Il Vulture: Il Crocevia della Culturadei Lucani nel nord della Basilicata

© Richard N. Fletcher

Ai miei amici a Rionero...

IntroductionThis book attempts to give a simple explanation of the history of the Vulture region and thearchaeological discoveries that have allowed us to better understand that history. It does not go intoimmense detail, nor does it follow the scholarly tradition of using footnotes and references, but thematerial contained herein is accurate and up to date. It is hoped that it will inform people about thetruly fascinating history of the Vulture area: of the Peuketiantes, of the Lucanians and about theRoman conquest, and how the Lucanians lived and adapted to the vicissitudes of history over 1,000years.

In the following pages there are many references to the importance of the Vulture region (and Lucaniagenerally) and to the lack of archaeological work that has been done in the area. The motivationbehind this book is the Vultur Archaeological Project, a project that has been initiated, funded andsustained by the comune of Rionero in Vulture, PIT Alto-Bradano and an international team ofarchaeologists. This project aims at rectifying the negligence of the past and bringing to light some ofthe important and wonderful archaeological remains from the Vulture region, of which there is animmense quantity. We have, after just two brief campaigns of archaeological investigation, alreadyidentified much of the wealth of the Vulture zone, as will become clear in the following pages.

The project is the result of the help, the generosity and the persistence of a large number of people. Itis with gratitude and appreciation that I thank those people who have made the project possible. Thisbegins with the current mayor Antonio Placcido, whose administration has supported this project andmade so much possible. His enthusiasm, good sense and patience are beyond praise. Equally importanthas been PIT Alto-Bradano, particularly Michele Sonnessa and Giovanni Marino, who have largelyfunded the project. I must also mention Assessore Pietragalla of the previous Rionero administration,whose enthusiasm in 2004 when I excavated the site of Torre degli Embrici under dott.ssa RosannaCiriello from the Sopraintendenza per archeologia led to the project that started in 2008. I would alsolike to thank dott. Antonio De Siena, the Sopraintendente per archaeologia in Basilicata, and dott.ssaCiriello, the ispettrice per archeologia per il Melfese, who have been so helpful and indulgent over theyears. I thank Michele Cutolo for giving us an area within the old offices of the Cutolo factory to useas our accommodation – the rooms have been perfect for us and all the students and archaeologists aregrateful. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my good friend Sandro Ciaco, who drives the excavator, andto one of my best friends in Italy, Sandro Ferrara, who is like a father to me. Most of all I would like tothank Roberto and Pasqualina Iosca without whom the project would never have started and wouldcertainly not continue. Roberto Iosca has been instrumental and continues to try to teach me aboutItaly, about what is possible and what is not. Pasqualina Iosca, my very good and dear friend, deservesmore than just my thanks for all that she has done and continues to do – but that is all I can give.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to the archaeologists, some my friends, some my students, some mycolleagues, but all dedicated to archaeology. All the archaeologists who have taken part in this projecthave done so at their own expense, and some at considerable expense. The archaeologists that work onthis project pride themselves on the fact that all the funds for this project are returned to thecommunity in the Vulture area, since the entire team works on this project only for food and housing.The archaeologists come from all over the world to take part in the project: America, Australia,Canada, China, England, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Mexico, Norway, South Africa,Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Scotland, and in the future even one person from Sri Lanka.

Lucania: a cultural crossroads

The importance of the Vulture areaThis book will be an attempt to inform the reader about the archaeology of an area of South Italy ofgreat historical importance. Although there are many areas that might be described as being under-studied or undervalued in terms of their archaeological interest, even in such a well-studied country asItaly, the Vulture really was of great importance. Despite this, little archaeological work has been donein the Vulture. A few tombs were excavated by Hungarian soldiers in the 1860s, clandestine digging inthe 20th century robbed Italy of yet more of its patrimony, a Canadian excavation at Atella in the 1970scollapsed after just one season (and a preliminary exploration) and a few rescue excavations since thenthat have been lost to people’s memory. Thanks almost entirely to the comune of Rionero and PIT-Alto Bradano, the current Vultur Archaeological Project is attempting to right some of these wrongs.However, it remains a great pity that so little research has been done in an area of such archaeologicalwealth. In her recent book on the Melfese, Pasqualina Iosca (a native of Rionero) repeatedly stressesthe significance of the Melfese and the Vulture as a cultural crossroads, but even she has difficultyrelaying just how strategically important the region was.

Most of this derives from the position the Vulture holds in relation to the Ofanto River and theheadwaters of the Bradano. These river valleys, the highways of the ancient world, were almost theonly easy means of long-distance travel through mountainous South Italy. Even with the coming ofRoman roads, the best – and often the only – routes through the southern part of the peninsula werealong the Ofanto, the Sele, the Bradano, the Basento and other such river valleys. The Ofanto wasperhaps the most important of all of these, since it almost cuts the peninsula in two; it enabledtravellers, by connecting with the Sele River, to traverse South Italy from the Adriatic to theTyrrhenian, and vice versa. The Romans understood this very well, and chose Venosa (ancientVenusia) as the site of their first colony in the south, giving them control over the Ofanto valley andseparating the Samnites and Daunians from the Lucanians. In the Middle Ages, the Longobards andthen the Normans built the impressive castle at Melfi as their own means of controlling this strategiccorridor.

Before the Romans, however, we have little understanding of how this zone reflected its strategicimportance at the crossroads of some of the main communication routes of South Italy. From what wecan tell from the archaeological record of the pre-Roman period, it seems to have been border territory.The Daunian culture of northern Puglia was pushing into the mountains here, as is evident from thefact that most of the pre-Roman material coming from Melfi is Daunian. The little known orunderstood pre-Lucanians, sometimes called Peuketiàntes, evidently occupied an area somewhat to thesouth, with Ripacandida and Rionero as their northern-most outposts. When the Lucanians arrived,probably in the 5th century BC, they appear to have taken over (or developed from) the Peuketianterritory, though there is little clear evidence to explain how this happened. Recent scholarly discourseon this subject varies between the claim that Lucanians came south from Samnium, based largely, itwould seem, upon commonality of language between Samnium and Lucania, and the more subtlearguments of archaeologists working in the area suggesting an intermingling of Samnite andPeuketiàntes cultures. However, this is about as much as we can say. Many questions beg for answers.Just where were the borderlands between all these groups? Daunians and Peuketiàntes, Daunians andLucanians, Roman divisions, Late Roman, barbarian and Byzantine territories, not to mention how theSamnites were involved? What movement was there over these borders, what sort of territoriality wasmanifested, how much permeability was there and what were the cultural borders? What was thenature of the Peuketiàntes culture in the zone? What was Lucanian culture like here, in terms of burial,settlement, interaction or development from or with the Peuketiàntes? What was the Romanorganisation of the territory? How did the barbarian invasions in Late Antiquity affect this area?Above all, how did this zone, placed as it is at a crossroads between territories and cultures, interactwith its neighbours and the wider Italian and Mediterranean world?

More than 20 years ago a famous Italian archaeologist, Mario Torelli, said that the study of the pre-Roman Italians was in a deplorable condition. While things have certainly progressed since 1986,when Professor Torelli made that claim, the development in Lucanian studies has not matched theadvances made in other areas of Italy. The Vultur Archaeological Project is aimed at helping to rectifythis, to advance the study of ancient Lucania and to bring some attention to the wealth ofarchaeological data that is available in the Vulture region. However, the project is not aimed only athistorians and archaeologists. The archaeological patrimony of the Vulture zone deserves to be

accessible to all those that wish to see it, study it and appreciate it. Those working on the project, thecomune of Rionero, and the Soprintendente of Archaeology in Basilicata, Antonio De Siena, have allstated their determination that the discoveries from this project are worthless unless they are availableto people. Discoveries of the archaeological wealth of the Vulture are impressive, and the people of theVulture should have the opportunity to see and understand their patrimony.

