Equality in the Colonies: Concepts of Equality in Sicily During the Eighth to Six Centuries BC Author(S): Matthew Fitzjohn Source: World Archaeology, Vol

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Equality in the Colonies: Concepts of Equality in Sicily during the Eighth to Six Centuries BC Author(s): Matthew Fitzjohn Source: World Archaeology, Vol. 39, No. 2, The Archaeology of Equality (Jun., 2007), pp. 215- 228 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40026654 . Accessed: 18/09/2011 07:36

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http://www.jstor.org Equality in the colonies: concepts of equality in Sicily duringthe eighth to six centuries bc

MatthewFitzjohn

Abstract

In thelate eighthand earlyseventh centuries BC, a seriesof Greeksettlements of significantsize and organizationwere established on the east coast of Sicily.Their spatial organizationand systemsof land tenureappear to have been establishedon the principleof equality.This standsin contrastto the widelyheld beliefthat relationsbetween Greeks and the indigenouspopulation were based predominantlyon inequality.The aim of this articleis to re-examinethe materialexpression of equalityin the Greek settlementsand to reflectupon the ways in whichour categoriesof colonizer and colonizedhave influencedthe way thatwe look forand understandthe social relationsbetween people. I argue that the evidence of hybridforms of existenceas expressedthrough material culturerepresent different forms of equalitythat were experienced across the island in the Archaic period.

Keywords

Sicily;hybridity; cultural translation; Hellenization.

Introduction

This articleis concernedwith defining and identifyingequality in Sicilyduring the Archaic Period (eighthto sixth centuriesBC). In the late eighthcentury, a series of Greek settlementsof significantsize and organizationwere established on theeast coast of Sicily (Fig. 1). These new settlementsappear to representthe earliest examples of thedual aspect of thepolis (city-state):a builtcity and a social community.It has been argued thatthe spatialorganization and systemsof land tenurewere designed not onlyto reflectbut also to providethe foundationfor new laws and constitutionsand to nurtureequality among theiroccupants (Di Vita 1996: 263-308; Hansen 2000: 147-8; Cahill 2002: 18-22).

World Vol. 215-228 The 13 Routledqe Archaeology 39(2): Archaeologyof Equality S\ Tayior&Franciscroup © 2007 Taylor & Francis ISSN 0043-8243 print/1470- 1375 online DOI: 10.1080/00438240701257655 216 MatthewFitzjohn

Figure1 Map of Sicilyshowing the location of sites mentioned in thetext.

Equalityis a complexand highlycontested concept. If we are goingto concernourselves with the notion of equality,we need to ask ourselves:what do we expect the ideal of equalityto be? What are the materialrequirements and measureof the ideal of equality, what is the extensionof equality or in other words, equality among whom? These questions are difficultto definelet alone answer,especially if we focus only on urban planningand the division of space. Furthermore,in any context,no singlenotion of equalitycan be all encompassing(Rae 1981: 132), so, in thecontext of ArchaicSicily, one notionof equalitycannot necessarilybe applied to all sitesand social situations.Rather thanassume that all Greeksettlement was thesame, I proposethat there was considerable varietyin the typesof communitiesthat existed. Part of thisdiscussion will focuson the hybridnature of communitiesand how thematerial expression of thishybridity may have acted as an expressionof equality. Therehas been a tendencyfor ancient historians and archaeologiststo writeabout this periodin a way thatpresents the history of twodistinct homogeneous cultures: the Greeks, a culturallysuperior group who in the processof settlementattempted to creategreater equality,and, in contrast,the indigenous people who wereboth socially and politicallyless complex.I would arguethat these binary classifications and theirassociated characteristics have influencedthey way in which we have understoodchanges in the archaeological recordas a markerof inequality.We have read the increasingpresence of Greekmaterial culturein indigenouscentres as evidencefor domination and civilization.Reconstructions of thenature of social relationsbetween indigenous peoples and foreignoccupiers of their land are entwinedwith our assumptionsabout what it was to be a Greek settleror an indigenousperson. The resultis that we have universalizedthe experiencefor the both Greek settlersand for the local inhabitants.We have ignored the variabilityof Equalityin thecolonies 217 archaeologicalmaterial and formsof existence,and consequentlyoverlooked some more visibleforms of equalitybetween and withingroups. The aim of thispaper is to addressthe gap in our preconceivednotion of the occupants withinsettlements in order to question how people have identifiedsocial situationsin colonies or constructeda unidirectionaldevelopment of settlementand society.I shall appraise the currentstate of our understandingof this transitionalphase in the developmentof thepolis and theprocesses of culturalinteraction through an examination of the creationand modificationof settlementlayout and the use of domesticspace.

