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Feasting at Roca: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Society in the Southern Adriatic during the Late Bronze Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Francesco Iacono
Francesco Iacono*
Affiliation:
University College London, UK
*
[email: [email protected]]
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Abstract

This study examines some assumptions related to Late Bronze Age interaction between the Aegean world and central Mediterranean societies. It asserts that, contrary to what is often assumed, this relationship was extremely important and had considerable social consequences. It is argued that such an importance can be appreciated only by acknowledging that interaction is constituted by real-world social encounters. On the basis of this insight, the contextual evidence from the site of Roca in Apulia is analysed. It is proposed that archaeological remains here represent a series of public events—i.e. large feasts—possibly entailing the participation of people of different cultural backgrounds and in which a subtle strategy of representation of relative distance and closeness was adopted to promote interests within Roca's community. Such interests are interpreted with reference to the increasing connections between the eastern and western portions of the Mediterranean, substantiated in the circulation of metal and pottery models and types.

Cette étude examine quelques hypothèses relatives à l'interaction entre le monde égéen et les sociétés de la Méditerranée centrale pendant l'Âge du Bronze récent. On fait valoir que, contrairement à l'opinion prévalente, ces rapports étaient extrêment importants et engendraient des conséquences sociales considérables. Une telle importance ne peut être comprise qu'en admettant que l'interaction consiste en rencontres sociales ayant lieu dans le monde réel. On analyse ensuite, sur la base de ces connaissances, les preuves contextuelles provenant du site de Roca dans les Pouilles. Il est suggéré que les restes archéologiques représentent ici une série d'évènements publics—e.a. de grands festins—avec la participation probable de gens issus de cultures différentes et pendant lesquels une stratégie subtile de représentations de relatives distance et proximité était adoptée afin de promouvoir des intérêts au sein de la communauté de Roca. Ces intérêts sont définis par rapport aux liens croissants entre les parties est et ouest de la Méditerrannée, liens confirmés par la circulation de métal et de différents modèles et types de poterie. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Diese Studie untersucht einige Annahmen zur spätbronzezeitlichen Interaktion zwischen der ägäischen Welt und zentralmediterranen Gesellschaften. Es wird dabei behauptet, dass diese Beziehung—im Gegenteil zu geläufigen Annahmen—extrem wichtig war und tiefgreifende soziale Konsequenzen mit sich führte. Weiterhin wird ausgeführt, dass heute anerkannt werden muss, dass derart bedeutende Äußerungen nur durch tatsächliche persönliche Interaktion zustande gekommen sein können. Auf der Basis dieser Erkenntnis werden die kontextuellen Befunde von Roca in Apulien analysiert. Es wird vorgeschlagen, dass die hier angetroffenen archäologischen Spuren eine Reihe von öffentlichen Events, z. B. große Gelage, repräsentieren, die möglicherweise die Teilnahme von Menschen verschiedener kultureller Hintergründe umfassten, und mit denen eine subtile Strategie der Darstellung relativer Distanz bzw. Nähe Anwendung fand, um Interessen innerhalb der Gemeinschaft von Roca auszubauen. Derartige Interessen werden unter Berücksichtigung der zunehmenden Verbindungen zwischen dem östlichen und westlichen Bereich des mediterranen Raumes interpretiert, die sich über den Umlauf von Metall- und Keramikformen und -typen abzeichnen. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

Keywords

Southern ItalyLate Bronze AgeAegean-type potteryfeastinginteractionMycenaeansItalie du sudÂge du Bronze récentpoterie de type égéenfestininteractionMycéniensSüditalienSpätbronzezeitKeramik vom ägäischen Typrituelle GelageInteraktionMykener
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , 2015 , pp. 259 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 the European Association of Archaeologists 

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