Missione Archeologica dell’Università di Chieti in Libia 2021-2023: il lavoro nel territorio di Cirene

Between 2021 and 2023 the survey seasons of the Mission of Chieti University have been six: two in 2021 (in February in Tripoli and in December in Cyrenaica), two in 2022 (February and December, both in Cyrene) and two in 2023 in September (Tripoli and Cyrene) and then October (again in Tripoli and Cyrene) for a mission specifically finalized to map and assess the damages of Daniel Storm between the 10th and the 11th of September. The different seasons have been concentrated on two main topics, that is Cyrene Museum and storerooms, for continuing the study of the sculptures, and on the mapping and monitoring of the territory, in order to document sites and monuments of the chora. Some of the seasons, especially for 2022, have been organized in collaboration with colleagues of other missions working in Cyrenaica, as Urbino University Mission (with the colleague Oscar Mei), and the Mission of the coasts in Cyrenaica (with the colleague Cecilia A. Buccellato), in order to share data, organization and methodological approach; this kind of collaboration is always fruitful for a more systematic organization of work and results. From the point of view of the results, these tree years of survey and studies have been particularly fruitful, although there were brief seasons, of about ten days or two weeks. Concerning the works in the Museum and in its storerooms, the attention has been concentrated on the cataloguing, study and non invasive archaeometric analyses of the fifty sculptures which have been recovered and saved by the DoA and the local police from the internal illicit market. The surveys of the rock-cut sanctuaries have brought to new discoveries of monuments in the sanctuary of Ain Hofra, as well as to a more detailed study and mapping of the extramural Sanctuary of Dionysos, which is located on the eastern slopes of Baggara, which has even two interesting large rock-cut statues of this god. The surveys in the territory of Cyrene saw several news, especially concerning the rural villages and the settlements with workshop and markets.