The Vulture area and the Vultur Archaeological ProjectIt will be observed from maps of the area that the zone of the Vulture-Melfi was a naturaltopographical frontier between the plains of northern Puglia and the mountains of Lucania. It shouldbe stressed that this is the natural route into the mountains of Lucania, both from the plains of northernPuglia and from the regions further north that were the heartland of ancient Samnium. It was alsoaccessible from Campania via the Ofanto and Atella rivers. In order to travel from the north the onlyviable routes into ancient Lucania of any ease are through the mountainous passes west of Potenza,from the plains of Puglia through Banzi-Oppido Lucano-Tolve and then past Vaglio Basilicata, ormost logically via the route that ran past Melfi, Rionero and Atella.

In the Early Iron Age in the Melfese area, the topographical divisions between plains and mountains atthis juncture coincided with the territories of the ancient Daunian civilization of northernPuglia/northern Basilicata, and the so-called Peuketiantes, or Northern Lucanians (in fact a pre-Lucanian people). Probably sometime in the 5th century BC, the arrival of the Lucanians in themountainous region transformed the cultural composition of the frontier, such that Lucanianinfiltration into the zone may have resulted in the formation, centred upon the highly fertile valley ofthe Vulture, of a permeable frontier membrane between Daunia and, as it had become, the territory ofLucania. The final Roman conquest in the 3rd century BC imposed a veneer of

homogeneity that resulted in several hundred years of stability and tranquillity, which appears to havecontinued without significant interruption into the Late Roman period. Even the Gothic Wars of the 6th

century do not appear to have left traces of destruction in the Vulture. After this date, it is possible thatthe area briefly became a frontier zone again, between the Longobard Duchy of Benevento and thesouthern Italian foothold maintained by the Eastern Roman Empire.

Map of the Vulture-Melfese area showing major rivers and Roman roads

Archaeological work over the last forty years in the Melfese and Middle Ofanto valley has clearlyindicated the wealth of the available archaeological data. It is clear, for example, that Daunian culturalmaterial is commonly to be found in Basilicata, from Lavello west along the Ofanto valley, and as farsouth-west as Melfi and Pisciolo di Melfi. From the 4th century BC there is also evidence for theexpansion of Lucanians into this region, apparently co-existing with Daunians in a clearly emergentfrontier zone in the Melfese. Studies of the Roman presence in the region are numerous, but are oftenin English, particularly those by Alastair Small and Maurizio Gualtieri, though both also write inItalian.

It is, however, still surprising that almost the entire zone of the Vulture-Melfese was a virtual terraincognita only forty years ago. In the last few decades, thankfully, this has begun to change. NorthernBasilicata has become an area of research interest, particularly under the guidance of theSuperintendents of the region (D. Adamesteanu, A. Bottini, M. L. Nava and now A. De Siena), andfollowing the work of teams of archaeologists and historians from the University of Alberta, Canada(A. Small, M. Gualtieri, H. Fracchia, R. Buck, R. N. Fletcher). The proximity of the Vulture to theDaunian region of northernmost Basilicata, to the Ofanto valley (a conduit for trade across the Italianpeninsula from Puglia to Campania) and to the Lucanian heartland in the south made it the "gateway tothe mountains", from the time of the arrival of Neolithic agricultural technologies in the 7th

millennium BC, down to the protohistoric and historical periods. The material remains of extensivesettlement in the Daunian region and the Ofanto valley, as well as the remains of trade and othercontacts, have been shown to have been astonishingly precocious and intense.

Although little archaeological information has been published about the Rionero/Atella zone, there isgood reason to believe that it possessed an important settlement site during the Iron Age, and acted asa fluid frontier zone for most of the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. This may be made clearfrom the number of burials excavated illegally in the area in the 19th century. The contents of thosetombs, and their form, suggest Lucanian settlement in the area in the 4th century BC or perhapssomewhat earlier. Sporadic finds (such as those made at Torre degli Embrici) indicate both Peuketianteand Daunian cultural contact in the centuries prior to Lucanian infiltration into the zone, although it isunclear which group was dominant, if either. After Roman conquest in the 3rd century BC the Vultureunderwent a number of changes; certainly from the Republican period onwards baths and the largevilla for intensive agricultural production (villa rustica) seem to have been the most common type ofstructure – such as those at Ruoti, Atella and Torre degli Embrici. Late Roman evidence both at Ruotiand Torre degli Embrici indicate continuity after the fall of the Western Empire and the latter suggestsstability into the 7th century AD.

The strategic importance of the Vulture-Melfese zone, in military and economic terms, is presumablywhat lies behind the frequent mentions of the area in ancient and medieval literature, mainly in termsof Venosa and Melfi. This importance is demonstrated by the fact that Frederic II enlarged the castle atMelfi and placed another castle immediately to the south of Rionero (at Lagopesole). The zone is veryfertile in agricultural terms, and certainly has been very productive in the past. One may assume thatthe Vulture possessed a primate centre (a settlement) for the valley stretching between the volcano andLagopesole in the first millennium BC, since unpublished archaeological traces from the area suggest aLucanian and pre-Lucanian settlement of some importance.

While Italian archaeologists have been active in the last forty years in this Vulture-Melfese zone,foreign scholars have made significant contributions. The archaeological research of the last thirtyyears includes work by the University of Alberta which has uncovered a good deal of the history ofRoman Basilicata at Ruoti, Oppido Lucano and elsewhere. Our understanding of ancient Lucania hasalso benefited a great deal from the extensive work of the French team at Tricarico as well as an oldergeneration of Americans such as R. Ross Holloway. The Vultur Archaeological Project hopes toconsolidate and expand upon the work of Italian and foreign archaeologists in this part of Basilicata.The University of Alberta team, in collaboration with other Universities from Italy and around theworld, aims to survey this central area within the Vulture area, and to conduct a number of excavationsof sites identified in the survey. All of this is, of course, under the supervision of the Soprintendenzaper i Beni Archeologici della Basilicata and with the sponsorship of the comune of Rionero in Vultureand PIT Vulture–Alto Bradano.In the course of initial survey campaigns in 2008 and 2009, a total area of some 12 square km has beencompleted, identifying 74 sites. The aim of this survey project is to provide an organic picture of thehistory of land use of the territory, the distribution of settlement and the relation of these to topography

and the various cultural entities that bordered this frontier zone. The initial finds allow us to say thatthe distribution and density of sites to the south and the west of the Vulture volcano show that theseareas were intensively used in the Lucanian and Roman periods. Scattered evidence for Paleolithic andNeolithic settlement in the area shows that these sites were distributed across the landscape in a fairlyuniform pattern of separation depending upon inter-site distance and topography. Little Bronze Age orEarly Iron Age evidence has yet been found; however, the concentration of sites in the Pre-Lucanianand Lucanian periods in the area of San Francesco on the south-east edge of Rionero and in thewestern territory of Ripacandida suggest a settlement of some significance between the 6th and 3rd

centuries BC. A similar concentration may also exist to the west of the Vulture at Montichhio Bagni.Nevertheless, from the Lucanian period onwards, and particularly so in the Roman period, the patternof sites strongly suggests a road system along which farmhouses, villas and settlements werepositioned.

The focus of the project is the recently discovered site of Torre degli Embrici, a Roman Villa andBaths complex that had its beginnings in the Lucanian period and was destroyed or abandoned in the7th century AD. This site was known from a famous find in the shape of a marble torso of Aphroditediscovered in the early 20th century and now at the National Museum at Melfi. Following rescueexcavations in 1987 and 2004 under the direction of dott.ssa Rossana Ciriello, a new program ofresearch and excavation was begun in 2008. The finds from this excavation and the survey results hasalready made a contribution to our knowledge of the history of the Vulture area – which will becomeclear in the following chapters.

The Vulture and the MelfeseThe territory of the Melfese, located in the north-western zone of the region of Basilicata, lies betweenthe immense and instantly recognizable volcano of Mount Vulture, the Lucanian Apennines, and theMurge Pugliesi (the plateau of north-central Puglia), and is defined by the Ofanto to the north and theupper Bradano to the south. Geographically it is distinguished by two main areas: the rolling plains ofDaunia, in which are situated the centres of Melfi, Lavello and Banzi, and the mountainous region ofnorthern Lucania, of which the main centres in the area are Rionero, Atella and Ruvo del Monte.