Designingequality

A complexrange of interactingfactors motivated people fromdifferent parts of Greeceto leave theirhomes and settlein otherparts of the Mediterranean.Wars, loss of land, increasingclass dominationand inequality,poverty or faminemay have been among the reasons, while the possibilityof acquiring wealth and the freedomfrom the social constraintsof theirown domesticsituation may have also been contributingfactors (Murray1993: 102-23). Althoughthere are no survivingwritten accounts contemporarywith the creationof thesettlements in Sicily,our narrativesof thesocial historyand physicalformation of the Greek settlementshave been highlyinfluenced by later ancient sources in which the processof foundinga colonyand thedivision of space is discussed(Di Vita 1996:263-308; Cahill 2002: 1-22). Of particularrelevance to thisdiscussion are Plato and Aristotlewho, concerned with civic strifecaused by economic, social and political inequalities, suggested that urban planning could provide a correspondencebetween physical organizationand social structure,possibly acting as a mechanismfor achieving equality, unityand order. The presenceof roads and the apparentdemarcation of space in the earliestlevels of Greek settlementshave led some to argue that,from the eighthcentury on, therewere attemptsto equalize the amountof land distributedto each inhabitantand so maintaina balance betweenpoverty and wealth.The extremecase of thisargument has been made by Vallet et al. (1976), Treziny(1999) and Di Vita (1996: 267). They have claimed that,as originallyplanned, Megara Hyblaea was organizedas a gridsystem of streetsalong two main routes runningeast-west from coast to plateau and with a systemof minor streetsrunning north-south. Within this systemthere were insulae,areas of demarcated land thatwere essentially identical, inside which were equal plotsthat varied only in small measurementsand containedeach settler'shouse witha small plot of land (Fig. 2). Much emphasishas been placed on how each insula and plot was calculatedfrom a standardmeasurement to ensurethe creationof physicallyand ideologicallyequal plots (Treziny1999: 141) In otherwords, equal plot size representssocial equality(Vallet et al. 1976; Treziny1999: 141-83). What is more, the urban plan was not just a symbol,a materialexpression of new culturalideas of isonomia,equality before the law, but rather the process of demarcation,allocation and habitationin equal lots establishedand nurturedthe notion of equality.While the apparentconnection between discussions in Aristotleand Plato and the archaeologicalevidence for the process of urbanizationin 2 18 MatthewFitzjohn

Figure2 Plans of area around the Agora in Megara Hyblaea includingrepresentation of insulae (afterTreziny 1999).

Sicilyis attractive,in partbecause of its explanatorysimplicity, we mustbe carefulnot to let laterideals distortan earlierarchaeological reality. Despite thesystem of measurement thereare significantdifferences in the size of the lots: betweenlots to thewest and lots to the east of the agora the average differenceis 14m2.Treziny (1999) explainedaway any differencesin thedivision of land, announcingthem as accidental,an involuntaryresult of the difficultiesof urban planning. The insulae of sitesmay have been similarin size, but thatdoes not mean eitherthat people had equal access to themor thateach piece of land was of equal value. Even where therewas completeequality of area, therecould have been considerabledifference in the value of land in differentparts of a city. In fourth-centuryOlynthus, for example, inscriptionsof land transactionsreveal that comparable transactions for plots of land of similarsize show considerablevariations in value (Cahill 2002: 276-81). At Olynthus,we see that the houses surroundingthe agora were sold much more frequentlyand were considerablymore expensivethan those elsewhere.Further away fromthe agora, the houses wereno smalleror less-wellbuilt than the moreexpensive houses near it but they were worthmuch less. It was proximityto the marketat the agora and the abilityfor householdsto be more closelytied to the marketeconomy which caused the increasein house prices(Cahill 2002: 280). Similarlythose plots nearer the agora at Megara Hyblaea may well have been more valuable than those furtheraway. Moreover,most laterfoundation decrees (for example, Cyrene) state that, when a city was founded,some land was usually set aside to allocate to later settlers.But thisland would not be as desirableas thatallotted to theoriginal settlers: it was likelyto be farther away, of lesserquality or in smallerplots than the land dividedamong the firstsettlers. Equalityin thecolonies 219

