The deep relationships, already existing since the 8th century BC, with Etruscan and Greek culture have triggered in the indigenous communities of Apulia and Basilicata a series of socio-cultural dynamics that will lead to a fundamental stage of social differentiation, based no longer on the role but on the high rank. If in the previous centuries the warrior was characterized only by the presence of the bronze spear, from the end of the 9th and especially in the 8th century the element that distinguishes it is the sword, which becomes a symbol of personal prestige. In this phase, the armed people is often accompanied by instruments connected with specialized activities (chisels) or with agriculture (agricultural tools), which also express the control of the means of production and the new concept of land ownership. In very rare cases, in the funerary assemblages there are some prestige goods imported from Etruria or from Cumae, such as bronze basins, lebetes and cauldrons, connected with ceremonial practices of Euboic- Tyrrhenian influence. By the 7th century BC, when the so-called phenomenon of the "birth of the princes" is affirmed, the traditional warlike ideology of the indigenous aristocracy does not seem to undergo deep changes. The high rank of the warrior continues to be highlighted by the sword, but also by the spear and shield. However, the assemblages are enriched with numerous prestige goods that circulate along the routes that connect Basilicata and Apulia to the Etruscan Campania, especially bronze vases and other valuable objects, bearers of a new aristocratic cultural model. A different framework is offered by the tombs of warriors related to the 6th century BC, which present more articulated assemblages, in which are found many prestige goods from the Etruscan and Hellenic world, such as bronze vases and figured pottery, while the panoply is enriched with Corinthian helmets, greaves and shields with figured girders (schildband) according to the customs of the Greek hoplites. It is above all a parade armament that serves to emphasize the rank and the high social level of the deceased. Another data is given by the presence of the chariot that characterizes not only the male tombs, but also the female ones of the dominant classes. If, on the one hand, it is proposed as an instrument of war, on the other it constitutes a further sign of social distinction. The use of the horse is attested by the presence in some exceptional burials of very precious parade harnesses that protect the chest and the muzzle, often characterized by a refined figured decoration. The ceremonial and symbolic use of these elements of the panoply, as well as of figured girders of shields and swords, are emphasized by the ornamental and figured themes, but also by the presence of Black-Figure Attic pottery with mythical episodes and war scenes or gender representations through which the heroic world of the prince is expressed. Towards the end of the 6th century BC and in the subsequent one there was a substantial continuity with the warlike ideology of the Archaic period, even if the armament no longer constitutes the main element of attention for the ruling classes, now replaced by convivial practices. In some cases, figured Attic pottery and weapons constitute a complex system of images with references to the reality of combat (we can think to the labours of Heracles or the duels of Achilles), which constitute precise symbols of self-representation and recall the heroic condition of the deceased.

The first carved ambers appear in the Adriatic area at the end of the eighth century BC with the beginning of the Orientalizing period. Among the most active centers, the Etruscan Verucchio is one of the main poles for the sorting of amber. At the beginning of the sixth century, a fundamental role is exercised from Piceno and the Etruscan Felsina, whose intercept part of the tra!cs previously directed on the Adriatic road. Real amber sculptures of high stylistic level appear towards the second half of the sixth century, found in the rich italic tombs (Basilicata, Apulia, Piceno), traced back to two specialized workshops, localizable in Canosa and Armento, at whose birth they certainly contributed artisans from Ionia and from Etruria.

The discoveries of the last thirty years in Apulia have highlighted the leading role of this region, and especially ancient Peucetia, in the evolution of Lucanian and Apulian red-figured pottery. In fact, from the last decades of the fifth century BC onwards the aristocratic classes of Apulia (in the fourth century also those of the Daunian district) were the main patrons and consumers of the products of Italic workshops. As the most complex elements of the funerary assemblage there was a specific demand for those objects. They were entrusted with the ideological messages and representative needs of the deceased, displaying their wealth, the social role they played in life, and their adoption of cultural and ideological models of Hellenic origin. They also refer to the deceased's forms of religiosity and to their adherence to and participation in beliefs of 'salvific type', albeit filtered through their own cultural values and ideologies. In fact, it is highly likely that the needs of such a rarefied patronage influenced Italic figured production from the beginning their specific requests governed the selection of themes and compositions.

The archaeological discoveries of recent years and the latest studies about the uses and customs of Italic aristocracies of the Apulian-Lucanian area have added some relevant data concerning to the class of personal adornments and symbolic objects, fundamental elements underpinning the phenomenon of the birth of aristocracies between the eighth and seventh century BC. Even more indicative, as confirmed by the latest research and depth analysis of some archaeological finds, is the bond that unites these indigenous aristocracies to those of the Tyrrhenian area, active since the ninth century BC. Testimony of such deep relationships are the ornaments found in extraordinary burials, some of which they add, to the preciousness of the material, the sophistication of the workmanship and the rare and exotic character (amber, ivory and faïence). Consider, for example, the sumptuous parures characterizing burials of Enotrian and North-Lucanian princesses (Alianello, Chiaromonte, Baragiano and Braida di Vaglio), characterized by countless amber beads, some of which depict animals whose origin sinks into religious beliefs related to earliest times and perhaps coming from foreign cultural environments, from ivory and bronze beads, as well as scarabs and faïence figurines of Egyptian deities. The parures found in the tombs of Daunian princesses are no less interesting, though less sumptuous, which are marked not only by several personal adornments but also by the presence of symbolic objects in precious metals, many of which imported by Southern Etruria (diadems, sceptres, distaffs) that emphasize royal status of the deceased with a definite reminder of the aristocracies sung by Homer in his poems. The interest and the reference to the Homeric poems are even higher at the presence of the unusual ritual of horses burial matched to the tombs of Daunian princesses. A key role is undoubtedly played by archaic figured ambers, powerful amulets able to defeat the evil eye and the fear of death, whose subjects evoke mythical figures and characters related to funerary and Dionysian world, whose task was to accompany and protect the dead during their long journey into the darkness of Underworld toward the 'everlasting salvation.'

