A NEW HIEROPHANY AT MONTE CROCCIA (BASILICATA)

Abstract

We have presented in previous SEAC Conferences the winter solstice hierophany at rock complex of “Petre

de la Mola” sited on Monte Croccia (Basilicata, Italy), which demonstrates the sacred value of this site in past

epochs. However, during our last visit to Monte Croccia on winter solstice 2016 we discovered a new and

even more astonishing observing point of the winter solstice sunset inside the Osco-Samnite settlement,

located on the same mountain peak at 1150 m above sea level, a few hundred meters from the rock complex

(40° 33’ 02” N, 16° 11’ 39” E).

Right at the highest point of the acropolis of this settlement, the city walls goes around two big boulders,

including them in its interior and not using them as a part of the wall, as in all other parts of the fortification.

The narrow opening between the two boulders was monumentalized with a series of steps, leading to a flat

passage between them. A square petroglyph, with incisions inside, was engraved on one of the boulders.

Standing in front of the steps leading to the passage, the sun is seen to set at the winter solstice exactly

between the two boulders. We can not exclude that this fact happens by chance. However, the

monumentality of the place, the fact that the two boulders have been included inside the city walls and the

presence of the hierophany on the same day in the nearby megalith suggest that the cult of the winter

solstice on Monte Croccia was maintained through the centuries, until the end of the occupation of the site.