This inequalityappears to have been a cause of stasisin statessuch as Thurii(Diod.Sic. 12.11). We oftenlack data on thecountryside of urban centreslike Megara Hyblaea and Naxos, so it is difficultto ascertainwhether those who belonged to the agricultural communityhad as much equality as those who lived in the city. This is not an inconsequentialpoint, as a considerableproportion of a centre'spopulation may well have livedin the countryside,if the settlementpattern were as dispersedas at Metapontumin southernItaly or Chersonesosin the Ukraine. At the same time as it has been argued that Greek settlementswere foundedupon principlesof equality,it is assumedthat they were established on land thatwas takenfrom the indigenouspeople by force.In otherwords, equality was born out of inequalityand oppression.In reality,this is an oversimplification.In a numberof situationsit is difficult to differentiatethe processes that led to the changesin archaeologicalrecord and thusto comprehendthe historyof the occupation.In the colony of Leontiniand the indigenous site of Monte San Mauro the archaeologicalevidence provides not only indicationsof equalitywhere only inequality has been seen before,but a muchmore complex picture of occupationand socio-politicalrelations.

Unequal relations

Colonial episodes have often been presentedas confrontationsbetween two distinct entities,internally homogeneous and externallybounded. This perspectiveoriginates from thenormative concept of culture,in whichculture has been regardedas a clearlydefinable unitthat is representedby particularmaterial forms. Post-colonial theorists have argued that attentionneeds to be directedto the varyinglocal and historicalnature of specific encountersin which colonized and colonizers interact,rather than making broad generalizationsthat make simple oppositionsand universalizethe experienceof both groups (Stoler 1989: 135-6; Prochaska 1990: 135-79; Loomba 1998). In the case of Archaic Sicilyit is clear that the definitionsof the Greek and indigenoussocieties, and theirassociated material culture, have oftenbeen too simplistic.Although scholars have drawn attentionto hybridburial practicesfrom Gela, Megara Hyblaea and Syracuse (Shepherd 1993, 1995) and at the site of Morgantina (Lyons 1996: 177-88), the implicationsof thiswork have not been fullyinvestigated. In colonial situationsboth colonizerand colonized redefinetheir social positionsand expressthemselves in responseto others,as a resultof competitionor a need forsolidarity (Bhabha 1994). In a discussionof Bhabha's own experienceof migrationand also the ramificationsof Salmon Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses,he suggestedthat a 'third- space' was created that characterizedthe hybrid cultural practices of displaced populations. This third-spaceis created when displaced populations are forced to negotiatetheir own traditionsand thosethat they encounter in orderto make theirhome at theedges of thesecultural and linguistictraditions. The identitiesthat are createdfrom such experiencesare of neitherone nor the otherculture but are both and neitherat the same time (Bhabha 1994: 139-70, 212-35). The creation of a third-spaceand the negotiationof traditionsmay lead to the re-workingof materialculture and cultural practicesby groupsand individuals.The resultof theseadaptations may be deviationsand 220 MatthewFitzjohn subversionsof the 'dominant'culture as well as the reproductionof colonial culturein indigenouscontexts (Bhabha 1994: 102-22). The urbanismand architecturein Britishand French eighteenth-and nineteenth- centurycolonial settingsoften developed as adaptivestrategies that were closely related to the changingpolicies of colonial rule,which included the adoption of elementsfrom the local architecture(Chatan 2003: 267-92 with references).The architecturewithin the colonieswas morethan the simpletransplantation of European styles;it was transformed to fitthe specificenvironment in which it was built, oftentrying to evoke a sense of continuitywith the local past in theirdesigns. The resultantarchitecture often combined Westernwith non- Western elements resulting in a hybridform that embodied the tensions and contradictionssituated within the colonial experience.It would appear that this happenedat the site of Leontini,a colonial settlementthat occupies the area of a former indigenousIron Age site (Rizza 1978: 26, 1980: 115). Traditionally,Leontini has been regardedas an inlandGreek colonial site,the inhabitants of whichshared the same culture and materialpractices as thosein Naxos. Contraryto thisview, the new forms of domestic and funeraryevidence appear to indicate that at the start of the Archaic period the inhabitantsof thisinland hilltop were in factestablishing a new way of lifefor themselves and negotiatingtheir existence with the incomingChalcidians. The firstindications of theearly colonial settlementare presentwithin the area delimited by the Archaicfortifications on the easternslopes of the Colle San Mauro. The excava- tionsthat focused on San Mauro hillhave also providedevidence of indigenousIron Age long houses and ceramics.The archaeologyseems to indicatethat the settlementwas continuouslyoccupied from the Iron Age throughto theearliest Chalcidian settlement of the eighthand seventhcenturies BC (Rizza 1978: 33). There has been some elementof disagreementabout the natureof the foundationof the Greek settlement.The different foundationtraditions that we findin Thucydides(6.3) and Polyaenus(5.5) both involve conflictbetween the Chalcidian settlersand the indigenouspopulation but we lack definitiveevidence for destructionof the site; long houses were replaced but were not necessarilydestroyed in conflict.Despite this vaguenessof the archaeologicaldata, the presence of importedpottery and locally produced imitationsof Greek wares, the creation of fortificationwalls and the replacementof 'indigenous' material culture have been used to endorse the literarynarratives of Greek domination of the indigenousgroup (Rizza 1962, 1978). I would like to suggestan alternativeexplanation of the Late Iron Age and Archaic period at Leontini,focusing on the domesticand funeraryevidence. The oldestArchaic houses of theeighth and earlyseventh century, which are believedto have been builtby Greek settlersduring the firstyears of the 'colony' werelocated in the southernarea of the San Mauro hill,within the earlywalled city.They continuedto be used during the archaic period. One of the structureswas rectangularin formand comprisedthree rectangular interconnecting rooms (A, B, C) (Plate 1). The structureand its rooms were not built with foundationsand stone or mud-brickwalls, as at Naxos (Lentini1987: 816) or Megara Hyblaea (Valletet al. 1976) nor did theyutilize the mixture of stone,wood, daub and thatchthat would have characterizedthe Iron Age long houses fromLentini (Rizza 1962: 3-27; Leighton2000: 15^40). These buildingswere actually dug out of the hillside,producing a structurethat resembled those from medieval Sperlinga in Equalityin thecolonies 221

