Athena’s Name Found at a Pre-Roman Italian Sanctuary

Deep in the hills inland from Italy’s Gulf of Policastro, archaeologists have uncovered a cache of inscriptions that puts a Greek goddess’s name right alongside the gods of a very different, non-Greek world.

A Lucanian Settlement Comes Into Focus

The discoveries come from Caselle in Pittari, an ancient Lucanian settlement in the province of Salerno, inland from the Gulf of Policastro in southern Italy. The University of Salerno has carried out systematic research at the site since 2014, and its “Mario Napoli” Laboratory of Classical Archaeology conducted this year’s excavation under authorization from Italy’s Ministry of Culture, working alongside the Soprintendenza ABAP for the provinces of Salerno and Avellino. The settlement itself developed around the middle of the fourth century BC, expanded over the following decades, and was abandoned by around the end of the third century BC.

Eight Gods in One Sanctuary

Researchers presented their findings at a press conference on September 29 at the university’s Fisciano campus. The team, including Maria Luigia Rizzo, Michele Scafuro, and Antonia Serritella, along with Soprintendente Anna Onesti and archaeologist Elena Russo, described uncovering a substantial body of inscriptions within the sanctuary’s clearly defined ritual spaces, which are arranged across two terraces. Altogether, the inscriptions name eight deities. Most are written in the Italic language, including KERE, identified with Ceres, [IU]VEIS, identified with Jupiter, and ANTER STAT, read as Anter Stata, a war deity otherwise known mainly from the Tablet of Agnone. Other inscriptions reference nymphs connected to rain and spring water. Serritella called it an important excavation season, saying the inscriptions, found within precisely defined ritual spaces, cast new light on the past.

A Greek Name Among Italic Gods

One inscription stood apart from the rest: ASANAS, identified as the Doric Greek form of the name of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare. Doric was one of the major ancient Greek dialects, spoken across the Peloponnese, Crete, and Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, alongside other regional dialects such as Ionic, Aeolic, and Attic. Finding a Doric Greek name woven into an otherwise Italic set of religious inscriptions reflects centuries of contact between Lucanian communities and the Greek colonies of Magna Graecia that dotted southern Italy’s coastline. Athena held a significant place in Greek religious life elsewhere in the region as well. At nearby ancient Velia, archaeologists have previously found evidence of a sanctuary dedicated to her, including weapons, helmets, and hundreds of votive offerings.

Older Than the Famous Tablet of Agnone

Several of the deities named at Caselle were previously known mainly through the Tablet of Agnone, a bronze inscription documenting Samnite religious tradition from deeper in Italy’s interior and generally dated to between 200 and 150 BC. Because the Caselle sanctuary dates to the late fourth and early third centuries BC, its inscriptions predate the Agnone tablet by roughly a century, giving researchers an earlier window onto beliefs previously known mostly from that single, later document. Archaeologists also note that water appears to have played a central role in the site’s rituals: altars and a ritual well, fed by channels connected to a natural spring, were found within the sacred complex, alongside the inscriptions themselves.

What Comes Next

University of Salerno rector Virgilio D’Antonio called Caselle in Pittari one of the signature excavations of the university’s archaeological school, while Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro of Italy’s Ministry of Culture noted the find’s significance for understanding ancient urban history, material culture, epigraphy, and religion all at once. Research at the site is continuing, and the University of Salerno will host its first conference dedicated specifically to the Caselle in Pittari excavations from October 7 to 9, where researchers plan to discuss the new inscriptions and what they reveal about the sanctuary’s rituals and functions in greater depth.

Sources

This report draws on the University of Salerno’s own press conference, with coverage from GreekReporter and multiple Italian outlets including Salerno24 and InfoCilento.