Paolo Orsi Archaeological Museum in Siracusa

Sunday we drove on to the ancient Greek city of Siracusa, for a big day at the museum, the archaeological park, the medieval city, and the best Doric/Baroque temple/cathedral so far. Siracusa was settled by Greeks from Corinth in the mid-8th century BCE. And was said by some to rival Athens in its splendor. The museum's collection seemed to emphasize the everyday rather than the monumental, which was fine with us.

Entrance to the Paolo Orsi; Orsi was a regional archaeologist responsible for 
many of the area's important finds; it is a beautiful, new, capacious complex, 
already getting filled up...

The Orsi's particular strength, we thought, was in its paleo- and neolithic 
collections; the Greeks were not the first to settle here; above is a beautifully-
perfect 4th millennium BCE cup

Other neolithic pottery of unknown use--but interesting to speculate about

Just a smidge of the neolithic collection

Bone totem sticks, 2nd-3rd millenium BCE

Other devices of unknown use

And still more neolithic stuff

Gorgon image from one of the Greek temples in Siracusa; wait a second...
didn't we see this guy in a museum in Auckland?!

Votive City; hundreds of votive figures from the Temple of Ceres (or was it 
Demeter?), all carrying bundles of grain or even baked breads