Megara Iblea, Female burials, Solar cults, Mater Matuta, Childbearing
Abstract
The article analyzes the 660 grave in Megara Iblea, a Greek colony in Sicily, in which a woman has been buried. On her breast a magnificent neckless was found, made of amulets recalling the travel of the sun during the summer solstice. Some objects allude to solar cults (a cock; round pendants), others seem to came from Gallia and Macedonia (summer far West and East), others recall archeological contexts such as tombs in Marvinci, in the Vardar Valley, and allude to relations with female practices of medicine and magic and to female roles characterized by extraordinary powers, due to being descendants of the Sun god. These solar symbols, joint with the discovery of many little objects, typical of children burials, allow to hypotize a relation with the cult of Mater Matuta and seem to point out a difficult or anomalous pregnancy or birth.