The Melfese

There were definite advantages for people living in the Vulture area in antiquity. The Vulture area wasnot only at the very nodal point of South Italian communication routes, but it is one of the most fertileareas in Italy. The volcanic soils around the Vulture are extremely rich and the water courses and

springs in the area allow excellent farming and grazing. It is for this reason that human beings, as weshall see in the forthcoming chapters, occupied this area from the very earliest point in human history.The region, being bounded by the Ofanto River to the north, the plains of Puglia to the east, and theheadwaters of the Bradano, is a natural unit, which aligns with the archaeological and historical datathat suggest that this area was almost always peopled by a single cultural unit. As we shall see, fromthe earliest times, the mountains of the Vulture zone held one cultural group. In the Iron Age,Daunians lived down in the Ofanto valley, Enotirans to the south, and the Saminites (the Irpini) to thewest. But the Lucanians of the Vulture and their predecessors occupied the area that began at theVulture volcano.

Archaeology and the VultureApart from clandestine excavations and a few explorations of limited value, real archaeologicalexcavation and research in Basilicata began with the appointment of Dr. D. Adamesteanu as the firstsuperintendent for archaeology in Basilicata in 1964. This brought in a new era in research in thiszone, but for the first few decades work was concentrated upon the big known sites such as Metaponto,Siris-Heraclea, Vaglio, Tricarico, and in the Melfese at Lavello, Melfi and Venosa. In the Melfesethere were initially many excavations. These were carried out meticulously and rewarded thearchaeologists with an enormous amount of information.

Excavations at Lavello uncovered the site of the ancient Daunian city of Forentum. At number of IronAge sites were found, including two major and a number of minor necopoli, a number of chieftainhouses, a sanctuary, some housing and tumuli. Bronze Age burial complexes were excavated andRoman villas discovered. In the Ofanto valley a number of Roman villas were excavated as well assome Neolithic sites. At Venosa sections of the Roman town were uncovered, including theamphitheatre. Meanwhile at Melfi, sites from the Iron Age were excavated at Chiucchiari, Valleverde,and Cappuccini in the town itself, and at Pisciolo, north of the Vulture. These included both tombs andhouses from the Pre-Roman era. Excavations at Ripacandida at San Donato found another Pre-Romansettlement with tombs and houses dating from the 7th century BC through to the 4th century BC.However, almost all this work – and it was very important work, highly valued in the archaeologicalworld – was carried out before 1990. In the last twenty years archaeological investigation of theMelfese has continued, but not at a rate anything like those early years.

The discoveries in the Melfese in these years did, however, demonstrate that contacts and exchangestaking place in the region included not only the local area as well as the plains of Puglia, theCampanian area and the Ionian coast, but also the larger Mediterranean world. Greek and Etruscanmaterial was found, and it was found in considerable quantity. Local were trading with the outsideworld and learning from the experience. Etruscan and Greek artistic elements were present in locallyproduced artefacts: these elements are harmonised and elaborated upon by indigenous artisans,showing skill and imagination. There are many examples in the Museo Nazionale a Melfi, such as thecandelabra of Melfi, datable to the second half of the 6th century BC which shows Greek elements inbronze work. The history of archaeology in the Melfese proves that in the course of the second phaseof the Early Iron Age as well as the period immediately afterwards, the Melfese quite undoubtedlybecame a crossroads for the various cultures in the larger region, assimilating and to some extentreinterpreting cultural influences from sources all over Southern Italy. In the centuries that followedthere is evidence for substantial changes and modifications in local material culture. In the case ofRipacandida, nothing exceeds the changes which occurred at the beginning of the 4th century BC.From this period and continuing for some decades into the 4th century we see evidence forabandonment of settlements. This occurs also at some other sites in the territory of Melfi, such as, forexample, Pisciolo. While some continuity is visible in the area, in sites such as Lavello and Ruvo delMonte, there is a general reorganisation of settlement in the region in consequence of the arrival of theLucanians.

The focus of archaeological investigation in the Melfese has been, as we can see from the descriptionabove, in the Ofanto valley and the area to the north of the Vulture. Only four sites to the south havebeen excavated: Ripacandida, Torre degli Embrici and two very small excavations at Rionero andAtella. The map shown gives some indication of the work that has been done in the Melfese (largecircles are excavations, small circles are the sites found in the Vultur Archaeological Project in 2008-2009).

The Prehistory of the Vulture

Lower Palaeolithic 1.500,000 – 300,000 BCMiddle Palaeolithic 300,000 – 45,000 BCUpper Palaeolithic 45,000 – 10,000 BCMesolithic 10,000 – 6.000 BCEarly Neolithic 6,000 – 5,200 BCMiddle Neolithic 5,200 – 4,500 BCLate Neolithic 4,500 – 3,500 BCEneolithic 3,500 – 2,300 BCEarly Bronze Age 2,300 – 1,700 BCMiddle Bronze Age 1,700 – 1,350 BCLate Bronze Age 1,350 – 1,150 BCFinal Bronze Age 1,150 – 950 BC

The PalaeolithicThe Palaeolithic period in South Italy is very well represented in the Vulture region. Other sites ofsignificance in South Italy are those at Irsina (Costa del Forgione) and in Calabria (e.g. Casella diMaida) and some in Salento and Northern Puglia. The presence of lakes during the Pleistocene bothsouth of Atella, at Melfi and near Venosa, as well as the fertile valley of the Ofanto during the sameperiod, made the area very attractive to humans in prehistory. From as early as the lower PalaeolithicHomo Erectus were present in Northern Basilicata around these lake and river basins, subsisting bytheir main activities of hunting and gathering.

We have evidence of human activity in the Vulture at several sites. At Notarchirico in the territory ofVenosa a site was excavated in the 1990s which uncovered a large concentration of animal remains(including among many other species an elephant, Elephas antiquus) and lithic tools demonstratinghominid savaging of the elephant corpse. This site, dating from between 600,000 and 700,000 yearsago, shows not only the presence of humans in the area but details of their stone tools and their modeof existence. Another site was discovered nearby at Loreto. This evidence is augmented by the fossilremains of the footprints as well as the tusks of other examples of Elephas antiquus which becamebogged in mud in the prehistoric river basin of Atella, as well as Acheulean assemblages collected inthe Atella Basin. This, like the material from Venosa, dates to somewhat later in the lowerPalaeolithic, probably around 500,000 to 550,000 years ago.

Furthermore, the presence of rock art, paintings dating from the Mesolithic period (between 12,000and about 6,000 years ago) at the località Tuppo di Sassi near Filiano also show some very interestingmanifestations of human activity in the area.

The Vultur Archaeological project has made some further contributions to the evidence for thePalaeolithic and Mesolithic in the region, with two small sites identified near Monticchio Bagni. Onesite, which appears to show evidence of Palaeolithic stone tools, is in the vicinity of Masseria Larettawhile the other, probably from the Mesolithic, is close to Masseria Frattese. These two sites areprobably only the first of many sites to be discovered in the region. They were found by theprehistorian on the Vultur Project, Emil Aladjem, during his brief survey in 2009. From 2010 onwards,Emil Aladjem will be coming regularly to the Vulture region and surveying for further evidence fromthe Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods.

The NeolithicThe Neolithic period began in South Italy around 6,000 BC (there is some debate about the precisedate) and was characterised by settlement, the adoption of farming, and the domestication of animals.In effect, for the Vulture region and the larger part of South Italy this meant some mixed farming andsome pastoralism. The “settlement” that occurred before the Neolithic (in the final Mesolithic) hasbeen characterized by the use of caves, rock shelters, and open camps. There has been some suggestionthat there was seasonal exploitation of uplands for brief summer expeditions before the Neolithic, andmany of the earliest Neolithic sites seem to be located where traditional foraging could be usedalongside the new farming techniques in river valleys and in lacustrine areas.

However, during the early Neolithic, humans in South Italy abandoned the caves and grottoes andbegan practicing rudimentary agriculture. Settlement began as humans passed from nomadism to

organised life in villages. These villages were usually made up of huts arranged in circles and fortifiedwith defensive ditches. This was regarded as typical in the Vulture region because of sites such asRendina di Melfi as well as others from the Ofanto valley (the so-called Masseria La Quercia culturefrom the second half of the VI millennium at Santa Tecchia, Campo dei Fiori, Foggia Villa Comunale,Masseria Candelabro, Monte Aquilone, Passo di Corvo, Scaramella di San Vito, and Masseria LaQuercia) and at Metaponto, Tolve and Tricarico.

