Towards a ‘ritual’ biography of the conical oinochoe: from Corinth to Selinus

The paper focuses on the symbolic role played by the Greek oinochoe (the conical and broad bottomed ones both in Corinthian and East Greek Pottery) in performing sacred rituals between the 8th and the 6th Century BC. Specific study-cases will be discussed, taking into consideration some crucial archaeological contexts in Greece, Sicily and Magna Grecia. Particularly significant, in this regard, are some new insights from the excavations of Temple R in the main urban sanctuary of Selinus (Sicily), where Clemente Marconi has carried out a project of architectural and archaeological investigation since 2006. Besides, iconographical and written sources will be scrutinized in order to achieve the goal of better defining the role of oinochoe in the sacred ceremonies of Archaic Greece.