Medusa mask matrix found in Sicily

A plaster mold of Medusa has been discovered in the archaeological area of Finziade, modern-day Licata, in southwestern Sicily. The negative impression of the gorgoneion, the face and serpent hair of the gorgon Medusa, was a matrix used to produce masks or decorative reliefs.

The matrix was one of several discovered in an excavation of a home from the late Republican era. In its last stages of occupation, the early 1st century B.C., it was converted for use as a manufacturing operation. The different matrices found at the site indicate it was an artisanal production facility for masks.

The discovery of this mask mold provides insights into the symbolic and cultural aspects of the region during the Roman period. The production of masks may have been linked to theatrical, ritual, or decorative contexts, underscoring the intersection between daily life and spiritual beliefs in antiquity.

Founded in 282 B.C. by Finzia, tyrant of Agrigento, Finziade was the last colony founded by Greeks in Sicily. He built it in direct imitation of classical Greek urban design and then implanted a ready-made population when he destroyed the city of Gela and forcibly moved its residents to his new city. Two decades after its founding, Finziade would be conquered by Rome, along with its powerful Carthage-aligned neighbor Agrigentum, in the First Punic War. It established a strong alliance with Rome which served it well as the Second Punic War ravaged Sicily, and today the remains of Finziade survive in exceptional condition, making it one of the best preserved cities in late Hellenistic, early Roman Sicily.

* This article was originally published here