The most ancient site discovered in the region of the Melfese and the Ofanto is the village of Rendinadi Melfi and more recent research in the area has uncovered the sites in the localities of Valle Messinaand Serra dei Canonici. Further sites have been found at Lavello at Gaudiano di Lavello, at contradaCatena, and most importantly at Leonessa, where traces of settlement begin with the Neolithic period.The site at Rendina is important enough to have given its name to a type of pottery from the EarlyNeolithic (Rendina Impressed wares). Here the huts were generally oval in shape and numerousstructures were found with hearths, furnaces, post-holes as well as faunal remains, and the settlementwas characterised by an encircling trench around the huts. However, not all the structures inside werecontemporary. The occupation of the site appeared to have been largely dated to the early Neolithic,and characterized by hand-made pottery from the 7th millennium through much of the course of the 6th

millennium BC.

The village of Leonessa was discovered thanks to a series of test trenches planned by theSuperintendency. Here structural evidence supplied interesting data regarding the Neolithic period ofTrichrome ceramics. Although the archaeologist Cipolloni responsible for site refers to traces of asettlement dated to the Bronze Age at the site of Masseria Leonessa and on the hill of Cappuccini,most of these sites in the Ofanto valley point to the early Neolithic with only sparse traces from thelate Neolithic. Other Neolithic sites in the area include those at Alicandro in the territory of Lavelloand at Pisciolo in the Melfi zone.

One may note that no sites have been discussed from higher altitudes. The Vultur ArchaeologicalProject has, however, found several sites. The Neolithic and Bronze Age sites shown in the mapdemonstrate that the area was indeed occupied, as well as showing a higher concentration aroundMonticchio Bagni and more sparse occupation south of Rionero. This is not unusual and indicates theimportance of terrain in settlement patterns in prehistory. However, what is important is that severalsites, particularly one near Masseria De Carlo in the Monticchio Bagni area, show evidence for long-term occupation in the Neolithic. This occupation also fills an important gap, since ceramic evidencepoints towards at least one site being from the Diana-Bellavista style from the Late Neolithic.

Rather than consider the Vulture region as simply the highlands to which Neolithic pastoralists mayhave taken their flocks from their settlements in the Ofanto valley, the discovery of these Neolithicsites around Il Vulture suggests that much more research needs to be done (and some sites excavated)to determine whether there may have been a movement from the Ofanto valley into the Vultureuplands from the V millennium BC onwards. There is also much research needed on possible contactswith Campania and the Gaudo Culture, as opposed to Puglia.

From the Neolithic until the arrival of the GreeksAlthough the Neolithic seems to have seen some settlement in the Vulture region, we have yet to findany secure evidence from the period that followed: the Eneolithic or Chalcolithic. This transitionalperiod between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age saw the first use of metal tools, and is best knownbecause of the recent and unprecedented discovery of the Alpine Ice Man “Utzi” from the Otzal Alps(Bolzano) in North East Italy. One site of immense importance in the Melfese that has material fromthis period is the settlement of Toppo Daguzzo. This site, with evidence from the Eneolithic andBronze Age, shows affinities with La facies del Gaudo from Campania. Nell’Italia sudorientale sisviluppa la facies di Laterza, but no evidence of this ceramic type has yet been found in the Rionero-Atella area.

A) Middle Bronze; B) Late Bronze; C) Final Bronze; D) Early Iron Age

By the time of the Bronze Age, the use of the landscape had developed. There are more prominent andhierarchical settlements, more richly endowed tombs with prestige objects and much more evidencefor trade, exchange, and accumulated wealth. In the Vulture, settlements have been identified from theNeolithic and Bronze Ages which show that permanent settlements multiplied in the Bronze Age (fig.????). These Bronze Age settlements are thought to have lived mainly off pastoralism and agricultureand had trade connections with each other over wide distances, by both land and sea.

In most of southern Italy and probably in the Vulture region, the Early Bronze Age Laterza culture ofthe early part of the period is succeeded by was has been called the Palma Campania culture. The siteof Toppo Daguzzo is still important and is seen as typical of a Proto-Apennine phase with sites thatmay be central places. Other sites, such as Tufariello, near Buccino, and Coppa Nevigata in Pugliahave defensive, stone-built walls. Although this was indeed the Bronze Age, bronze artifacts were rare,except in rich tombs – an example is the warrior burial at Parco dei Monaci, Matera. This period sawthe beginning of olive and vine cultivation, as well as other fruits. Although there is evidence for this inlowland sites, Proto-Apennine levels at Tufariello near the border between Basilicata and Campaniashow that cultivation occurred in highland sites as well.

The Middle Bronze Age in South Italy is conventionally referred to as the Apennine Bronze Age,because from about 1700 BC an Apennine culture was established and gradually expanded to includemost of central and southern Italy. It was once believed that these people farmed the lowlands in thewinter and took their animals to upland pastures to graze during the summer. However, in the last fewdecades most archaeologists have come to believe that there was an integrated economic system thatinvolved both settled agriculture and some pastoralism. In the Vulture region, most of the evidence hasbeen from the lowland sites, such as the tombs found at contrada Casino and the hypogeum at the siteof contrada La Speranza, both at Lavello. Several other sites in the Ofanto valley from this period withevidence of “facies apenninica” include Casa del Diavolo, San Francesco, San Felice, Le Carrozze andLa Speranza at Lavello as well as the three monumental tombs at Toppo Daguzzo showing theemergence of elite groups.

Very little evidence has been found for the Late Bronze Age in the Vulture. Some bronzes and somepottery from the “facies subapenninica” have been found in a hypogeum at La Speranza in Lavello.Usually the subapenninic sites are often found in locations that provide good natural defences, such asToppo Daguzzo in the Melfi area or La Starza (near Ariano Irpino in Campania) and which also showcontinuity from previous periods. There are some sites, however, which are new, such as Timmari andBotromagno.

A similar story is true for the Final Bronze Age, with discontinuous evidence. In other areas ofsouthern Italy, bronze hoards have been found and there is an increased presence of metalwork ingraves. This evidence, along with settlements defended by walls and ditches, suggest the emergence ofa warrior elite. However, no certain or secure evidence for such sites has yet been found in the Vultureregion. The main reason for this, we believe, is a lack of research into this period. The VulturArchaeological Project will be seeking not only further Bronze Age evidence, but an understanding ofthe dynamics of highland-lowland interaction during this period. Were the highlands only used bypastoralists in summer or were there more permanent settlements?

The hypogeum 1036 at Lavello

The Pre-Lucanians of the Iron Age: the Peuketiàntes

The Early Iron AgeThe first nucleated settlements in northern Basilicata can be attributed to the Early Iron Age, betweenthe 9th and 8th centuries BC. Such settlements were dispersed on hill-tops and heights, usually inproximity to rivers, lakes or springs. They were often conglomerations of dwellings looselydistinguished from one another. The best known examples of such settlements are Serra di Vaglio andTorretta di Pietragalla, settlements which were later important Lucanian sites. It is also in the EarlyIron Age that we have the first evidence for populations identified over a wide area. This is largely dueto the arrival of the Greeks on the Ionian coast and their written records which identify differentgroups of indigenous people living in their hinterland. The first of these were the Enotrians, laterdivided into the coastal dwelling Chones and the inland Enotrians. However, it also included theDaunians, Peucetians and Messapians from Puglia, and – most importantly for this study – thePeuketiantes from the mountainous interior.

From the 7th century BC the arrival of colonial Greeks in southern Italy destabilised the apparentequilibrium of the Enotrian hinterland, not only in the coastal zones where Greeks settled, but all overindigenous South Italy. Those centres nearer the new colonies soon came under the Greek cultural andpolitical sphere, while those further inland underwent a process of change initiated by Greek culturalinfluences.

