Visual Storytelling & Environmental Memory

Water Archaeology

Michele Cardano  ·  Basilicata

Water was a fundamental element in the religion of the ancient populations of Basilicata, a region in Southern Italy. For the Lucanians and ancient Greeks, many female deities, such as Artemis, Mefitis, and Aphrodite, were deeply connected to water and its vital role in both land and female fertility.

In ancient sanctuaries, the religious ritual was a moment of connection with the surrounding environment and a shared awareness of human fragility, fostering cohesion and a sense of belonging among communities. Today, archaeological remains speak of a lost bond between humans and natural resources.

Basilicata is rich in natural springs, reservoirs and dams, theoretically capable of supplying water to five million people. However, for years it has faced a severe water crisis driven by climate change and by infrastructural mismanagement. According to the River Basin Authority, the water deficit exceeded 35% in September 2025, leading to water disruptions in over 40 municipalities. For the past two years, local farmers have been forced to halve their harvests.

Political activism surrounding the management of the region's vast water resources is heavily driven by younger generations. Paradoxically, they must abandon their region for education and employment. Furthermore, the lack of social and family support in rural areas causes a declining birth rate and female marginalization. Despite its abundant energy and cultural resources, Basilicata suffers from the highest demographic decline in Italy.

In this context, archaeology becomes a key to questioning the present of a territory slowly slipping into isolation.

Lake Camastra: Reservoir supplying Potenza and nearby towns. In 2024, drought nearly dried it up, disrupting water supply; poor maintenance still reduces its capacity.
Terracotta head, ex-voto dedicated to Artemis. Extra-urban sanctuary of San Biagio alla Venella, Metaponto (4th century BCE). Artemis is the goddess of animals, woods, and cultivated lands. She was deeply revered in Basilicata for her connection to spring waters, overseeing transitions of status for both men and women.
Sculptural group depicting a hierogamy, the sacred marriage between two deities, probably Hades and Persephone (5th century BCE). This votive representation symbolizes the cosmic union that ensures the seasonal cycle and the fertility of the earth, serving as a powerful ritual model for matrimonial rites and female initiation within the sanctuary.
Decio has just peeled an orange for his wife, Lucia. The couple has always lived in Potenza. They have noticed a radical change in the climate: the snowfalls of their youth are gone, winters are no longer very cold, and the rains now arrive all at once in spring.
Gabriele in front of the regional government headquarters in Potenza. He and his high school student union were at the forefront of protests against water disruptions and the diversion of the water supply from the Basento, a river that flows through highly polluted industrial areas.
A heartfelt embrace between two best friends captures a bitter-sweet homecoming in a small village in Basilicata, made possible only by the Italian Universal Civil Service (Servizio Civile Universale). Official ISTAT data highlights a critical shortage of youth opportunities in the region, revealing a youth non-participation rate in the labor market of 34.8%. Consequently, temporary civic programs like this function as rare lifelines, delaying an otherwise forced youth emigration from their native towns.
Ex-voto, head of a statuette from the sanctuary of Rossano di Vaglio (4th century BCE-1st century CE). In the indigenous world of Basilicata, Aphrodite could be assimilated to Mefitis, a widely worshipped deity born from the observation of marshy areas, which represented a middle ground where the living and the dead met. Mefitis held multiple roles connecting her to both the chthonic and celestial worlds, making her the propitiator of all forms of fertility and health.
Artifacts from the sanctuary of Rossano di Vaglio, one of the most important sites for the ancient Lucanians and for the devotion to the goddess Mefitis. Founded in the 4th century BCE, it was designed around water channels fed by a local natural spring. The location of these sacred sites is explained by their strategic frontier positions along trade routes and their topographical relationship with natural resources.
A basin of the Rendina Dam, located near Lavello in the Melfi area. It was once one of Basilicata's main artificial reservoirs and crucial for its territory. It was emptied in 2005 due to structural problems and was never put back into operation.
According to ISTAT data, Basilicata records the sharpest demographic drop in Italy, losing 9 inhabitants for every 1,000 citizens during 2024-2026. The combination of a historic low birth rate and the continuous migration of young people has shrunk the regional population to 530,004 residents, accelerating the desertification of inner villages.
Maria Teresa, the second and final birth of the year in Anzi. Official ISTAT data registers an ongoing demographic collapse driven by youth out-migration, a crisis now compounded by severe water mismanagement that leaks over 62% of the available supply. Chronic water rationing and dry taps represent the ultimate breakdown of an unsupportive territory, where the inability to guarantee basic utility infrastructure actively undermines family life and forces the younger generation to abandon their homes.

