A Necessary Apulian Perspective: The Study of Excavation Materials and Red-Figure Ceramics in an Interdisciplinary Form in the Post-Trendall Era (20 min)

Presenters

Luigi Todisco, Universit? degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro"

Abstract

The territory of today's Puglia region was densely populated since prehistoric times and had neither ethnic, political, nor administrative continuity until the Roman conquest in the mid-third century B.C.E. Together with the Greek population, represented by the Spartan colony of Taranto, the indigenous people of the Iapigi lived together for a long time, divided into Dauni to the north, Peucezi in the center, and Messapi in the south. The Greekness of Taranto and the internal relations between local and external communities with the Greeks, as with other Italic populations and peoples at the other side of the Adriatic Sea, make pre-Roman Puglia a historically very complex and articulated region, also from the point of view of monuments. The interest in its antiquities can be traced back to the mid-18th century, when the findings of figurative vases began, imported from Greece or locally produced, which fed a vast collecting activity extended widely even outside the kingdom of Naples in the following century. La Puglia dal Paleolitico al Tardoromano, edited by C. D. Fonseca (Milan, 1979), and the History of Puglia I, edited by G. Musca (Bari, 1979), are to be considered the first critical summaries on the studies conducted until then on Apulian archeology, complemented later by the two volumes by A. D. Trendall and A. Cambitoglou, The Red Figured-Vases of Apulia (Oxford 1978, 1982). These publishing enterprises have been fundamental for the course of subsequent investigations on the archaeology and history of craftsmanship of pre-Roman Puglia conducted so far. In an effort for promoting the region, the superintendency, Polo Museale, and the university have supported several archaeological activities open to international collaboration between scholars and research institutions. They undertake systematic excavations, arrangement of archaeological parks, modernization of museums, preparation of exhibitions, and organize conferences. In such a proactive context, What are the prospects that can be hoped for pre-Roman Apulia in today’s international dimension? This paper explores the new possibilities offered by an open and methodologically updated study of the enormous amount of excavation materials, including Apulian ceramics, accumulated in the deposits of museums and Soprintendenze, still unpublished or only reported, which goes alongside the conservation, discussion, and promotion of those already known.