The PeuketiàntesInland Basilicata, in the more northern mountainous part, was the territory of a people that have beenidentified as the “Peuketiàntes”. This is according to the testimony of the Greek historian Ecateo diMileto: “genti che, al contrario degli Enotri, seppelliscono i defunti in posizione fetale, in una sorta diricongiungimento della vita con la morte”. While we must take the word of a Greek for this, writing inthe 5th century BC and known to us only from a fragment in a work by Stephanus of Byzantium in the6th century AD, it is our only evidence for the people who lived in this area before the Lucanians. There

Map of the Vulture-Melfese area showing major rivers and Roman roads

is no certainty that the people who lived in this area in the Early Iron Age were indeed the“Peuketiantes”, since they would have defined what they were and that may have been different fromwhat Ecateo di Mileto said. This culture may have used another name, it may have identified itself withthe Enotrians, it may have been Lucanian before the Greeks started calling this people Lucanian. Wecannot know with certainty.

However, we can be sure that there was a distinctive culture in this area which was rich and had contactwith Enotrians, Choni and Greeks to the south, Daunians to the north and the Etruschi in bothCampania and their homeland. The rich material that has been found indicates that these people hadalso tapped into trade networks that spread all around the known world: Greece and the EasternMediterranean, the Baltic (amber), as well as the metals trade that involved every part of theMediterranean and northern Europe.

There have been several important excavations at Peuketiàntes sites. These include the settlement andsome very rich tombs at Baragiano that date to as early as the 8th century BC, the famous material fromSerra di Vaglio (including Braida di Vaglio) which has evidence of a very large site (with fortificationdating from at least the 6th century BC) and a very important necropolis containing extraordinarily richtombs. The evidence from Vaglio, Ruvo del Monte and Ripacandida shows that the Peuketiàntescharacterised themselves as warriors, and buried their men with weapons, helmets and armour muchlike Greek hoplites. The presence of chest-straps and masks for horses also indicates that the aristocratsprided themselves as cavalrymen. The Fregio in terracotta con scena di guerrieri dal VI secolo a.C.found both at Vaglio and at Satriano demonstrate how aristocrats in Peuketiàntes society identifiedthemselves with the Greek notion of “heroes”.

Fregio in terracotta con scena di guerrieri (Satriano VI sec. a.C.)

Women in Peuketiantes society evidently could have considerable status. The wealth of burials such asthe “Principessa” from Vaglio demonstrates the importance that women could have in society. This girlwas buried with ornaments which would have been used in the more important ceremonies in her life,including a diadem in gold, pendants in amber and silver fibulae. This is not limited to Serra di Vaglio.Tombs with similar quality materials have been found in the Vulture zone at Ripacandida and Ruvo delMonte.

“La principessa” from Braida di Vaglio

Horse mask from Peuketiàntes Vaglio

It is possible that the territory of Rionero contains a settlement and necropolis dating from this period.A settlement dating from the Peuketiàntes period is suggested by the nature of evidence uncovered inthe survey part of the Vultur Archaeological Project. Material dating from the VII and VI centuries BChas been identified in the same area, from tombs excavated by the Superintendency in the late 20th

century. Certainly there is clear evidence for such a site at Ripacandida. This site, which initially seemsto have dated to the 7th century BC, was fortified in the 6th century BC. Diverse pieces of evidence fromthe San Francesco area of Rionero (some of which is also in the territory of Ripacandida) suggest asimilar settlement on the high ground – with views both to the north and south and along a natural routefrom the north into the Rionero-Atella-Lagopesole valley and beyond, this area would have beenstrategically important and ideal for a settlement.

Peuketiantes sites in the Vulture area

The Peuketiantes site at Ripacandida, in località San Donato, was certainly a typical hill-top settlementfrom the period: a large defensive structure, inside which were a number of roughly built huts, and anumber of tombs “a fossa” with the dead in the crouched position. Almost all the evidence from thissite at Ripacandida dates from the 8th century to the early 5th century BC. The ceramics found in a wellshow that these people had contact with other cultures in South Italy, with various examples ofGeometric pottery: monochrome, Iapygian protogeometric, Daunian I subgeometric, bichrome, potteryof the “Ruvo style”. There were also examples of the local type of Geometric matte-painted ware, thebest example of which is a large biconical olla now on display at Melfi museum, with typicaldecoration with so-called tenda decoration inside stretches of a bands and threads, one of very fewexamples in this area.

Biconical Olla from Ripacandida

The number of tombs excavated at Ripacandida and evidence of Peuketiantes settlement in theRionero, Atella and Ruvo del Monte zones suggests that the Vulture region was of some importance inthe Archaic period. Tombs of considerable wealth, as much as those at Vaglio, have been found, suchas the tomb of a female which contained a necklace con enormi vaghi d’ambra ed un pendaglio in

bronzo a figura di ariete and male tombs with weapons. There was even a tomb discovered containing aBlack-figured vase from 5th century BC Athens. There is no evidence that these sites were as large andas grand as Serra di Vaglio or Satriano, but this area may have been a frontier zone between thePeuketiantes culture area and that of the Daunians which we know were to be found at Melfi.

The settlements discovered at Ruvo del Monte, Pisciolo and Ripacandida, as well as those identified inthe Vultur Archaeological Project indicate nuclei of scatter huts, sometimes behind fortification walls,but always on high ground that afforded defensive strength. Necropoli were usually nearby on ridgesand the slopes of ridges. Although the Peuketiantes had contact with most of the other cultures of SouthItaly and the wider Mediterranean world, we know little about how they lived. It is often thought thattheir economy was based mainly upon pastoralism and that wool was the main source of wealth.However, there is evidence of pig rearing; we know that the elite had horses, and that agriculture waspracticed in terms of the cultivation of grains, wine and olives and probably a good deal more. The hutsthat loosely clustered together to form settlements were simple, with wattle-and-daub walls sometimeson a stone foundation, sometimes with only posts holding up the walls. Until the 6th century, the roofswere generally thatched and enclosures were often found nearby for domestic animals. The familygroupings indicated by the distribution of huts within settlements are also reflected in clusters of tombsin the necropoleis.

Typical building technique for Peuketiàntes huts

Mountainous environments have in the past been thought by scholars to be hostile, marginal anddependent on pastoralism. The people who lived in these areas have, more often than not, beendepicted as brutish, simple and backward. However, modern archaeologists and historians are comingto realise that such ideas are false. Mountainous regions can be closely integrated with areas aroundthem, and maintain a very high degree of internal social coherence and close contact over what seem tobe difficult physical obstacles. Investigations of routes in antiquity show that during the Peuketiantesperiod, connections were set up between sites using ridge line routes. Such routes connected thePeuketiantes of the Vulture with other centres to the south as well Daunians, Enotrians and, muchfurther afield, trade networks that involved Etruscans and Greeks. The evidence of Greek pottery,Baltic amber, fine bronzework and matte-painted pottery is testimony to this.

Amber figure from Pisciolo (Melfi)

The Lucanians

Who were the Lucanians?The origin of the people we call the Lucanians is still shrouded in mystery. The cause of this mystery isbased upon the sources of our information: the ancient Greeks and Romans and just a littlearchaeological information. We have both written and archaeological evidence showing that by the 4th

century BC there was a group of people in the territory of modern Lucania (and Campania) that hadeither developed indigenously or had displaced the previous inhabitants. By the early 4th century itappears that the inhabitants of mountainous south Italy were no longer described as the Enotrians, theChones, and the Peuketiàntes; now they were Leukanoi – Lucanians.

However, this is where the problem starts. Archaeologists, anthropologists and historians now realisethat ethnicity is not based upon blood, not upon “race”, not even upon genes. It is even questionablewhether language can be used to define an ethnic group. What we know is that ethnicity can only becertain where a people identify themselves as belonging to a certain ethnic group. Think about the“Italians” with their varied languages amongst a standardised Italian, about those Italians of African,Middle Eastern or Asian decent, not to mention less recent movements of peoples from the Balkans andelsewhere in Europe into Italy. These people can be culturally and often linguistically no different fromother Italians. Similarly, however, people can be indisputably “Italian” yet be culturally very different –in religion, for example. Then there is the problem of external identification – most famouslyexemplified by “Indians” in America, when Europeans arrived on that continent thinking they were inAsia.