Plate 1 Reconstructionof therock-cut house in the southside of Colle San Mauro at Leontini.The reconstructionwas based predominantlyupon the data provided frompublished articles.The structurewas not completelypreserved and so aspects were based upon the excavator's interpretationof thestructure. The inclusionof artefactswas based solelyupon actual archaeological evidence.

theEnna provinceof Sicily.Within this three-roomed structure, the floor was coveredwith a compact deposit of mixed earth and an abundance of sherds that can be securely dated to the eighthand seventhcenturies BC. These fragmentsincluded a varietyof local ceramictypes, imported Proto-Corinthian vessels, five Thapsos-type skyphoi and a pithos. Rock-cutstructures have also been excavatedon thenorth east of theColle San Mauro, the dimensions,layout and buildingtechnique of whichare similarto thosefound on the southernside and terracesof the hill and used fromthe Archaicto the Hellenisticperiod (Rizza 1980: 120, 126). Differentforms of slightlylater Archaic houses were also foundon thelarge terrace on thenorth of theMetapiccola hill: on thehighest part of thehill, in the vicinityof Temple B, therewas a 'Greek type' stonewalledconstruction datable to the Archaicperiod that overlay the remains of theprotohistoric village of thetenth and ninth centuries(Rizza 1980: 127). At firstglance, it appears thatthe declineof prehistoricsingle-roomed longhouses, the adoptionand use of multi-roomedstructures and the evidencefor imported and imitated Greek ceramicssupport either foundation tradition of Chalcidian conquest of Leontini. But thereis an alternativeway of viewingthe materialevidence. In some ways Rizza movesclose to accommodatingan alternativeapproach to thedomestic evidence when he discussesthe techniqueof creatingthis rock-cutdomestic architecture (1980: 126). The inspirationfor carving the domesticstructures from the rock originated,he argued,from the local skill and knowledgeof cuttinginto the rock to createtombs (Plate 2) and the floorsof the earlierIron Age houses; the Greekstook the idea fromlocal experienceand 222 MatthewFitzjohn

Plate2 Examplesof rock-cut tombs from Troina in Sicily.

