This work centres on the detailed examination of inland ritual sites dating from the Archaic period in Sicily (late 8th to early 5th centuries BC), which is based on an emic perspective of the indigenous people. It aims to offer a nuanced analysis of local ritual sites by tracing the diverse formation and transformation processes on the basis of a selection of case studies. The indigenous cult sites are examined within the appropriate settlement contexts from the point of view of sociology of religion and social archaeology in order to gain new insight into how such sites functioned and what social structures and local identities were associated with each site.