Anzi · the water that is lost

0%

of the available water supply leaks away before it reaches a tap.

Of every thousand particles of water the region draws, more than six hundred scatter and vanish through broken pipes before anyone opens a tap. What gathers below, fewer than four parts in ten, is what is rationed among its farms, its villages and its dwindling households.

Figure reported from Anzi, Basilicata. Source: regional water data cited in the field reporting.

The abandoned Rendina Dam. Restoring it will now require years of complex engineering work. Empty for over two decades, its permanent inactivity forces local farmers to look for alternative water supplies in an increasingly arid territory.
Council chamber of the municipality of Anzi, one of the towns hardest hit by water disruptions and progressive depopulation.
Vine leaf, ex-voto from the sanctuary of Rossano di Vaglio (4th century BCE-1st century CE). In the cult of Mefitis, this bronze leaf functioned as a ritual offering to propitiate earth productivity, agricultural fertility, and the seasonal renewal of nature. The vine leaf represents nature's annual regeneration and rebirth, a concept later adopted into Christian iconography.
Loris and his wife studied agriculture in Pavia, then decided to return to Policoro, where they were born and raised, to start a farm. In recent years, water disruptions caused by drought and infrastructure failures have become extremely frequent, forcing them to reduce their harvest.
Female statuette, ex-voto from the sanctuary of Rossano di Vaglio (4th century BCE-1st century CE). Representing a female devotee, this terracotta bust was dedicated to the goddess Mefitis to invoke female fertility, health, and divine protection during key life transitions.
A 1958 school class in Policoro, during the economic and demographic boom triggered by the 1950 Land Reform. The radical land reclamation (bonifica) and new irrigation networks transformed the Metaponto plain into a flourishing, highly productive agricultural hub.
Vittoria and Alessandro must decide what to plant in this uncultivated field; their choice depends heavily on the plant's water needs. Many farmers build private wells on their land to compensate for water disruptions.
Francesco, an agronomist and farmer from the Metaponto area, stands in front of the Monte Cotugno Dam in Senise. Data from the Ministry of Infrastructure and regional water registries highlights a history of strict operating limits on the reservoir, resulting in severe water restrictions for regional agriculture. For over two decades, bureaucratic and legal delays left critical maintenance unresolved, including the essential replacement of the dam's waterproof surface lining, preventing the infrastructure from functioning at its full 530 million cubic meter capacity and causing constant irrigation emergencies for local farmers.
The aqueduct of the Monte Cotugno Dam is one of the most important in Southern Italy, supplying vast amounts of water to Basilicata and, above all, to neighboring Puglia.

the same number, twice

530 million m³ the water the reservoir can hold
530,004 residents the people the region has left

A reservoir built to hold as many cubic meters of water as there are people still living in the region around it. The water is measured in millions; the people are counted one by one.

Nereid, water nymph, found in the mountain sanctuary of Rossano di Vaglio (4th century BCE). The presence of this marine and aquatic imagery in an inland mountain site reflects both the strong cultural influence of nearby Greek colonies and the symbolic connection to the sacred springs of the Lucanian sanctuary.
The Monte Cotugno Dam. Completed in 1982, it is the largest earth-fill dam in Europe and serves as a vital water hub for Southern Italy. It forms a massive artificial reservoir with a maximum capacity of 530 million cubic meters.
Frigidarium of a Roman public bath complex from Cugno dei Vagni, Nova Siri (3rd century CE). In Roman Lucania, this elaborate mosaic and fountain served as vital civic infrastructure designed to foster social interaction and community cohesion.

Potenza, the administrative capital of Basilicata. Scientific monitoring highlights a dramatic environmental paradox: despite historically supplying water to much of Southern Italy, the city faces a severe structural climate crisis, with winter reservoir inflows dropping by up to 80%. This acute scarcity is compounded by critical pollution in surrounding rivers like the Basento, where industrial runoff and hydrocarbon contamination threaten both ecosystem survival and regional water security.