This is where one of our problems begins, because the Lucanians were first described by Greeks, andfor some hundreds of years afterwards the only descriptions we have were by Greeks and other non-Lucanians. The Greeks are believed to have taken the word lùkos, which meant “wolf”, the animal, themaster, of the forests and used it to identify the Leukanoi. The name may, or may not, have been closeto a word used by the Lucanians themselves – there is no evidence either way. This first use of the label“Lucanian” was in the 4th century BC, though some later works described Lucanians in the 5th centuryBC also. The Lucanians were sufficiently well known by 355 BC for the famous Athenian oratorIsocrates to mention them specifically, indicating that an average Athenian must have been aware ofthe existence of a group of people called, or known as, Lucanians. Of course, later scholars from Romeor Greece used the label “Lucanian” without showing any doubt about its validity, in particular Strabo,Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, Appian, Plutarch and Florus. However, theseancient writers were interested in the rise of Rome and wrote about Lucania in terms of wars,campaigns and alliances that affected Rome.

The first time that people actually called themselves Lucanian was in the 3rd century BC. This waswhen certain centres in South Italy produced coins with ΛΟϒΚΑΝΟΜ and ΛϒΚΙΑΝΩΝ written in Greek (one being in the Oscan language and the other Greek), followed somewhat later in the 2nd

century BC by a person in Rhodes who called himself “Botreus the Lucanian”. These, however, werewritten a very long time after our Greek sources started calling the people in the area “Lucanian”.Which came first? The group of people who called themselves “Lucanian”, or the Greek appellation?We don’t know. The Greeks may have been using a word that was in common use, or something closeto it, by the Lucanians themselves, or the Lucanians may have found that the name given to them bythe Greeks suited them and started using it themselves.

What we do know is that in the Oscan language, used in ancient Lucania, the word for ‘community’ or‘group’ seems to have been touta or tota. However, the word seems to have ambiguous meaning andmay refer to a whole people (such as the Lucanians) or to just the local community. A more localisedmeaning is probable, but that is probably how Lucanians saw themselves – much as many people inantiquity identified themselves by their city rather than as “Italians” or “Greeks”. Inscriptions using thisword are known from Castelluccio and Roccagloriosa.

OriginsIt has been stated very clearly by Elena Isayev, a prominent scholar on the Lucanians, that any attemptto identify the original Lucanians is doomed from the start. There has been, from the earliest Greeksources onwards, confusion, contradiction and a multiplicity of interpretations about the origins of theLucanians. The two main schools of thought are that they were: 1. A Samnite people that arrived inLucania beginning in the 5th century and slowly displaced the previous inhabitants, and 2. A group that

developed from the previous inhabitants, that the Enotrians, Chones and Peuketiantes simply becamethe Lucanians. However, these hypotheses are unproven and largely unprovable, and like many sucharguments probably have some basis in reality only when brought together. There is not much point in

Map of Lucania

trying to give an “answer” to the question of the origins of the Lucanians, but our closest and bestguess is that they were both a local development with possibly some “Samnite” additions. Certainly thefact that the ancient Roman writer Strabo says that they were Samnites is not sufficient, both because itis naïve to accept the ancient sources uncritically, and further because Strabo seems to have beenfollowing Timaeus, who is not wholly reliable.

The history as given to us by these ancient writers tells of Samnite peoples moving from central Italydown into the coastal plain, occupying the Greek cities of Poseidonia (Paestum) and Cumae. Thesepeople then began to encroach upon inland Basilicata in successive waves, until they have takencontrol of the mountains (again). By the 4th century there was a Greater Lucania, united after 356 BCwith Bruttium (Calabria), with a common system of government, language and ritual.

This is not very convincing. History is rarely so simple. While some archaeologists have soughtconfirmation of this story in their excavations, the evidence points to a far more complex situation.That non-Greeks came down into the coastal plain and lived in Paestum and Cuma cannot be doubted,but there is no actual evidence of violent conquest. As for moving from the plain to the mountains ofBasilicata, we are finding evidence now that some Lucanian sites in Basilicata predate those inCampania. The Lucanian “invasion” is disputed by the evidence from some sites in Basilicata, forexample, where there appears to be a certain level of continuity from pre-Lucanian to Lucanian culture.As for “Greater Lucania” and its unified society, no evidence has ever been found outside the pages ofGreek and Roman writers.

We can only sum up by saying that the origin of the Lucanians is uncertain. Like every ethnic groupclaiming an origin in South Italy, such as the Messapians, Peucetians, Daunians, Enotrians,Campanians and so on, we don’t really know where they came from, but we can say a little about theircustoms and their culture.

GovernmentIf we are to describe the Lucanians, we should start with their method of government, or whathistorians like to call political structures. In its fundamental form, the government of the Lucaniansseems to have resembled a military democracy. Strabo, who should be accepted only with caution,states that Lucanian government was generally democratic but that in times of war a “king” (Greek“Basileus”) was chosen. However, the word “king” is probably an attempt by Strabo or his Greeksources to find a name for an office that was strange to them. It is far more likely that this office wasthe highest form of a magistrate we know was called Meddix. At Serra di Vaglio there is an inscriptionwhich uses another word, “archon”, which was a Greek word for a magistrate, but it is probable thatthis usage was related more to the language used (the inscription uses a Greek form, if mainly an Oscanlanguage). The man named in this inscription, Nummelos, is nevertheless our earliest known Lucanianleader

All the evidence we have indicates that the Lucanians governed themselves in a fashion similar to theRomans under the Republic – a system partially democratic and partially oligarchic. They had localsenates or councils of elders which chose magistrates from among themselves called Meddices, whichcan be interpreted as being like the Roman consuls (whom Greeks described as having king-likepowers). This has been attested by inscriptions from several sites such as Rossano di Vaglio and MuroLucano. At Rossano di Vaglio the word “senate” is actually used (σενατηις τανγινοδ – senateistanginod – or in Latin, senatus consulto) though other terms are known (such as the Lucanian versionof quaestor – κϜαιστορ). The inscriptions, as well as descriptions by historians of how Lucanians came to their decisions, show that Lucanian senates and their executive officers (meddices) functioned,probably with gatherings of citizens, very much like the Romans. These, probably also like theRomans, existed on a local level.

What is interesting is to speculate upon whether any larger organisation existed. Inscriptions from thesanctuary at Rossano suggest a greater community called Utiana (the Utian community – Oscan toutautianom). Could the archon Nummelos have been the head of the whole touta utianom? It is aninteresting idea.

ReligionThe religion of the Lucanians was, like almost all religion in the ancient Mediterranean, based uponpolytheistic cult practice. It is important to know that in antiquity cult practice, the worship of the gods– what we call religion – was intimately tied to identity and community. Often the larger festivalsallowed groups of people to come together to exercise a sense of membership of a larger group. Thiswas done on the local level as well as on what we might think of as a national level. Latins did this atmons Albanus, Etruscans at Voltumna, Greeks did it at Olympos. As yet, we do not know preciselywhere the Lucanians had their great festival. Certainly among the many cult sites that have been found,Rossano di Vaglio is the largest Lucanian sanctuary yet discovered, but there may be others yet to find.

The sanctuaries that are known can be divided up into three types: 1. Settlement sanctuaries; 2. Smallrural sanctuaries found near crossroads or near settlements; 3. Large rural sanctuary complexes thatappear to be associated with festivals involving many communities. The first of these, the settlementsanctuaries, are in fact the smallest and least impressive of all. The Lucanians were, in this and manyother things, quite different from what most people believe ancient civilisation was like. Greeks andRomans built massive and impressive temples in their cities, but the Lucanians tended to build rathersmall and unobtrusive cult structures in their settlements – they left the impressive structures for thecountryside. However, all three types had the same characteristics in terms of how they were laid out,the sort of cult practices we have seen, and what sort of votive material we find in them. It has been aninteresting discovery that the Lucanian settlements and their sanctuaries declined from the 3rd centuryBC onwards, but that their rural sanctuaries both large and small continued to thrive even into theRoman period.

Who were the gods of the Lucanians? The answer, as in many things about the Lucanians and aboutantiquity generally, cannot be in any way definitive. We don’t know as much about Lucanian gods aswe do about those of Greece or Rome, but we do know a good amount.

