Discovered in the archaeological area of «San Gada», in Laino Borgo, a place of worship dedicated to a female deity. In the same area, a large pool of bricks and a large production sector with kilns and pithoi had already been identified. The new discovery was made during the fourth archaeological excavation campaign, which will continue until September 22, conducted by the department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations of the University of Messina under the direction of Professor Fabrizio Mollo.
After the investigations of 2019, 2021 and 2022, this year a further production sector was identified, with a large settling tank, with adjoining communicating water supply structures and the presence of a draining brick flooring. The novelty consists in the identification of a place of worship dating back to the late 5th and early 3rd century. B.C, dedicated to a female deity, with rites of passage and elements connected to fertility. The votives, coroplastic and ceramic, document a cross-section of the cults of a community that occupied the plains of S. Gada between the end of the 6th century and the Hellenistic age.
«The area – explained Mollo – increasingly takes on the features of a Lucanian urban centre, structured between the mid-4th and the second half of the 3rd century. BC according to the scheme of the large Italic courtyard houses. The excavation, carried out under ministerial concession thanks to the collaboration of Sabap Cosenza, concerns the southernmost part of the plateau. Its size, almost 50 hectares, and the presence of materials and structures in all the plateaus make it the most important residential settlement in the Lao-Mercure valley.”
Supporting the activities is the municipality of Laino Borgo, led by Mariangelina Russo. The works were carried out thanks to the financial support of the Pollino National Park. For the mayor, it is time to «give dignity to this field which is proving to be increasingly important due to the quality and quantity of discoveries. We need funds more than ever to ensure that all the work done by Professor Mollo and his boys is rewarded, rediscovering and bringing to light what was hidden. Therefore I appeal to the Calabria Region.”