Depositi di valore e offerte ponderali per gli dei dalle aree sacre indigene della Sicilia

The study analyzes five hoards from some indigenous centers of Sicily, paying particular attention above all to the methods of deposition and the context of discovery in order to advance reflections on their function and destination. Since these are complexes found in the vicinity or within sacred places, it is however possible to further circumscribe the interpretative possibilities. The scrap metal, in fact, as a form of accumulation of wealth, can act as a votive offering, probably cut to precise weight standards, or as a reserve of value of the sanctuary or even have the function of material used by foundries close to sacred places. Only the analysis of the context of discovery and the methods of deposition can provide a correct interpretative orientation, without excluding any hypothesis, but taking into account, in our case, the limitations imposed by the sacred context.