Archeonaut - APT Basilicata

TheSiris HerakleiaArchaeological Areaand National Museum inPolicoroSiris HerakleaVia Colombo, 8 - tel. (+39) 0835 972154Opening times: Monday and Wednesday - Sunday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm;Tuesday. 2:00 – 8:00 pm - Closed weekly: Tuesday morningsThe Siris Herakleia ArchaeologicalArea and National Museumin Policoro siris HerakleiaThe Heliades, daughters of the sun, wept so much that astheir copious tears fell into the waters of the Eridanos,where Zeus had cast down their brother Phaeton,they solidified and became amber, while their bodiesgradually turned into poplars.This is the lyrical origin of amber, as told by Ovid in hisMetamorphosis, where he explains it through myth ratherthan science. The ambers in the Siritide Museum in Policoroare the undisputed prize among female personal objects,and also those of men: necklaces, earrings, breastplates,belts, pendants, totemic objects, good luck charms andanimals (ducks and rabbits), which recall earthly life.This museum collects remnants of the Magna Graeciaworld from the cities of Siris and Herakleia, a civilisationwhose traces still remain in the ground of the park’s hugearchaeological area and in the Museum’s display cases,which preserve objects and history.Here we encounter a flourishing society that developed inthe vicinity of two rivers, the Agri and the Sinni (whoseancient name, Siri, was given to the city of Siris). It wasgreatly affected by the influence of nearby Sybaris, as wellas that of the native populations, who gradually modelledthemselves on the standards of the Greeks with whom theycame into contact.Siris was founded in the mid-7th century BC by Greekrefugees fleeing from Kolophon, in Asia Minor, after theLydian king Gyges attacked their settlement.From the Bronze Age (10th century BC), while the Mycaeankingdom was crumbling in the east, Ionic Basilicata passedthough a serious crisis, from which it only emerged in thefollowing century, when the population increased andexpanded towards the settled areas of the interior, wherethere were Choni and Oenotrians.Red-figure pelikeby the painter ofPolychoronLate 5th century BC45