Title Participants "A rare spintria from the Roman villa of Patti Marina (Messina - Italy)" "Antonino Crisa" "Il mosaico con i pilei dei Dioscuri (insula IV, Tindari, Messina) : nuove prospettive di ricerca dai tokens" "Antonino Crisa" "After a trip : the effects of AugustusU+2019 propaganda in Sicily through historical, numismatic and archaeological sources" "Antonino Crisa" "Tokens and the reproduction of divinities in Hellenistic and Roman Sicily : some preliminary case studies" "Antonino Crisa" "Reconsidering the Calvatone Hoard 1942 : a numismatic case study on the Roman vicus of Bedriacum (Cremona, Italy)" "Antonino Crisa" "Having defeated the Celts in northern Italy, the Romans built the Via Postumia, a vital road connecting Aquileia (east) and Genova (Genoa, west), in 148 BC. On that occasion, the Romans founded Bedriacum, a small vicus close to the present town of Calvatone (Cremona), which past and current excavations by the University of Milan are revealing as a vital centre of Roman Gallia Cisalpina (Cisalpine Gaul). Recent investigations have shed new light on coin circulation and offer fresh data to be compared with hoarding trends and old finds. The aim of this paper is to analyse the Calvatone Hoard 1942, a significant reserve of 16 Roman coins. First, the paper assesses the discovery of the hoard and its coins, dated from the second century BC to the early age of Augustus, which offer a great deal of information concerning hoarding trends in Gallia Cisalpina and contribute to greater knowledge of the history and archaeology of northern Italy. Then the essay compares the Calvatone hoard with the circulation of the coins of Bedriacum and new archaeological data from excavations." "A new terracotta tessera from the excavations of the University of Milan at Palmyra (Tadmor, Syrian Arab Republic) (2010)" "Antonino Crisa" "Between 2007 and 2010 the University of Milan and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Damascus carried out archaeological excavations in the southwest area of ancient Palmyra (Tadmor - Syrian Arab Republic)1. One of the most significant results of this field research, directed by Professor Maria Teresa Grassi and Dr. Waleed Al-As’Ad, has been the discovery of a vast (probably private) Roman building containing a large peristyle and a series of rooms (Fig. 1)2. In November 2010, the last month of excavation before the beginning of Arab uprisings in March 2011, some local workers found a terracotta token, one of the so-called “Palmyrene banquet tesserae”. This article presents this remarkable find and its archaeological context. The token offers new data on the use of terracotta tesserae in Palmyra, a subject of interest amongst past and current scholars3. Moreover, the tessera comes from a well-documented stratigraphic context, which reveals information about its potential purpose, and its final disposal or loss in a private housing area of the ancient city. The article contains three main sections. The first is a concise overview of the Roman building and archaeological context where the token was found in 2010. The second part offers a description and assessment of the tessera, analysing its iconography. The third section focuses on the token potential uses in relationship with the context where the artifact was finally deposited." "Why should the Palermo museum and Antonino Salinas keep Arabic coins? New records on Canon Giovanni Pacetto’s donation (1877)" "Antonino Crisa" "The main scope of this paper is to understand the role of Italian authorities acquiring Arabic coins for Sicilian museums. In particular, this essay presents some valuable, unpublished records that are relevant to the history of state collections in Sicily. Antonino Salinas (1841–1914), Director of the Palermo Museum and skilful numismatist, played a leading role in the history of Sicilian archaeology. In 1877, he accepted a donation of some coins, which were offered by Giovanni Pacetto (1806-84), and he also purchased additional finds to increase the museum numismatic collections. Archival records are, therefore, vital to assess why Salinas appreciated Arabic coins, and how donations and acquisitions occurred in the early post-Unification period. These two valuable case studies can help us to understand the history of state collections and the role of the authorities in Sicily, who were constantly interested in acquiring not only classical but also Arabic coins for the newly-born Palermo Museum." "When archaeology meets communities : impacting interactions in Sicily over two eras (Messina, 1861-1918)" "Antonino Crisa" "When Archaeology Meets Communities examines the history of nineteenth-century Sicilian archaeology through the archival documentation for the excavations – official and casual – at Tindari, Lipari and nearby minor sites in the Messina province from Italy’s Unification to the end of the First World War (1861-1918). The area and historical period have been fully neglected by past scholars and need in-depth investigation. The substantial evidence includes sets of approximately six hundred new records and black and white images from Italian and UK archives. The historical reconstruction, based on analysis of these records, lays the foundations for the entire volume and forms the basis from which the book develops innovative outlines on Sicilian archaeology. The structure follows this central concept. Furthermore, the volume seeks: a) to clarify relationships between the Italian Ministry of Public Education, the Museum of Palermo and local government authorities (‘3-level’ structure of interaction) and to pinpoint contacts with the contemporary social context; b) to compare archaeological research during the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the post-Unification period in northern Sicily in terms of methods, history of collecting, antiquities safeguarding and legislation; and c) to contextualise this work in terms of the evolution of archaeology and social change in the wider Italian and European contexts." "Collecting coins and connecting collectors : government and social networks in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816-1860)" "Antonino Crisa" "Recent archival research has revealed new data on the history of collecting and archaeology in northern Sicily during the nineteenth century, when Sicily was ruled by the Bourbons and annexed to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Records show how collectors, dealers and diggers operated in this historical context, and authorities dealt with illegal excavations, acquisition of collections and exportations of finds abroad. The main scope of this paper is to pinpoint an unexpected system of networks in Bourbon Sicily, focused on two principal case studies. First of all, I outline the so-called ‘Network of state authorities’, which comprises regional and local authorities dealing with the supervision and management of Sicilian antiquities. Archival research has clarified how the Bourbons undertook accurate and careful safeguarding to achieve this aim and to protect the archaeology. To explore this, I use the valuable case study of Giuseppa Giammone (1832), who found and collected ancient coins in Giarre (Catania) without reporting them to the local authorities." "The historical evolution of the Tindari-Marinello spit (Patti, Messina, Italy)" "Antonino Crisa" "The aim of this paper is to investigate the evolution of Tindari-Marinello spit, which comprises a natural reserve and small lakes between Tindari (west) and Oliveri (east) towns of Messina province (Sicily, Italy). In particular, the spit is certainly worthy of analysis because it represents a significant case study of interaction between human activities and geological evolution of the lakes and coastline. The paper will also provide data on antiquarian studies on Tindari and information on cartography, which are beneficial to understand the spit evolution through the past and present history."