- Laurea in Beni Culturali, indirizzo Archeologico - Università del Salento; - Specialista in Archeologia Classica - Civiltà del Mediterraneo Antico, Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici "D. Adamesteanu" - UniSalento. - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5811-616X
L’indagine affronta il noto problema delle testimonianze funerarie nel Salento pre-romano (Southe... more L’indagine affronta il noto problema delle testimonianze funerarie nel Salento pre-romano (Southern Italy): per quanto riguarda l’area iapigio-messapica, a partire almeno dal IX sec. a.C. e fino alla fine del VII sec. a.C., a dispetto di una notevole quantità di dati riguardanti gli insediamenti e dopo circa cinquanta anni di ricerca archeologica approfondita e sistematica del territorio, ancora oggi sono quasi totalmente assenti nella documentazione archeologica evidenze materiali necropoliche e funerarie, fatta eccezione per i noti enchytrismoi infantili. A partire dal VI sec. a.C., l’attestazione di sepolture formali a inumazione lascia spazio a uno scenario dove è possibile rilevare almeno un altro tipo di rituale funerario che tuttavia non ha lasciato resti materiali evidenti e che potrebbe essere perdurato nei tempi successivi con la compresenza del rituale inumatorio. Si tratta di un fenomeno culturale che potrebbe non essere stato limitato entro i confini territoriali del Salento e la cui origine è forse ravvisabile nelle ultime fasi dell’età del Bronzo. Attraverso la rilettura di alcune ipotesi di lavoro già formulate in passato dagli studiosi, l’analisi di taluni aspetti non ancora rilevati e i riferimenti attinti dall’etnografia e dall’antropologia culturale, si vuole restituire un inquadramento generale della questione.
This communication will focus on the results of the archaeological research carried out by the Un... more This communication will focus on the results of the archaeological research carried out by the University of Salento in Vaste (southern Apulia). In the very centre of the ancient settlement a holy place was set up between the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.: three sacred cavities contained the remains of rituals involving the sacrifice of various species of domestic animals with subsequent slaughter, cooking and collective banquet. In addition, it has been possible to discover another type of ritual that took place at the time of the dismissal of the sanctuary; it included the sacrifice of 5 dogs, neither slaughtered nor consumed.
Ancient sources report that bloody rituals involving dog killings were associated with different aspects of a religious, magical and purifying nature, based on the particular value attributed to this animal: a value often ambiguous since it was associated to many gods, including Aphrodite and Hecate, and was also considered impure and unclean.
It is possible to identify the use of this practice in several indigenous contexts of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which a similar act was clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as an “abandonment” or “closing ritual”. The remains of the dog lay above the layers of votive deposits or in connection with the destruction and abandonment layers.
The analysis of the ritual and the explanation of its diffusion together with the exegesis of the literary sources can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of ritual and the study of cultural transformation and reproduction phenomena.
It emerges that men’s alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions in the case of the dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between affinity and distinction feelings, between human society and animal species.
Keywords: sanctuary, sacrifice, feast, dogs, pre-roman.
In G. Woolf, I. Bultrighini, C. Norman (eds.) Sanctuaries and Experience: Knowledge, Practice and Space in the Ancient World (Potsdamer altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge, 83). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 115-146, 2024
Since the 1980s, the University of Salento has been carrying out systematic excavations
in South... more Since the 1980s, the University of Salento has been carrying out systematic excavations
in Southern Apulia with a view to studying settlement patterns from the Iron Age until
the Roman conquest, taking into account data relating to daily life, funerary rituals,
and cult places. During the Iron Age, from the ninth to the seventh centuries BCE,
the indigenous population of Apulia lived in small villages of huts. Greek colonization
meant that already at this time the natives of Southern Apulia came into contact with
the Greeks: the Spartan colony of Taras was founded in 706 BCE in the Ionian Gulf
and across the Adriatic Sea the Corinthians established the colony of Kerkyra in about
733 BCE.
During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through s... more During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through short-range trading routes in the areas around the Ionian-Adriatic basin. There were many black gloss ware workshops on the opposite shores, and we can recognize different regional productions. This kind of tableware is typical of the pre-Roman period but it was produced until the late Republican age and, sometimes, also in the early Roman Imperial age. Also in the Salento peninsula, some ateliers have been identified, thanks to kilns remains or other production indicators. In particular, this paper aims to discuss the data from the settlement of Vaste, inland of Otranto, and to propose an analysis of different shapes of black glossware in relation to different find contexts.
