been found in other Sicilian sites, indicating its widespread use.
The Castelluccian pottery found in the Monserrato district dates back to the Bronze Age. Of particular interest is the indigenous site of Cannatello, located southeast of the city, near the sea. This settlement, dating back to the Middle and Late Bronze Age, has yielded Mycenaean fragments and artifacts dating back to the 14th-13th centuries BC. The presence of materials of Aegean origin is of great importance, as it demonstrates that Sicily had commercial and cultural relations with the eastern Mediterranean long before the beginning of Greek colonization in the 8th century BC (display case 4).
Another important indigenous civilization of the Iron Age is that of Sant'Angelo Muxaro, a town located in the province of Agrigento along the Platani River. Active until the time of Greek colonization, this culture is distinguished by the production of particularly refined ceramics and the manufacture of precious metal artifacts clearly influenced by the Aegean, which testify to the level of wealth achieved and the contacts with the eastern Mediterranean. Among the exhibits are reproductions of a patera and two rings, the originals of which are preserved respectively in the British Museum in London and the Paolo Orsi Museum in Syracuse (display case 5).
The itinerary of the inhabitants of Gela, founders of a new city: Akrágas
Gela was the first Rhodian-Cretan colony founded in Sicily in 689-688 BC. Showcases 6 and 7 recount the itinerary of control and appropriation of the territory by the inhabitants of Gela who, over the course of a century, took possession of the central-southern coast of Sicily, eventually founding a new large colony: Akrágas.
The last display cases contain materials dating back to the founding of the city of Akrágas: those relating to the Montelusa necropolis, near San Leone, site of the ancient emporium on the sea, as well as those from the area of the chthonic sanctuaries in the westernmost part of the hill of temples: fragments of indigenous pottery with impressed decoration and clay statuettes, among which stands out a face of remarkable elegance, with a polos headdress and painted decoration still clearly visible.
Deinos from Castellazzo di Palma di Montechiaro with triskeles
Among the most important finds in the entire room is a beautiful vase with a distinctive shape, from Castellazzo di Palma di Montechiaro: it is a deinos, used to mix wine and water.
It is decorated with very bright colors both inside and outside, with repeating geometric and plant-shaped designs that emphasize its circular shape. On the convex outer bottom stands out the image of a triskelion with the toes pointing to the right, a symbol of Eastern origin that usually has four legs. The choice to represent three legs, a motif found only in this area of Sicily (another example can be found on a small cup from Gela on display in the same room, in showcase 6), suggests that the craftsman who painted the object may have deliberately transformed the familiar symbol (with four legs) to represent the geographical shape of Sicily with its three points. The ornamental motif is, in any case, evidence of cultural contacts between Sicily and the eastern Mediterranean.