Most of our knowledge comes from sanctuary sites excavated in various parts of Lucania: SerraLustrante, Chiaromonte S. Pasquale, Roccaglorioso, Pomarico Vecchio, Garaguso. By far the largest,however, is Rossano di Vaglio. Here the principal deity was the Italic goddess Mefitis. This goddess isattested in inscriptions from Potenza, Rossano di Vaglio and Grumentum and was worshipped all overcentral Italy (in Campania at Rocca S. Felice and even on the Esquiline Hill in Rome). She certainlyappears to have been the Lucanian goddess par excellence. However, there were other gods. We knowof Jove, Heracles and, of course, Mamers. This last was the Italic form of Mars (Mavors or Mamers)and was an old Italian fertility god who came to be known as the strider – and the god of war. Thededications that have been discovered by archaeologists, however, show that only Jove could be put onan equal footing with Mefitis – Heracles and Mamers were definitely of a lesser status.

Some very misinformed descriptions of Mefitis are current in popular literature, in which Mefitis isdescribed as simply a personification of the poisonous gases emitted from the ground in swamps andvolcanic gaseous sites. Mefitis was certainly a chthonic goddess, that is, she was a deity of theunderworld. However, she appears to have embodied characteristics like the Greek goddesses Demeter

and Kore, including fertility. She seems to have had a very multifaceted nature, with no simple or easyset of characteristics to describe her – and she was often associated with other gods (such as Mamers,Jove and Heracles) in a way which highlighted this.

One of her characteristics seems to have been an association of ideas that strongly featured water. It isan almost universal characteristic of Lucanian cult that water is associated with sanctuaries. Almost allthe sanctuaries in Lucania have remains of water channels, a small shrine, sacrificial pits and votivedeposits. Springs are particularly prevalent. These elements suggest that water – springs particularly –may have been the focus of cult practice and reflect the cthonic (underworld) nature of the gods.

Votives are often deposited near the springs associated with the sanctuary or, as in the case of the smallrural sanctuary at Fontana Bona di Ruoti, directly in the water source. Although votives are usually theremains of sacrificed animals, many other items are deposited including pottery, miniature items interracotta, as well as bronze, marble and even coins. Some of the most common finds at sanctuaries,however, are female terracotta figurines. These were particularly popular dedications in the 4th and 3rd

centuries BC.

Naturally, the presence of springs, Lucanian sites and volcanic activity suggests that the Vulturevolcano, famous for its waters and around which are many of the most famous springs in South Italy,

would be an ideal setting for Lucanian sanctuaries. The Vultur Project has identified three possiblesites thus far, though these would have to be properly scientifically excavated to confirm this. The sitesall have springs, fragments of 4th and 3rd century terracottas have been found and at two of the sitesextremely large quantities of pottery and tile have been found over a wide area dating from between the4th century BC and the 1st century AD. These sites would appear to have been rural sanctuaries of theusual Lucanian type, and may have been quite important.

Possible sanctuary sites

Another interesting feature of Lucanian sanctuaries, alluded to already, is that they are not like theimage most people hold of what ancient sanctuaries looked like. They are not like Roman and Greektemples with a large building with a colonnade around it – all within a sacred walled area. Lucaniansanctuaries actually follow the layout of the richer Lucanian houses with rooms surrounding a pavedcourtyard.

Sanctuary at Roccaglorioso

Sometimes, when the sanctuaries were very large ones such as Rossano di Vaglio, the paved courtyardcould be very large indeed, with a colonnade around it – inverting the Greek temple style such that thecolonnade was around the open area rather than the central building.

Within this paved area most of the cult activity seems to have taken place. Here is where we usuallyfind the shrine, the altar, cisterns and water channels.

LanguageThe language spoken by the ancient Lucanians was a form of what we call Oscan. However, it was asouthern form or dialect of a language that was the most common language spoken in Apennine Italy.We have only a little detailed evidence for exactly how the language was spoken because the ancientLucanians did not write any surviving books – all we have are inscriptions. These inscriptions wereinitially written using Greek letters, such as the one shown below from Rossano di Vaglio where manyof our Oscan inscriptions come from. Later, Roman letters were sometimes used instead of the Greek.

The Oscan language spoken in Lucania was slightly different from that spoken by the Samnites. It hasbeen described as “South Oscan” and was spoken in the southern Samnite area of the Irpini (who arethought to have lived just to the north and west of the Vulture in the area around Aquilonia andCairano). This southern dialect was spoken over most of what is now Basilicata, Calabria andCampania, while the northern Oscan was spoken as far north as Molise and possibly parts of southernAbruzzo.

Inscriptions in this language are known from several sites: Paestum, Muro Lucano, Laos, Tricarico,Serra and Rossano di Vaglio and many others. Most interestingly, the earliest inscription that we haveis a graffito from a piece of pottery found at Castelluccio that dates from the 6th century BC.

The language does not appear to have been considered “Lucanian”. A person speaking Oscan did notnecessarily consider themselves to be Lucanian. Indeed, there is evidence that many Lucanians spokeGreek and may have been bilingual. Lucanians are known to have been involved in the Pythagoreanmovement in South Italy.

Economy and Daily LifeThe economy of Lucania was very similar to other regions of Italy. It was almost certainly a self-sufficient economy based upon agriculture with only limited export – in the production of surpluses. Asin the preceding period of the Peuketiantes, it seems that pastoralism was an important part of theeconomy and that wool was a valuable export commodity. We have already seen how the Lucanianheartland was closely integrated into areas around them, and had close contact over what seem to bedifficult physical obstacles with the peoples that lived in Puglia, Campania and the coastal areas allaround Lucania. It would appear that wool was a major export to these areas from Lucania, and wasprized for its quality. Calpurnius Siculus mentioned Lucania’s proverbial wealth in sheep in his poems;Varro and Vetruvius also speak of the numerous flocks and sheep breeding in Lucania. However,animal husbandry in Lucania included other animals, particularly pigs, as well as bulls and sturdyhorses.

There was, naturally, the cultivation of various cereals and the growing of olives and vines. The vines,not surprisingly, were particularly good. Cato and Varro mention Lucanian vines as being particularlygood for heavy soils, and Pliny praises the wines of Lucania.

As is well known, in antiquity Lucania was densely forested. There are still, even after millennia ofdeforestation, large areas of forest and the Vulture area. Studies have shown that even afterdeforestation by the Lucanians at least 30% of Lucania was covered by forest. This was a valuablecommodity in antiquity. The many types of tree growing in Lucania in antiquity (fir, poplar, types ofpine, oak and ash) which could have been used for construction, possible shipbuilding, as well as

carpentry and even pitch. Cato recommends Lucania for its carts, which is obviously related tocarpentry and construction in wood.

Pliny also mentions Lucania as a source of gems, though this was probably in the Tyrrhenian region.Nevertheless, there was certainly metalworking in Lucania as well. Although not known as a source ofmetals such as copper and tin (the metals that make up bronze), there are certainly numerous sources ofiron in the mountains of Lucania. Indeed, the Vultur project has discovered several Lucanian sites thatwere clearly iron-working sites in the Monticchio Bagni area.

Lucania was also famous, as it is now and has been since antiquity, for its hunting. Many ancientsources write about the hunting in Lucania, particularly the relatively dangerous sport of boar-hunting.The meat from these boars was used to make sausages called the “Lucanica”. These sausages, as wellas those made from ordinary pig, made the Lucanian sausage (which as we shall see was an exporteven in Roman times) famous over the entire Mediterranean world. Even now in several languages“Lucanica” or a derivative is the word for “sausage” (for example, λουκάνικο – loukaniko).

It is important to understand that the Lucanian economy in antiquity was much like that of any otherregion in Italy. There were no great disparities of wealth between regions that were all, fundamentally,dependent upon agricultural production. The concentration of production, ease of transport and fertilesoils allowed some regions to have much higher populations than Lucania, but it would be a mistake tothink that Lucania was poor or backward.

The success of the Lucanians in occupying so much of South Italy, including Greek cities on theTyrrhenian coast such as Paestum, show that they were not simple pastoralists from the mountains andforests of the interior. They evidently prided themselves on their prowess in war, and this shows itselfin their art with many depictions of the return of the warrior scene. This was a common scene inLucanian tomb paintings from Paestum, as well as Red-figured vases. Although the vases wereprobably produced by Greeks, they were evidently made for consumption by Lucanians. The “Returnof the Warrior” scene usually depicts a Lucanian on horseback with plumed helmet, weapons and(usually) breastplate or armour, being greeted by a woman on foot holding out a vase, probably for alibation.

