Tyrrhenian Italy and the islands of the western Mediterranean had played an important part in Greek contacts with the region throughout the archaic period, but from the end of the sixth century, these decline markedly and the classical period is one of contraction and change. In Etruria, the presence of imported Greek pottery both changes in emphasis and declines in quantity. The east Greek and Corinthian wares which were characteristic of the seventh and early sixth centuries disappear and are replaced by Attic pottery. In the early fifth century, Attic imports remain significant but are increasingly restricted in distribution to the major coastal centres such as Gravisca and Pyrgi, and to their immediate hinterland. From c. 480, these imports decline markedly in quantity, even at these centres. Graviscae and Pyrgi were both sanctuaries which acted as emporia for a large quantity of Greek, Phoenician and eastern imports throughout the sixth century and votive deposits indicate that they were major points of contact, used by Greeks and Phoenicians as well as Etruscans. Large numbers of Greek votives, mainly pottery and lamps of Greek manufacture, are found in the sixth-century levels at Gravisca, and the number of votives inscribed in Greek (mainly Attic dialect) with Greek personal names may suggest a Greek population there until c. 480, although it is also possible that these are the results of a transient population of Greek visitors (Dubois 1995). After this date, however, Greek inscriptions disappear from the archaeological record, and the incidence of Attic pottery declines sharply, although it revives briefly at the end of the fifth century. This coincides with changes to the structure of the sanctuary and also an overall decline in the richness and quantity of the Etruscan votives, suggesting a period of general economic decline as well as diminution of contact with the Greek world (Torelli 1971,1977 and 1999). A similar pattern can be found at Pyrgi, with a decline in imported Greek votives during the course of the fifth century (Baglione 1989-90).
Greek contact with Corsica and Sardinia also undergoes a decline during the course of the fifth century. The important centre of Alalia on Corsica flourished during the sixth century as a substantial settlement with a mixed population of Greeks, Etruscans, Phoenicians and indigenous inhabitants (Jehasse & Jehasse 1994). In 540, however, it was sacked following a major sea battle in which the Phokaians who had settled there after the Persian invasion of Ionia were defeated by a combined Etruscan and Carthaginian fleet (Hdt. 1.166), and the Greek population abandoned the site. The Carthaginian expansion of the late sixth century also had a major impact on Greek relations with the other islands of the western Mediterranean and with southern Spain. By the beginning of the fifth century, most of Sardinia was also under Carthaginian control (Diodoros 11.20.4-5, 14.63.4 and 14.77.6; D’Oriano 1990: 148-9). Greek contact is still discernible in the fifth and fourth centuries, but mainly with the Greek settlements of Italy and Sicily. Contact with the Aegean world appears to be indirect, at best. Attic pottery found in burials at Sulcis may have been imported via Ischia rather than direct from Athens (D’Oriano 1990: 148-9). In the fourth and early third centuries, this pattern intensifies, and the Greek goods found are mainly imported from other western Greek settlements. Iberian pottery, including grey ware from Emporion, is found in a fourth-century cemetery at Nora, and Tarentine jewellery and Apulian red figure pottery were buried in Punic graves at Monte Luna (D’Oriano 1990: 151-6). These, along with Graeco-Italic amphorae, seem to suggest that although Greek goods were still arriving in Sardinia in the fourth century, they were doing so via a Carthaginian network of exchange, not through the direct presence of Greeks. Recent studies of western Sardinia have revealed a very complex pattern of culture contact and exchange in the fifth-third centuries bc. Evidence from settlements and burials indicates a strong Carthaginian culture, with some Greek influence, but examination of votives from sanctuaries in this area shows the development of a very distinctively local ritual culture, absorbing influences from Greek and Carthaginian artefacts but transforming them into hybridized local forms (van Dommelen 1997: 313-20).
World History
