Back to Manfria : Continuity or disruption in the countryside of Gela in the fourth century BC

This research focuses on a 4th century BC rural complex in Manfria, a site that is situated 12 km west of Gela (CL): the so-called Manfria farm was excavated by D. Adamesteanu in December 1951, with preliminary results published in "Notizie Scavi" in 1958. After a period of silence regarding the territory of Gela, studies conducted over the last years have provided new stimuli for the study of the chora of this important Greek colony; some of this new research was especially focussed on the rural population during the 4th century BC, a period that witnessed many important changes in south central Sicily as a result of the Carthaginian invasion and a new wave of colonisation under the Corinthian general Timoleon. On the basis of historical evidence, general consensus seems to have been that after the destruction inflicted on the area by the Carthaginians at the end of the 5th century BC, the city of Gela and its chora (and also the territories of other Sicilian settlements) were left widely deserted until the second half of the 4th century BC. However, recent studies have challenged this version of the history for south central Sicily in the 5th/4th century BC. By focussing on a typological and chronological study of pottery assemblages deriving from the Manfria farm, the present paper will explore dynamics of survival or disruption in a territory heavily affected by warfare.