the Giuseppe Whitaker museum. It is a rare example of a victor of a chariot race who must have been very wealthy in order to commission such a work. It was found built into Phoenician fortifications which were quickly erected before Dionysios I of Syracuse invaded and sacked Motya in 397 BC. Its superb quality implies that it was made by a leading Greek artist in the period following their defeat of the Persians, but its style is unlike any other of this period. It is believed it must have been looted from a Greek city conquered by Carthage in 409-405 BC. The earliest settlement Recent archaeology carrìed out by La Sapienza Universìty in the area of the "Kothon" found the earlìest occupation of the Phoenician settlement dating from the second quarter of the 8th century BC. It started at the anchorage identified on the southern shore of the island, and grew around the nearby springs, where the earliest sacred area was erected (Temple C5). This area initiated rapid growth of the town and houses spread over the acropolis (which had already hosted a huge prehìstoric village). Three main centres soon became established: the southern housing quarter with public buildings (Building C8 and Temple C5) the acropolìs the northern quarter with docks and industrial areas linked to the Sicilian coast opposite. At Ieast two thirds of the ìsland were still left free for agriculture. The Kothon This is an artificial lake on an otherwise very dry island that had long puzzled archaeologists since the first excavations by Joseph Whitaker in 1906/07. The lake was fed by the only fresh water spring on the island and enclosed with a rectangular, , perimeter wall of carved limestone blocks with a drain towards the sea. The basin, which was slightly bigger than an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was carved into the rock with a maximum depth of . Although thought at one time to be a harbour, in ancient times sea level was about lower than today (which is also shown by the depth the causeway to the island) and entry of large ships into the basin would have been impossible. Instead it is the largest known sacred pool in the ancient Mediterranean world and the area all around the Kothon, the Temenos or temple area, was also sacred and was enclosed by a semicircular wall which has been exposed. Next to the Kothon