Greeks and indigenous people in Archaic Sicily: methodological considerations of material culture and identity

This article deals with methodological considerations of material culture and identity, using primarily evidence from Archaic Sicily, where Greeks and indigenous peoples interacted closely at this time. Identities are complex and multilayered and not easy to identify using only material culture, with its inherently ambivalent character. Therefore additional sources and methods (natural sciences, literary and visual sources) are necessary to detect »identity markers« which have left their traces of social life. In this chapter we explore briefly changes in interpretations regarding the relationship between social identities and material culture in the spheres of writing, architecture, art, coinage, and religious practices.