Unwrapping the micro-history of a house cistern from ancient Akrai/Acrae (southeastern Sicily)

Abstract

The paper looks into the turbulent history of the ancient town of Akrai/Acrae in a mountainous part of southeastern Sicily, encapsulated in the assemblage of finds from a domestic cistern, which was remodeled and adapted in the course of its use. The cistern is considered as an architectural feature against the background of the ancient town, and the assemblage recovered from it is exmined thoroughly category by category, giving insight into the life of the ancient inhabitants of this island in the Mediterranean.