Ambiente, paesaggio, insediamento: il Water Management a Elea

The relationship between the orography, the landscape and the organization of the inhabited area of Elea is particularly reflected in the problem of water management which is a very distinctive topic since the foundation of this city, namely in the last quarter of the 6th century B.C. As for the supply structures, since the number of cisterns is limited, it follows that here houses conserve water in mobile containers. A well-known terracotta figure with a lion’s head suggests, probabily, the presence of Krenai. The drainage system is based on a public disposal channel, on the viability and, finally, on the relationship between the roofs of the houses and the natural slopes. In addition to the hydraulic infrastructures, it is mostly the careful interaction with the morphology of the site to guarantee both a satisfactory water management and a hydrogeological equilibrium. From the 5th century BC, this state of balance began to alter, causing erosion and alluvial dynamics. The Acropolis became the place of the main urban sanctuary: this rearrangement involved both the obliteration of the late archaic settlement and a different relationship with the local landscape. The process of urbanization of larger sectors of this settlement or the modification of the soil regime may have also altered the vegetation cover, which increased the vulnerability of the slopes. Consequently, we cannot exclude that such environmental changes are possibly connected with some political events taking place in Elea, ranging from the short period of tyranny, to the change in interstate relations with both Poseidonia and Reggio and, finally, to any clashes with the Lucanians.