knowledge(Rizza 1980: 127). AlthoughRizza acknowledgesthat the colonial population may have been influencedby indigenouspractices, I believethat we may go further.I am not denyingthat there is a definitechange in the formand use of materialculture on the site, but what I am proposing is that it is representativeof somethingfar more complexthan can be accountedfor by a simpleexplanation of colonization.We should view the domesticevidence as indicativeof 'culturaltranslation' (Bhabha 1994) between culturaltraditions at Leontinithat representsan accommodationof differentgroups of people. Excavating the structuresfrom the bedrock was a highlyspecific way of dwelling. Clearly,the bedrockwas easily workableand could have providedsuitable materials to createa stonewalled structure,which was carriedout forsome structuresin the sixthand fifthcenturies. However, there was in theeighth and seventhcenturies a decisionto startto create rock-cutdomestic structures, but by whom? This was a practicethat was not previouslyused by eitherthe indigenousinhabitants or by the occupantsof Naxos from wherethe Chalcidian populationare meantto have originated.The structurecontained some featuresthat were presentin eitheror both Greek and indigenousstructures: the bench, storage and drinkingvessels and a hearth;moreover, it took its formfrom a developmentor re-workingof indigenousburial practice. But, as a typeof domesticspace, it was not knownfrom either group's material repertoire. As such,is it possiblethat these rock-cutstructures represent the active creationof a hybridthird-space, a neutralnon- culturespecific form of residencethat was based upon a desireby two groupsof people to accommodateeach other,to expressa senseof a new communitycoming together or even equalitybetween the groups? If Leontiniwas a Greek site, we mightimagine that therewould be more typically 'Greek' domesticstructures; likewise if it was indigenousthe use of a typeof longhouses mighthave continued.If, on theother hand, there was a mixedpopulation, of Greeksand locals,we mightexpect to see multipleforms of architecturethat could be read as markers Equalityin thecolonies 223 of differentgroups living in thesame site.Instead, we have a seriesof structuresthat took componentsfrom known building practices and createda completelynew formof space thatwas equallyunfamiliar to bothgroups. These newhybrid forms of architectureshould be seen as an index or markerof equality.In this sense,the notion of equalitysignifies correspondencebetween groupingsof differentpeople. People do not modifytheir domesticspace and theirmethod of constructionwithout reason. The creationof these structuresrepresents an intentionalprocess that created a new formof dwellingat thesite, resultingin the creationof a new formof culturalspace, whichexpressed a community idea. The expressionof thisnew community and thecorrespondence between different people can also be seen in the modificationsto burialpractices during the course of the seventh century.During the late eighthand seventhcenturies BC, as in the Iron Age, burial occurredin the rock-cuttombs in the slopes of the Sant'Eligio valley at Leontini.The majorityof thesetombs were quadrangular rock-cut chambers that sometimes contained rock-carvedbenches. A few dozen of those recordedhave providedevidence of burial practice.Typically, between one and threebodies wereplaced in the tombs,along witha fewitems, including spindle-whorls, beads and pottery.The majorityof thepottery was a hybridtype of local manufacturethat combined traditional shapes withGreek Geometric designs.The tombform, burial rite and accompanyinggrave goods, some of whichcould be classifiedas hybridforms, appear to reflectlocal traditionsthat had been practised duringthe Iron Age (Leighton 1999: 241). No 'Greek' burial has been found,yet, if Leontiniwas a trulyGreek settlement at thistime, surely we would expectto findit? There appears to be increasinghybridity of the tombsthrough the archaicperiod, when we see increasingpresence of Greek potteryand subtle changes to tomb formand increasing architecturalelaboration of the tombs. However,the apparentlack of a whollyGreek presencein the burial record,combined with the increasinghybridization of indigenous burial practice,provides more supportto the idea of culturaltranslation as a resultof correspondencebetween people who saw themselvesas equal. At Leontini,we can see equalitynot in termsof equal distributionof land,which may or may not be of equal value, but in the architecturalspaces and materialcultural that were createdby thecommunity. The houses,which were neither wholly Greek nor indigenous, representthe differentgroups of people who lived together,sharing the same settlement. Leontiniwas not a settlementthat was based upon inequality,instead it was occupiedby two groupsof people who had chosento live togetherand affordeach otherequal access to the same settlement.