The study takes up some issues relating to the location of the workshops that produced the valuable figured ambers that marked the aristocratic burials of southern Italy from the eighth to fifth century BC. The contribution of findings and recent studies enabled us to assign some groups of artifacts to the activity of different workshops and even to identify outstanding artistic personalities, highlighting the undeniable stylistic connections between them.

The first carved ambers appear in the Adriatic area at the end of the eighth century BC with the beginning of the Orientalizing period. Among the most active centers, the Etruscan Verucchio is one of the main poles for the sorting of amber. At the beginning of the sixth century, a fundamental role is exercised from Piceno and the Etruscan Felsina, whose intercept part of the tra!cs previously directed on the Adriatic road. Real amber sculptures of high stylistic level appear towards the second half of the sixth century, found in the rich italic tombs (Basilicata, Apulia, Piceno), traced back to two specialized workshops, localizable in Canosa and Armento, at whose birth they certainly contributed artisans from Ionia and from Etruria.

MONTE SANNACE. Le tombe dipinte dei Peucezi: le indagini su questa collina della provincia di Bari hanno restituito l'esempio meglio conservato di una città della Puglia preromana, ma per capire il livello di civiltà e i rapporti culturali delle genti peucezie che vi si insediarono rivestono particolare importanza le pitture di alcune tombe monumentali appartenute alle élites aristocratiche del luogo.

Sono state esposte le sintesi delle conoscenze scientifiche acquisite sino ad oggi sulle Antiche Vie dell'Ambra, dal Mesolitico fino all'Antica Roma e dal Mar Baltico all'Europa Meridionale, al Mar Nero ed al Medio Oriente, con riferimenti ai ritrovamenti più recenti, ai giacimenti, con particolare riguardo all'ambra baltica, e sono state avanzate contemporaneamente ipotesi o riferimenti sui tragitti relativi. Una particolare evidenza è stata data alle vie che attraverso lo scambio commerciale hanno determinato la diffusione delle diverse culture fra i popoli e quindi maggior valore assumono in questo contesto le antichissime vie di epoche in cui i contatti e la comunicazione fra i popoli erano in dipendenza soprattutto delle vie del commercio. Grande importanza hanno assunto, alla luce delle superiori considerazioni, le vie che in epoca protostorica, ed in particolare nelle età del Bronzo e del Ferro, hanno consentito e caratterizzato i commerci dell'Ambra, oltreché di altri materiali, dal Mar Baltico, all'Adriatico, all'Egeo, al Mar Nero ed al Medio Oriente, mettendo in contatto popoli e culture completamente diversi fra loro, contribuendo senza dubbio allo sviluppo delle civiltà e delle conoscenze. Le vie di pace, come quelle dell'ambra, hanno sempre generato cultura.

Proceedings of the International Conference (Gioia del Colle, October 21-22, 2014)

Il presente volume è compreso in una serie di attività scientifiche conclusive che rientrano in una delle principali e fondamentali azioni previste dal progetto T.He.T.A (Technological tools for the promotion of the Transadriatic Archaeological Heritage), finanziato nell' ambito dell' European Territorial Cooperation Programme Greece-Italy 2007-2013, del quale il CNR-IAC è il Leader Partner. La scelta di un tema talmente affascinante, quale il lusso delle aristocrazie peucezie, nasce dalla volontà di approfondire questo importante aspetto delle genti indigene che hanno occupato la Puglia centrale per quasi un millennio, indagando alcuni fenomeni sociologici e culturali legati alle manifestazioni del lusso e della ricchezza. Per questo motivo, sono stati spesso presi in considerazione alcuni tra i contesti più significativi provenienti dai centri più importanti dell' area, cercando di metterne in risalto gli elementi e gli atteggiamenti comuni nell' uso e nel possesso dei beni di lusso e di prestigio, con particolare riguardo ai manufatti greci, e i rapporti con l' opposta sponda adriatica e con le isole greche dello Ionio (Corfù tra tutte). Infine, nell' analisi della documentazione funeraria, una particolare attenzione è stata prestata alle informazioni inerenti l' identità sociale dei proprietari delle tombe e ai diversi rituali funerari di cui questi individui sono stati oggetto.

Tombe aristocratiche dall'acropoli di Monte Sannace. Indagini sulle strutture, sui contesti e sulle decorazioni dipinte

Per circa un millennio, l'ambra ha goduto di una particolare fortuna in Puglia e nella vicina Basilicata, tanto da costituire uno dei principali fossili-guida utilizzati per ricostruire la storia archeologica della regione. Particolarmente interessante è la diffusione delle ambre figurate nel Basso Adriatico, presenti esclusivamente nelle ricche sepolture indigene della Puglia centro-settentrionale (Peucezia e Daunia) durante la fase preromana, con la pressochè totale esclusione del distretto meridionale (Messapia) e con qualche sporadica testimonianza a Taranto. Il volume rappresenta un primo importante tentativo verso una classificazione tipologica delle ambre figurate rinvenute nella Puglia preromana, in un arco cronologico che va dal VII al IV secolo a.C.