Le offerenti di porcellino dal deposito votivo di piazza San Francesco a Catania. Obiettivi e metodologia di un progetto di ricerca sulla coroplastica siceliota dall’età protoclassica all’età tardoclassica

Lo studio della coroplastica proveniente dal deposito votivo di Piazza San Francesco a Catania (Sicilia) rappresenta il tema centrale di un progetto di dottorato dell’Università degli Studi di Catania. Il progetto si concentra sullo studio della produzione delle statuette votive, soprattutto offerenti di porcellino, a Katane, dall’età protoclassica all’età tardoclassica. In questo contributo viene analizzata la metodologia applicata al caso studio di Catania, sintetizzata in tre punti principali: la ricomposizione della produzione coroplastica, l’analisi della diffusione delle offerenti in terracotta in Sicilia e l’analisi dei problemi legati agli aspetti ideologici, cultuali e sociali

Diphilos Dissertation Prize 2022Studies on Coroplastic Production in Greek Sicily. A PhD Dissertation on the Terracotta Dedicants from the Votive Deposit of Piazza San Francesco in Catania (fifth to fourth century B.C.E.)

This contribution represents a brief description of my doctoral dissertation entitled “Il deposito votivo di Piazza San Francesco a Catania: produzione, contesto e diffusione. Le offerenti in terracotta nella Sicilia orientale dall’età protoclassica all’età tardo-classica” that was defended successfully on May 4, 2021, at the University of Catania

Modeling the crystallization and emplacement conditions of a basaltic trachyandesitic sill at Mt. Etna volcano

This study documents the compositional variations of phenocrysts from a basaltic trachyandesitic sill emplaced in the Valle del Bove at Mt. Etna volcano (Sicily, Italy). The physicochemical conditions driving the crystallization of minerals have been reconstructed by modeling major and trace element analyses of clinopyroxene, feldspar (plagioclase and K-feldspar), and titanomagnetite. Clinopyroxene is the liquidus phase, recording decompression and cooling paths variable from 200 to 0.1 MPa and from 1050 to 940 °C, respectively. On the other hand, plagioclase and K-feldspar cosaturate the melt in a temperature interval of 1000-870 °C. Cation substitutions in clinopyroxene (Mg-Fe) and feldspar (Ca-Na) indicate that the ascent of magma is accompanied by H2O exsolution up to 2 wt.%. This translates to a degassing-induced undercooling of 80 °C from the deeper parts of the plumbing system to the surface. The titanomagnetite compositional changes reflect oxygen buffering conditions variable from NNO-0.5 to NNO+0.8, possibly due to significant H2O liberation and degassing at the time of emplacement. A fractional crystallization model for REE and HFSE has been adopted to quantitatively assess the role played by clinopyroxene and feldspar fractionation on the trace element pattern of the basaltic trachyandesitic sill. Assuming a primitive Etnean basalt as parental magma, REE and HFSE concentrations in the sill bulk rock are succesfully reproduced by prevalent clinopyroxene fractionation (55%) at depth, followed by minor fedspar segregation (14%) at shallow crustal levels