Equalityand Hellenization

During the course of the seventhand sixthcenturies there appear to have been marked changesin the settlementpattern of indigenoussites across Sicily.These changes have been associated with the aggressiveterritorial expansion of the Greek centres and indigenouspeople losing access to theirland. During the sixthcentury indigenous sites such as Ossini and Monte Casale in thevicinity of Leontini,and Finochitoand Pantalica 224 MatthewFitzjohn in thevicinity of Syracusewere abandoned (Procelli1989: 679-89; Leighton2000: 15-40) and fortificationwalls were constructedat several other sites (Palike, Mineo, Monte Balchino,Monte San Mauro, Civita and Medolito) (Procelli 1989: 679-89). It has been suggestedthat, by the end of the sixthcentury BC, 'Greek' Leontiniand Catania had gained control or at the very least attainedinfluence over a large territoryextending westwardsto thevicinity of Enna and borderedto the southby theexpansion of Syracuse (Leighton 2000: 24). The archaeologicalevidence for conflictand territorialexpansion appears to be supportedby ancient texts,which point to an unequal socio-political situationwith increasing hegemony of particularGreek polities (Pugliese Carratelli 1996: 141-76). Alongside this inequity,it has been argued, the indigenous people were Hellenized (acculturated)by contact with the superiorGreek culture,adopting with- out question certain Greek forms of material culture and their associated cultural significance. Here,I particularlywant to examinehow aspectsof thearchaeological record that have been used to discusspolitical and culturalinequality during the sixth century could instead be interpretedas indicatorsof economicand social paritybetween the main Greekcentres on the coast and the settlementsin the interiorof the island. Furtherto this,while it is undeniablethat there were changes within the material culture assemblages across Sicily,I would arguethat the indigenous communities, especially those further inland, maintained theirtraditions for longer than has been recognizedand wereselective about the typesof Greek material that they adopted and how they incorporatedthem into theirlives (Leighton2000: 15^0). This discussioncan perhapsbe bestillustrated with a discussionof Monte San Mauro, a Hellenizedhill-top site in theHeraean hillsof centralSicily, near the outerlimits of Geloan, Chalcidianand Syracusanterritory. On the hillsof Monte San Mauro, thereare indigenouselliptical buildings that date to the eighthand seventhcenturies BC (Valenti 1992) as well as the 'magazzino',a bipartite building with mudbrickwalls and a thatched roof (Spigo 1987: 863-904). In the 'magazzino' therewas a range of local indigenouspottery as well as large transport amphorae and importedGreek decorated pottery(Spigo 1986: 1-32). Consequently, Monte San Mauro has been regardedas an indigenoussite that obtained Greek ceramics throughsome formof exchange.During the seventhand sixthcenturies the increasing presenceof a widerrange of Greek materialculture has been interpretedas a markerof growingGreek influenceover the site. The most significantform of evidencefor Greek influenceand theHellenization of thesettlement is theconstruction of a numberof Greek- typebuildings in thesixth century BC (c. 580-500 BC). Theyhad similarforms to thepastas houses in Megara Hyblaea and Naxos, and containeda greaterproportion of Greek potterythan the otherhouses (Cordsen 1995: 114; Spigo 1980: 151). However,if we look a littlemore closely at theuse of thesestructures they appear to be much less Greek and much more hybridthan the termHellenization or Hellenizedcan express.Despite theirform, the use of roof tiles ratherthan thatchand the increased presenceof Greek artefacts,there were many elementsof indigenouscontinuity in the settlementand indigenoustransformation of Greek culturalpractices. The layout of the settlementwas not orthogonalas in thecoastal sitesbut was dictatedby terrain;the floors of the structureswere not paved; therewere hearthsand layers of clay on stones for cookingand thefunction of therooms, including the pastas corridor,appears to have been Equalityin thecolonies 225 more fluidthan in the Greek world. At the same time as the pastas house formswere adopted, differenttypes of domesticstructure were also built, includinga rectangular stone-walled two-flooredbuilding with a courtyard(Orsi 1911: 805), whichwas not only differentfrom the pastas-typehouses but it was unlikeanything in use eitherduring the earlier occupation of Monte San Mauro or what was present at the coastal sites. Furthermore,the botanical remains at the settlementindicate the continuationof traditionalagriculture including the cultivationof barley,spelt, vetches and beans rather than the introductionof olive or grape cultivationwhich is oftenassociated with the arrivalof Greekculture (Spigo 1986: 1-32; Leighton2000: 36). The commonlyheld ideas of politicaland economicinequalities in ArchaicSicily and of Hellenizationfail to capturethe true sense of whatwas occurringat Monte San Mauro. It is undeniablethat the presenceof Greek ceramicsand Greek-stylearchitecture are an indicationof some formof contactor exchangebetween the sitesof Monte San Mauro and the Greek centres.However, the increasingwealth of the site,attested by the range and volumeof objectsin both the structuresand burials,indicates that the inhabitants of this site played an active role withinthe regionaleconomy. Contrary to the traditional pictureof Sicily,it appearsthat the lives of theindigenous inhabitants were not dominated by the settlementson the coast duringthe sixthcentury. They werenot only engagedin theirown subsistencesystem of agriculturebut theywere activelyengaged in trade and had access to a similar range of goods that can be seen in the 'dominant' Greek settlements.The inhabitantsof Monte San Mauro and the coastal sites had equal opportunitiesto improvetheir well-being and to gain the resourcesthat they aspired to. What is more, at Monte San Mauro theychose which aspects of Greek culturethey adopted and used themin non-traditionalways.