The paper focuses on the results of the archaeological research
carried out by the University of ... more The paper focuses on the results of the archaeological research carried out by the University of Salento in Vaste (Southern Apulia). In the very centre of this ancient settlement, a holy place was set up between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC: three cavities contained the remains of rituals involving the sacrifice of domestic animals with subsequent slaughter, cooking, and collective banquets. Even five dogs were sacrificed, although they were neither slaughtered nor consumed. Ancient authors report that bloody dog rituals were associated with the different aspects of religious behaviour based on the particular value attributed to this animal; this value was often ambiguous, since the dog was associated with many gods and considered impure and unclean. It is possible to identify the use of this rite in several contexts of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which similar acts were clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as “abandonment” or “closing rituals”: the remains of the dogs lay above the layers of votive deposits or in contact with the destruction and abandonment layers. An analysis of the ritual and an explanation of its diffusion, together with an exegesis of the literary sources, can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of the ritual. It emerges that human alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions in the case of dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between the feelings of affinity and distinction, between human society and animal species.
During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through s... more During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through short-range trading routes in the areas around the Ionian-Adriatic basin. There were many black gloss ware workshops on the opposite shores, and we can recognize different regional productions. This kind of tableware is typical of the pre-Roman period but it was produced until the late Republican age and, sometimes, also in the early Roman Imperial age. Also in the Salento peninsula, some ateliers have been identified, thanks to kilns remains or other production indicators. In particular, this paper aims to discuss the data from the settlement of Vaste, inland of Otranto, and to propose an analysis of different shapes of black glossware in relation to different find contexts.
L’indagine affronta il noto problema delle testimonianze funerarie nel Salento pre-romano (Southe... more L’indagine affronta il noto problema delle testimonianze funerarie nel Salento pre-romano (Southern Italy): per quanto riguarda l’area iapigio-messapica, a partire almeno dal IX sec. a.C. e fino alla fine del VII sec. a.C., a dispetto di una notevole quantità di dati riguardanti gli insediamenti e dopo circa cinquanta anni di ricerca archeologica approfondita e sistematica del territorio, ancora oggi sono quasi totalmente assenti nella documentazione archeologica evidenze materiali necropoliche e funerarie, fatta eccezione per i noti enchytrismoi infantili. A partire dal VI sec. a.C., l’attestazione di sepolture formali a inumazione lascia spazio a uno scenario dove è possibile rilevare almeno un altro tipo di rituale funerario che tuttavia non ha lasciato resti materiali evidenti e che potrebbe essere perdurato nei tempi successivi con la compresenza del rituale inumatorio. Si tratta di un fenomeno culturale che potrebbe non essere stato limitato entro i confini territoriali del Salento e la cui origine è forse ravvisabile nelle ultime fasi dell’età del Bronzo. Attraverso la rilettura di alcune ipotesi di lavoro già formulate in passato dagli studiosi, l’analisi di taluni aspetti non ancora rilevati e i riferimenti attinti dall’etnografia e dall’antropologia culturale, si vuole restituire un inquadramento generale della questione.
This communication will focus on the results of the archaeological research carried out by the Un... more This communication will focus on the results of the archaeological research carried out by the University of Salento in Vaste (southern Apulia). In the very centre of the ancient settlement a holy place was set up between the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.: three sacred cavities contained the remains of rituals involving the sacrifice of various species of domestic animals with subsequent slaughter, cooking and collective banquet. In addition, it has been possible to discover another type of ritual that took place at the time of the dismissal of the sanctuary; it included the sacrifice of 5 dogs, neither slaughtered nor consumed.
Ancient sources report that bloody rituals involving dog killings were associated with different aspects of a religious, magical and purifying nature, based on the particular value attributed to this animal: a value often ambiguous since it was associated to many gods, including Aphrodite and Hecate, and was also considered impure and unclean.
It is possible to identify the use of this practice in several indigenous contexts of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which a similar act was clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as an “abandonment” or “closing ritual”. The remains of the dog lay above the layers of votive deposits or in connection with the destruction and abandonment layers.
The analysis of the ritual and the explanation of its diffusion together with the exegesis of the literary sources can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of ritual and the study of cultural transformation and reproduction phenomena.
It emerges that men’s alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions in the case of the dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between affinity and distinction feelings, between human society and animal species.
Keywords: sanctuary, sacrifice, feast, dogs, pre-roman.
