Perfume Vessels in South-East Italy: A comparative analysis of Perfume Vessels in Greek and Indigenous Italian Burials from the 6th to 4th Centuries B.C.

Abstract

To date there has been a broad range of research investigating both perfume use in the Mediterranean and the cultural development of south-east Italy. The use of perfume was clearly an important practice in the broader Mediterranean, however very little is known about its introduction to the indigenous Italians and its subsequent use. There has also been considerable theorising about the nature of the cross-cultural relationship between the Greeks and the indigenous Italians, but there is a need for archaeological studies to substantiate or refute these theories. This thesis therefore aims to make a relevant contribution through a synthesis of these areas of study by producing a preliminary investigation of the use of perfume vessels in south-east Italy. The assimilation of perfume use into indigenous Italian culture was a result of their contact with the Greek settlers in south-east Italy, however the ways in which perfume vessels were incorporated into indigenous Italian use have not been systematically studied. This thesis will examine the use of perfume vessels in indigenous Italian burials in the regions of Peucetia and Messapia and compare this use with that of the burials at the nearby Greek settlement of Metaponto. The material studied will consist of burials from the sixth to fourth centuries B.C., to enable an analysis of perfume use and social change over time. An analysis of the broad distribution of perfume vessels was undertaken, followed by a more detailed examination of the relationships between perfume vessels and specific burial features. An interpretation of the results given by these analyses proposes that the use of perfume vessels by indigenous Italians was closely connected to developments in their settlement centralisation and social structure, and became a well integrated aspect of burial ritual by the end of the fourth century B.C.