Le parole della ricerca. Gli scritti di Enzo Lippolis e l’archeologia del sacro in Magna Grecia

The archaeology of cult and ritual represents one of the main themes developed by Enzo Lippolis in his wide-ranging research activity. The aim of this paper is therefore to reconstruct how his studies have contributed to the advancement of knowledge on these topics in the geographical, chronological and cultural context of Magna Graecia. A textual and philological analysis has been conducted on a selection of his most representative texts (monographs, articles, conference proceedings, etc.) dedicated to the problems of interpretation of terracotta figurines, votive deposits, architecture and sacred spaces in the Greek colonies of southern Italy. Direct quotations of significant terms, phrases and expressions have been used, highlighting the most recurrent key-words: they are, in fact, the linguistic mirror of the system and method proposed by Lippolis to deduce ritual practice and religious belief from material evidence.