People of Ancient Daunia: Voicing the Statue-Stelae

The statue-stelae of Early Iron Age Daunia (north Apulia, Italy) are a group of stone slabs, each incised to represent the garb and accoutrements of a person. Many have additional figurative images drawn on their robes showing ritual practices, everyday activities, and scenes of local legend. Much that is attested upon the stelae is today otherwise intangible, including not only perishable items (leather, textiles, skin) but the articulation of local customs and narratives. 

The people of Daunia stood—metaphorically and literally—between the Etruscans, Samnites, Illyrians, and Greek colonists of Magna Grecia, but are not as well understood as those peoples. Beyond the funerary record, the material culture of Daunians is relatively poorly known. The stelae, however, provide a rich source of self-representation, offering an unparalleled window into the lives of a protohistoric people. 

This book offers an in-depth analysis of the monuments while fixing them in the broader framework of reference for pre-Roman Italy and the Adriatic. Grounded in the scholarship of postcolonial and gender archaeology, it pays full respect to the agency of indigenous societies and the important role of women. This is the first time a holistic study of the stelae has been undertaken, and the first presentation of the material in English.