In G. Woolf, I. Bultrighini, C. Norman (eds.) Sanctuaries and Experience: Knowledge, Practice and Space in the Ancient World (Potsdamer altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge, 83). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 115-146, 2024
Since the 1980s, the University of Salento has been carrying out systematic excavations
in South... more Since the 1980s, the University of Salento has been carrying out systematic excavations
in Southern Apulia with a view to studying settlement patterns from the Iron Age until
the Roman conquest, taking into account data relating to daily life, funerary rituals,
and cult places. During the Iron Age, from the ninth to the seventh centuries BCE,
the indigenous population of Apulia lived in small villages of huts. Greek colonization
meant that already at this time the natives of Southern Apulia came into contact with
the Greeks: the Spartan colony of Taras was founded in 706 BCE in the Ionian Gulf
and across the Adriatic Sea the Corinthians established the colony of Kerkyra in about
733 BCE.
During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through s... more During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through short-range trading routes in the areas around the Ionian-Adriatic basin. There were many black gloss ware workshops on the opposite shores, and we can recognize different regional productions. This kind of tableware is typical of the pre-Roman period but it was produced until the late Republican age and, sometimes, also in the early Roman Imperial age. Also in the Salento peninsula, some ateliers have been identified, thanks to kilns remains or other production indicators. In particular, this paper aims to discuss the data from the settlement of Vaste, inland of Otranto, and to propose an analysis of different shapes of black glossware in relation to different find contexts.
The paper focuses on the results of the archaeological research
carried out by the University of ... more The paper focuses on the results of the archaeological research carried out by the University of Salento in Vaste (Southern Apulia). In the very centre of this ancient settlement, a holy place was set up between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC: three cavities contained the remains of rituals involving the sacrifice of domestic animals with subsequent slaughter, cooking, and collective banquets. Even five dogs were sacrificed, although they were neither slaughtered nor consumed. Ancient authors report that bloody dog rituals were associated with the different aspects of religious behaviour based on the particular value attributed to this animal; this value was often ambiguous, since the dog was associated with many gods and considered impure and unclean. It is possible to identify the use of this rite in several contexts of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which similar acts were clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as “abandonment” or “closing rituals”: the remains of the dogs lay above the layers of votive deposits or in contact with the destruction and abandonment layers. An analysis of the ritual and an explanation of its diffusion, together with an exegesis of the literary sources, can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of the ritual. It emerges that human alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions in the case of dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between the feelings of affinity and distinction, between human society and animal species.
During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through s... more During the late Hellenistic age, flourishing workshops produced pottery that circulated through short-range trading routes in the areas around the Ionian-Adriatic basin. There were many black gloss ware workshops on the opposite shores, and we can recognize different regional productions. This kind of tableware is typical of the pre-Roman period but it was produced until the late Republican age and, sometimes, also in the early Roman Imperial age. Also in the Salento peninsula, some ateliers have been identified, thanks to kilns remains or other production indicators. In particular, this paper aims to discuss the data from the settlement of Vaste, inland of Otranto, and to propose an analysis of different shapes of black glossware in relation to different find contexts.
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Conference Presentations by Davide Tamiano
A partire dal VI sec. a.C., l’attestazione di sepolture formali a inumazione lascia spazio a uno scenario dove è possibile rilevare almeno un altro tipo di rituale funerario che tuttavia non ha lasciato resti materiali evidenti e che potrebbe essere perdurato nei tempi successivi con la compresenza del rituale inumatorio.
Si tratta di un fenomeno culturale che potrebbe non essere stato limitato entro i confini territoriali del Salento e la cui origine è forse ravvisabile nelle ultime fasi dell’età del Bronzo.
Attraverso la rilettura di alcune ipotesi di lavoro già formulate in passato dagli studiosi, l’analisi di taluni aspetti non ancora rilevati e i riferimenti attinti dall’etnografia e dall’antropologia culturale, si vuole restituire un inquadramento generale della questione.
Ancient sources report that bloody rituals involving dog killings were associated with different aspects of a religious, magical and purifying nature, based on the particular value attributed to this animal: a value often ambiguous since it was associated to many gods, including Aphrodite and Hecate, and was also considered impure and unclean.
It is possible to identify the use of this practice in several indigenous contexts of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which a similar act was clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as an “abandonment” or “closing ritual”. The remains of the dog lay above the layers of votive deposits or in connection with the destruction and abandonment layers.
The analysis of the ritual and the explanation of its diffusion together with the exegesis of the literary sources can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of ritual and the study of cultural transformation and reproduction phenomena.
It emerges that men’s alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions in the case of the dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between affinity and distinction feelings, between human society and animal species.
Keywords: sanctuary, sacrifice, feast, dogs, pre-roman.
