EN PITHO TEN KERAMEIAN. ANALISI TIPOLOGICA, TECNOLOGICA E FUNZIONALE DEL PITHOS NELLA PEUCEZIA PREROMANA: IL CASO DI JAZZO FORNASIELLO (GRAVINA IN PUGLIA - BA)

The cultural importance of the pithos, the large container for foodstuffs, is emphasized both in written sources and in iconographic documents where it appears in scenes of daily life, sacred rituals, as well as in relation to mythical episodes. However, the most significant evidence of its importance is provided by the study of material culture. For this reason, in the present study, the preferred area of investigation is pre-Roman Peucetia, a region with a significant agricultural vocation, where numerous pithoi are attested from different excavation sites. In this paper, we consider the case study of the large containers from the Peucetian site of Jazzo Fornasiello (Gravina in Puglia). This site has been excavated by a team from the University of Milan since 2009, under the scientific direction of Professors Marina Castoldi and Claudia Lambrugo. The large containers remained in use for centuries, sometimes passed down through generations, being dismissed only when the dwelling, understood as a social unit, was deconstructed and abandoned. The pithos, due to the technical difficulties of production, is a valuable artifact that is repaired for a long time rather than replaced, and due to its considerable size, it is often unmovable. It is also important to note that, for its function as a container for foodstuffs, this ceramic artifact quickly became a symbol of family wealth. In an attempt to accurately understand how the large containers of Jazzo Fornasiello were used, Professor Silvia Bruni and her team from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Milan conducted specific investigations on traces of organic substances. The results, particularly from the analysis of wine markers, demonstrated that alcoholic beverages were definitely stored inside the pithoi at Jazzo Fornasiello. All diagnostic fragments, found in the excavations of Jazzo Fornasiello until the 2019 campaign, were carefully recorded. Comparing the catalogued fragments with published findings from other Apulian and Enotrian excavations, it was possible to obtain a typological classification of the pithoi attested in the site. Within the current research, wide space was dedicated to archaeometric analyses, conducted in close collaboration with Professor Giacomo Eramo from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. The analyses were performed on a large sample of vases in order to fully reconstruct the production chain underlying the making of the pithoi. The present research, which included a study of the large containers for foodstuffs from all perspectives, clearly highlighted the fundamental cultural significance that this ceramic form must have had within the Apulian communities, and within the agricultural-pastoral community settled at Jazzo Fornasiello between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE, in particular. Indeed, as a symbol of family wealth, it becomes a vehicle for family memory and a tool used in domestic rituals associated with the celebration of ancestor worship.