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Populating Peucetia: Central Apulian Grave Good Assemblages from the Classical Period (late 6th -3rd centuries B.C.)

Peruzzi, Bice

Abstract Details

2016, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Classics.
This dissertation investigates the definition of cultural identity in Peucetia (Central Apulia, Italy), between the late 6th century and the 3rd century B.C. using evidence from geographical and chronological variability in burial practices. As the inhabitants of Peucetia –an Illyrian speaking population– have left no written accounts, they have been largely ignored by scholars. Moreover, traditional approaches to Peucetian artifacts have primarily focused on the assumed dichotomy between Greek colonists and the local “barbarians,” and have explained all cultural exchanges between them as forms of Hellenization. My study, instead, stresses the agency of the Peucetian population in selecting artifacts from different cultural traditions and repurposing them in their assemblages to fit their own local agendas. While Greek vases and customs were certainly appealing to the Peucetians, they never replaced the indigenous forms, which continued to appear in the assemblages in association with Greek and Greek-looking vessels. Rather, the Peucetians chose specific shapes and images from the Greek repertoire that could be assimilated easily into their existing tradition. Moreover, a contextual study of the assemblages shows how burials played a role in social exchanges in Peucetia, illustrating the deceased’s status, wealth and adherence to specific social behaviors, such as banqueting. I argue that in Peucetia funerals were very poignant moments in the life of the communities; they were aggregative events used by different social groups as arenas for the negotiation of social roles, and major changes in the material culture of the tombs reflected transformations in Peucetian social practices. Thus, through the study of Peucetian burial practices it is possible to trace the emergence of different social groups in the 6th and the 4th century, and the final dissolution of the traditional social structure in the second half of the 3rd century. In sum, my dissertation presents a new, post-colonial approach to the study of Peucetian burial practices, which moves away from the traditional paradigm of Hellenization. I argue that the choices made for Peucetian tombs have nothing to do with emulation of Greek culture, but rather they are the highly conscious expressions of the complex nexus of personal, social, political, and cultural identities that the deceased maintained in life. Although the image offered by tombs is filtered through funerary rituals, my study offers a first step toward a more nuanced understanding of the Peucetian society.
Kathleen Lynch, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Tom Carpenter, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Steven Ellis, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Eleni Hatzaki, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
357 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Peruzzi, B. (2016). Populating Peucetia: Central Apulian Grave Good Assemblages from the Classical Period (late 6th -3rd centuries B.C.) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1459165587

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Peruzzi, Bice. Populating Peucetia: Central Apulian Grave Good Assemblages from the Classical Period (late 6th -3rd centuries B.C.). 2016. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1459165587.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Peruzzi, Bice. "Populating Peucetia: Central Apulian Grave Good Assemblages from the Classical Period (late 6th -3rd centuries B.C.)." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1459165587

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)