Books by Davide Tamiano
Papers by Davide Tamiano
in Southern Apulia with a view to studying settlement patterns from the Iron Age until
the Roman conquest, taking into account data relating to daily life, funerary rituals,
and cult places. During the Iron Age, from the ninth to the seventh centuries BCE,
the indigenous population of Apulia lived in small villages of huts. Greek colonization
meant that already at this time the natives of Southern Apulia came into contact with
the Greeks: the Spartan colony of Taras was founded in 706 BCE in the Ionian Gulf
and across the Adriatic Sea the Corinthians established the colony of Kerkyra in about
733 BCE.
carried out by the University of Salento in Vaste (Southern Apulia). In the very centre of this ancient settlement, a holy place was set up between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC: three cavities contained the remains of rituals involving the sacrifice of domestic animals with subsequent
slaughter, cooking, and collective banquets. Even five dogs were sacrificed, although they were neither slaughtered nor consumed. Ancient authors report that bloody dog rituals were associated
with the different aspects of religious behaviour based on the particular value attributed to this animal; this value was often ambiguous, since the dog was associated with many gods and considered impure and unclean. It is possible to identify the use of this rite in several contexts
of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which similar acts were clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as “abandonment” or “closing rituals”: the remains of the dogs lay above the layers of votive deposits or in contact with the destruction and abandonment layers. An analysis of the ritual and an explanation of its diffusion, together with an exegesis of the literary sources, can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of the ritual. It emerges that human alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions
in the case of dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between the feelings of affinity and distinction, between human society and animal species.
A partire dal VI sec. a.C., l’attestazione di sepolture formali a inumazione lascia spazio a uno scenario dove è possibile rilevare almeno un altro tipo di rituale funerario che tuttavia non ha lasciato resti materiali evidenti e che potrebbe essere perdurato nei tempi successivi con la compresenza del rituale inumatorio.
Si tratta di un fenomeno culturale che potrebbe non essere stato limitato entro i confini territoriali del Salento e la cui origine è forse ravvisabile nelle ultime fasi dell’età del Bronzo.
Attraverso la rilettura di alcune ipotesi di lavoro già formulate in passato dagli studiosi, l’analisi di taluni aspetti non ancora rilevati e i riferimenti attinti dall’etnografia e dall’antropologia culturale, si vuole restituire un inquadramento generale della questione.
Ancient sources report that bloody rituals involving dog killings were associated with different aspects of a religious, magical and purifying nature, based on the particular value attributed to this animal: a value often ambiguous since it was associated to many gods, including Aphrodite and Hecate, and was also considered impure and unclean.
It is possible to identify the use of this practice in several indigenous contexts of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which a similar act was clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as an “abandonment” or “closing ritual”. The remains of the dog lay above the layers of votive deposits or in connection with the destruction and abandonment layers.
The analysis of the ritual and the explanation of its diffusion together with the exegesis of the literary sources can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of ritual and the study of cultural transformation and reproduction phenomena.
It emerges that men’s alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions in the case of the dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between affinity and distinction feelings, between human society and animal species.
Keywords: sanctuary, sacrifice, feast, dogs, pre-roman.
in Southern Apulia with a view to studying settlement patterns from the Iron Age until
the Roman conquest, taking into account data relating to daily life, funerary rituals,
and cult places. During the Iron Age, from the ninth to the seventh centuries BCE,
the indigenous population of Apulia lived in small villages of huts. Greek colonization
meant that already at this time the natives of Southern Apulia came into contact with
the Greeks: the Spartan colony of Taras was founded in 706 BCE in the Ionian Gulf
and across the Adriatic Sea the Corinthians established the colony of Kerkyra in about
733 BCE.
carried out by the University of Salento in Vaste (Southern Apulia). In the very centre of this ancient settlement, a holy place was set up between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC: three cavities contained the remains of rituals involving the sacrifice of domestic animals with subsequent
slaughter, cooking, and collective banquets. Even five dogs were sacrificed, although they were neither slaughtered nor consumed. Ancient authors report that bloody dog rituals were associated
with the different aspects of religious behaviour based on the particular value attributed to this animal; this value was often ambiguous, since the dog was associated with many gods and considered impure and unclean. It is possible to identify the use of this rite in several contexts
of the Italian peninsula between the Iron Age and Romanization, in which similar acts were clearly distinguished in the stratigraphy and interpreted as “abandonment” or “closing rituals”: the remains of the dogs lay above the layers of votive deposits or in contact with the destruction and abandonment layers. An analysis of the ritual and an explanation of its diffusion, together with an exegesis of the literary sources, can be framed in a research perspective that includes the anthropology of the ritual. It emerges that human alimentary behaviours, even prohibitions
in the case of dogs, provide a key to understanding the ritual attitude towards animals; these behaviours are inscribed in the relationship of perpetual tension between the feelings of affinity and distinction, between human society and animal species.