BONN, GERMANY—An industrial area with 80 kilns has been found at the Greek site of Selinunte on the southwest coast of Sicily. “The largest one is 17 feet in diameter, making it the biggest kiln ever found in a Greek city,” Martin Bentz of the University of Bonn told Discovery News. Although located within Selinunte’s city walls, the industrial quarter, which dates to 550 B.C., was separated from inhabited areas to keep residents from the fire danger, smell, and noise. It had a central courtyard where products such as roof tiles and vases were dried before firing, two large working and firing areas, and a shop. “The whole construction is more than 3,900 square feet, by far the largest workshop we know in the Greek world,” Bentz said. To read about a recently discovered Phoencian ship that was engaged in trade with Sicily, see ARCHAEOLOGY's "Phoenician Artifacts Recovered Off Coast of Malta."
