The term "capeduncola" indicates a cup for liquids with an anthropomorphic appearance, probably used for ritual libations.
On the Monte Polizo site we find two different capeduncles with anthropomorphic handles, the first in "House 1", the second in "House 3". These are two keeled cups from the Iron Age (VII century BC) with a plate handle, configured as an anthropomorphic protome, typical of the Elymian culture. Similar and even more elaborate specimens have been found in Segesta and in other sites attributed to the Elimi people.
The first find (House 1, Room VI, height 17.6 cm) seems to represent a bird goddess, with her arms raised in a praying or blessing position, a position typical of numerous representations of the so-called 'goddess figurines' throughout the Mediterranean, found in association with sanctuaries and places of worship; her head is in the shape of an inverted triangle rising from a human torso; in her face we have two circular eyes with two deeply engraved irises and a raised nose; on her neck, or instead of her mouth, she engraved two triangles forming a horizontal hourglass, or 'butterfly'; we find the same design, but larger in size, on her torso, perhaps as a representation of her breasts. Below the torso, the body of the anthropomorphic figure transforms into a round cup that does not appear to have any further decorations. On the edge of the cup we find three holes for each of the two sides of the torso; it is possible that decorative elements were attached to these holes for specific occasions. Below the rim of the cup, small perforated protrusions seem to indicate that the object could have been hung, or attached to some rope.
A second capeduncula, found in 'House 3' (Room III, 15 cm) has features that distinguish it from the first.
It is much squatter and rougher and gives the impression of being in a more archaic style. The head looks like a schematic and indefinite extension of the body; two slightly curved horns, perhaps inspired by bovine shapes, more probably by the figure of the owl, start from the head. The eyes are formed by three concentric circles of which the innermost defines the iris. The nose is long and pointed, and appears more like a beak than a human nose.
The two raised arms appear small and thin compared to the whole figure. The torso is extensively decorated and divided into three different fields. In the middle one, five double concentric circles are engraved vertically; the two side fields are filled with signs such as small waves or "Ms" which Gimbutas usually identifies as aquatic symbols, and which we find along the entire outer edge of the cup. This is careened according to local tradition, and adorned with wolf's tooth triangles along the inner edge.
There is strong evidence that 'House 3' also potentially had a dual function, both as a home and as a small sanctuary. The building has developed considerably over time, from a simple rock-cut chamber to a multi-room structure featuring some of the most advanced architectural solutions found at the site to date. Great effort, time and material have been invested to separate the spaces from each other, creating clear boundaries; the environment that was thus created (room II) was not very different from the environment of a tomb or a cave, well protected from sunlight and closed by the rough surface carved into the rock, isolated from the other rooms of the structure through architecturally processed.
Cave-related cults were quite common in Sicily and southern Italy during the Neolithic and Copper Ages. A dark environment, offerings of food and ritual intoxicants (such as wine), the presence of cultic statuettes could perhaps indicate that 'House 3' was at least partially a religious building.
Cups, handles with anthropomorphic images or hourglass motifs such as those of Monte Polizo have been found in Grotta Vanella (Segesta), in Monte Finestrelle (Gibellina, TP), in Colle Madore (Lercara Friddi, PA). Most of these finds are dated between the 1400th and 900th centuries. BC The oldest parallel with similar containers (in this case zoomorphic) comes from the late Bronze Age (XNUMX-XNUMX BC), from Lipari and Thapsos.
We don't know for sure if the figurative art of these cups is the result of local workers or if it comes from contexts outside Sicily.
While the "goddesses with raised arms" of Cyprus and Crete are known to archaeological research, the Sicilian capeduncole are little known, just as the gesture of raised arms is decidedly rare in island finds. In the prehistoric and historic Mediterranean, the interpretation of this gesture is usually linked to prayer, lamentation or religious ecstasy.
Surely the combination between an object of common use (which in this case becomes a ritual) and an anthropomorphic head is unusual. It suggests that these cups were thought of as protective elements of the place, its inhabitants and community members, perhaps as mediators between the human and divine worlds within rituals that probably included libations; it could be the representation of a sacred entity, whose representation certainly carries with it a strong symbolic value.
Archaeological evidence shows that, in addition to water and milk, locally produced wine was commonly consumed in the community, and it seems to have played an important role in the society of Monte Polizo. In House 1, 50 cups, 10 jugs, 3 amphorae were found, probably used for regular banquets.
The hypothesis is that the two vases belong to the same tradition of anthropomorphic cups, which becomes even more evident if one compares them with the finds from the other sites mentioned. If it is true that the second capeduncula has a more ancient tradition, this means that it has been preserved for generations and left as an inheritance. The two vases represent two different ceramic traditions, or perhaps they are the result of various phases within a tradition in transformation; they probably depict two different divine characters: one is clearly anthropomorphic, the other perhaps a divinity on the border between the animal world and the human world.





Historical notes
The site of Monte Polizo, a naturally fortified relief at 713 m. asl. it constitutes, together with that of Mokarta, Castellazzo and Stretto, one of the most important archaeological testimonies in the ambit of Western Sicily. Due to the strategic position it occupies, halfway between Segesta and Selinunte and in the center of the province of Trapani, it is easy to understand the fundamental role it will have had in the past in exchanges between the populations in this area. In fact, the site contains imported ceramics of Greek, Phoenician-Punic (also from the eastern Mediterranean), Corinthian or Etruscan production, but also amber from the Baltic and faience objects from Anatolia, which testify to numerous commercial relationships with the coastal centres.
The first excavations of the site began in 1970, following the random and frequent discoveries of clay fragments. The site covers an area of about 34 hectares where the remains of the acropolis (where there is an archaic sanctuary) and an urban layout dating back to the Middle Bronze Age have been brought to light, which experienced their period of greatest flowering around the sixth century. B.C
The identification of the civilization that inhabited this area is still uncertain, as both Sicane and Elime ceramics have been found, even if we are more inclined to consider Monte Polizo an Elymian settlement. The site seems to have been inhabited from the Bronze Age up to the Greek period (30.000th century BC), a period after which there is no clear evidence of continuity of attendance. In the area we find numerous charred bone remains and pottery used for libations. The discovery of over XNUMX fragments of deer antlers attests to the consistent presence of this animal in sacred rituals.
Among the buildings of the indigenous settlement from the Archaic period, 'House 1' is an important place for the quality and state of conservation of the materials found. From the material found we can reconstruct the carrying out of daily life activities: certainly weaving (loom weights and spindles for wool were actually found in all the structures on the site) and cooking food, processing and preserving the harvest , but also ritual consumption and the practice of religious rites. These latter activities are suggested by various clues: traces of opium poppy near a semicircular platform probably intended for the deposition of offerings, with a considerable quantity of libation glasses (too numerous for a single 'family group') of local production next to it and not only. Cups and kotylai Ionic, Corinthian and imported can be found in virtually every corner of the facility. The hypothesis was therefore considered that 'House 1' was not a simple dwelling, but that the structure was a multifunctional ritual or political place in which traces of all the practices of daily life can be found: from knives, daggers and points of arrow to the tools for spinning. The co-presence of such diversified activities in the same spaces suggests that 'gender' relationships and roles were less rigidly separated and regulated than in other sites. The practices carried out in 'House 1' also show an impressive mix of 'domestic' and 'sacred' actions, underlining how these two spheres were intimately linked.
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