Non solo ornamenti. Parures e oggetti-simbolo dalle tombe dei principi indigeni dell'area apulo-lucana

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.'