Recherche par auteur > Giacomo Vizzino

Like all sacred places, also the funerary landscape is characterized by being a strategic point within a territorial area with a high symbolic and cultural power.The funerary deposits constitute a privileged observatory of the complex settlement and socio-cultural dynamics of the area.Furthermore, in recent years, a multidisciplinary approach has been increasingly used to study the funerary sphere, exploiting for example the potential offered by GIS software, and in particular spatial and intervisibility analysis, to try to grasp existing visual perceptions between different places.This paper focuses on the study of the topography and use of funerary areas in Southern Apulia in Pre-Roman period (4th- 3rd century B.C.).I will take into consideration two of the largest settlements in the Messapian area which were to represent socio-cultural and economic points of reference, central places, for the entire region: Ugento and Mesagne. In this phase of intense transformation of Messapian area, there is a notable demographic increase, new ways of organizing the inhabited areas and the territory, structured according to a “cantonal system”, where the main cities exceed 100 hectares in size. In particular, the two cities are located in different and opposite points of the Salento area: Ugento is located in the south-western part of the Salento peninsula, while Mesagne is located at its northern limit.The aim of this work is to shed light on the complexity of the funerary landscape and the rituals carried out, trying to restore the perception that not only the inhabitants of the communities of southern Apulia had, but also the non natives who crossed the Salento peninsula.It will be interesting to establish the relationship, visual but not only, between the funerary areas and the space dedicated to the "community of the living", demonstrating how the two sectors were not separate entities, but parts of a single whole. In particular, thanks to the study of the rituals and grave goods, it will be possible to recognize territorial hierarchies, with spaces reserved for the elite, rituals widespread and shared by the community and other forms reserved for members of foreign cultures.