Conclusions

In insistingon hybridforms of existenceand materialculture as an indicatorof equalityin Archaic Sicily,I am seekingto highlightthe existenceof alternativesto the model of manufacturedurban equality that pervades the literature. At least two modelsof equality are available. On the one hand, therewere settlements that were possibly formed with an organizedurban plan that attemptedto apportionland to the settlement'sinhabitants based upon ideologicalprinciples. The inhabitantsmay have been drivenby a desireto ensure that landholdersreceived similar sized plots on which to live. However, while equalityof land holdingmay have been an importantideal in laterGreek thought and law, it did not necessarilymake theplots in sitessuch as Megara Hyblaea exactlythe same. Not onlywere there differences between the size of plotsbut some of theseplots were probably morevaluable than others. On theother hand, otherforms of settlementfrom the seventh and sixthcenturies suggest a secondmodel of equality.The hybridmaterial culture within thesesites suggests that they may have been inhabitedby differentgroups, who reconciled differencesin orderto be able to live together,through the manipulation of existingforms of materialculture. In Archaic Sicily,far frombeing the preserveof the foundationof Greek coastal settlements,equality appears to be visible in contextsthat previouslyhave only been 226 MatthewFitzjohn consideredin termsof social and politicalinequality. In thisarticle an attempthas been made to explorea fewof the ways in whichequality may have been createdby drawing upon theconcepts of culturaltranslation and hybridity.The apparentmerging of cultural practiceand the creationof new formsof domesticstructure and modes of livinghave characterizedall of the settlementsthat were analysed. I have suggestedthat in the siteof Leontininew house formsnot only representthe creationof a hybrididentity but may also mark a process of conciliation,the resultof whichwas a formof paritywithin the community.At a site like Monte San Mauro, the hybridityrepresents not only the inhabitants'ability to operatewithin a regionaleconomic system and access resourcesbut also how theydetermined the ways thatthey utilized new formsof materialculture. Such an approach has implicationsfor the ways that Greek colonizationhas been and remainscaught up in discoursesof inequalityand domination.We need to move beyond the limitationsof contemporarydefinitions of 'Greek' and 'indigenous' and insteadadmit the possibility of morecomplex social groupsand culturalforms. Unless we acknowledgethe variability of our evidencesuch as therock-cut houses at Leontinior the use of Greek materialculture at a site like Monte San Mauro, we run the risk of doing nothingmore than scratchingthe surfaceof the richand variedsocial contextsof the past.

Acknowledgements

This articleis based on a portionof mydoctoral research at theUniversity of Cambridge. The paper was preparedwhile I was on a periodof AHRC-fundedresearch leave. Thanks are due to Gianna Ayala who read earlierversions of thispaper, and to Robin Osborne and the anonymousreviewers who providedinvaluable comment. Responsibility for all errorsrests with the author.

School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Universityof Liverpool,Liverpool L69 3BX

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Matthew Fitzjohnis Lecturerin the Archaeologyof the Iron Age in the School of Archaeology,Classics and Egyptologyat theUniversity of Liverpool.His PhD researchat the Universityof Cambridge addressed issues of state formation,urbanization and identityin relationto the Iron Age of Greece and southernItaly. His currentinterests in aspectsof environmentalperception and sensuousgeographies form the basis of his most recentAHRC-funded research on domesticspace and the developmentof the oikos.