These tomb paintings also show us how ancient Lucanians dressed. This can also be seen from thetombs that have been excavated. One of the most important parts of Lucanian dress was the bronzebelt. It seems to have been used so often, by men, women and children, that it appears perhaps to havefunctioned as a mark of identification, saying “I am Lucanian”. The miniature bronze belt found in atomb on a child, on display at the Melfi museum, demonstrates this.

Although most of our depictions in art are of Lucanians as warriors, and women as the person greetingthem upon their return – or as servants, musicians and so on – we can be sure that Lucanians did notdress this way on a day to day basis.

Simple dress seems to have consisted of a tunic, probably still with the bronze belt so beloved ofLucanians, and an outer garment not dissimilar to the Roman toga. Female dress appears to have beensomewhat like a long tunic, or what we call the peplos and chiton. These were often tied at the waist ora belt was used.

The Lucanian Territory and its HistoryThe territory of Lucania is usually defined as being roughly that of Basilicata and southern Campania,but it is a little more complicated than that. When ancient sources describe Lucania they speak of theBradano as the eastern border, the Sele River in Campania as the northern limit and the Laos river asthe southern limit. However, this is very vague. Just where Lucania stopped and Calabria (ancientBruttium) began is unsure, and the border in northern Basilicata is also uncertain. The Vulture was,definitely, on the frontier between Lucania, Daunia and the Irpini (Samnites), but was the entireVulture region in Lucania? Map makers over the centuries have been uncertain and some have put theVulture volcano in Lucania and others in Daunia – some even put it in Peucetian territory. Thiscontinued into Roman times, when Horace could refer to the Vulture region as Lucanian and Apulian.

The weight of evidence, including that of Horace, suggests that the Vulture was, indeed, the border.Across the Ofanto River to the west were the Irpini, on the lowlands to the north and east of the Vulture(those parts around Lavello and Venosa, for example) where part of Apulia, while the areas in themountains starting just south of Melfi were Lucania. This is not, however, certain. It is one of the mainaims of the Vultur Project to determine just where the frontier was in the Lucanian period.

Wars with the GreeksOf course, the coastal plains of Magna Graecia were very often in dispute between the Lucanians andthe Greeks of the coastal cities. The Greeks had no great ambitions to control the mountainous areas,but they did try to keep control of the fertile plains. We know of wars between Lucanians and Greeksof Thurii (Sibari), and the Greeks of Taranto and Sibari suffered a massive defeat at the battle of Kailìa(modern Ceglie) in 472 BC against opponents that almost certainly included Lucanians. Later, theItaliot League was formed by the Greek cities to combat the Lucanians, Bruttians, Iapigians and otherSouth Italians. This league fought almost constantly with the Lucanians and other Italians for control ofsouthern Italy. The struggle culminated in the campaigns of Archidamus III, king of Sparta, whoarrived in Italy in 342 BC at the invitation of Taranto to fight the Lucanians. In 338 BC, during theBattle of Manduria, the Spartan and Tarantine armies were defeated by the Lucanians and the greatSpartan king Archidamus was killed. After this, the Greek Italiot League of south Italy invitedAlexander Molossus of Epirus to help them against the Lucanians. Alexander fought and defeated theLucanians and Brutti before he was himself defeated and killed (assassinated, in truth, by Lucanianagents) in the battle of Pandosia (near Cosenza) in 331 BC.

The wars between the Greeks of Magna Graecia and the Lucanians continued, almost without pause asthey had for at least a century, usually with the Lucanians getting the upper hand. In 320 BC, it isreported that a peace treaty was signed between Taranto and the Samnites, however, by 304 BCTaranto was being attacked again by the Lucanians and the Greeks went so far as to ask for the help ofAgathocles tyrant of Syracuse, king of Sicily. Agathocles arrived in southern Italy and took control ofBruttium (present-day Calabria), but was later called back to Syracuse. In 303/02 BC Cleonymus ofSparta established an alliance with Taranto against the Lucanians, and fought against them.

These wars, an almost constant feature of the history of South Italy before the Romans, resulted inshifting frontiers and fluid boundaries. It is almost impossible to know with certainty just where theborders were between Greek and Lucanian, between Lucanian and Bruttian, or between Bruttian andGreek. It is probable, considering all the battles fought between them, that Lucanian territory reachedas far south as the plain of Sibari – but we cannot be certain at all.

The overall impression one gets from the history of Greek and Lucanian warfare in South Italy was thatthe Lucanians had, more often than not, a predatory relationship with the Greeks. It is certain that theLucanians saw themselves as a warrior race, as the tomb paintings and vase depictions make clear, andit is probable that the Lucanians supplemented their incomes by warfare (booty, also as mercenaries).However, this is not entirely true. Lucanians could, and very often did, live peacefully with Greeks. At

Paestum the archaeological evidence shows quite clearly that Greeks and Lucanians were livingtogether harmoniously as early as the 5th century BC. It is believed possible that the same may evenhave been happening at Metaponto. Lucanians had, after all, taken over almost all of southernCampania, including the Greek cities there, with hardly any trouble.

We also know that Lucanians were very interested in Greek culture. We have already mentioned thefact that Lucanians were known to have taken part in the Pythagorean movement, that many of themspoke Greek perfectly (there is one such story about a Lucanian diplomat so impressing the Greeks ofSyracuse with his perfectly spoken Greek in the Doric dialect, that they gave him all he asked for), thatthey used Greek letters when writing Oscan and that trade in Greek goods in Lucania was well known.There can be no doubt that although engaged in warfare, Lucanians and Greeks were undergoing aprocess of learning from one another, a cultural intermingling, a beginning of that process which was tomake South Italy what it became under the Romans.

The Lucanian Organisation of the VultureThe surviving history of Lucania was, as we have already seen, written by Greeks and Romans, whorarely considered the Lucanian point of view. They were interested in showing how the Greek citiesgrew and prospered, or how the Roman empire was created. The Lucanians were only small players inthese histories, and misinformation about them was not uncommon. However, even in the 3rd centuryBC we have very little information from the ancient historians and so we turn to archaeology to informus.

One of the most important discoveries by archaeologists in recent years has been the fact that Lucaniareached the height of its settlement density in the Lucanian period, that is, in the 4th century BC. Thisperiod saw the expansion of existing settlements, the foundation of new settlements, the building offortification systems, the occupation of the landscape and a general prosperity that Lucania did not seeagain until at least the Medieval period (if not later). In the 3rd century BC, however, this began to fallapart. At first, it was thought that the wars with Pyrrhus and Hannibal were the direct causes of this.Archaeologists kept finding sites that were seemingly prosperous until sudden abandonment in the 3rd

century- and we naturally thought that such abandonment was the result of these extremely destructivewars. However, we now know that many sites were abandoned after a period of decay in the middle ofthe 3rd century, when there was peace between the wars. Something was going on in the 3rd century BCthat slowly sapped away the energy and wealth of Lucania, but what?

We can see this pattern in the evidence from the Vulture. There were few sites in the area predating theLucanian period, just a few dots on the map around Rionero, Ripacandida and Atella.

Pre-Lucanian Sites so far discovered (8 sites)

However, by the end of the 4th century/beginning of the 3rd century BC the Lucanians had taken overthe landscape and filled it with their homesteads, industrial sites, sanctuaries and settlements (note thatthese are only preliminary results – only about 15-20% of the area around Rionero has been surveyed).

The height of Lucanian settlement (29 sites)

When we look at the picture from the end of the 3rd century through to the 1st century BC, however,there is a marked decline.

Sites in the 2nd century BC (10 sites)

It is worth noting that when settlement density increases in the Roman Imperial period, most of thesites from the 2nd century BC become Roman Villas or homesteads. There is definite continuity there,but also signs of decline.

It was also in the Lucanian period where we see the first suggestion of roads or tratturi derived fromthe archaeological record. These tracks have a long history in Italy and are often the basis for manyroads still in use today. The Lucanian settlement pattern in the rural Vulture suggests tracks runningfrom the Ofanto valley south-west, and others at right angles to these connecting the Irpini of Aquiloniato Monticchio Bagni and the Rionero-Atella valley.

Tracks in the Lucanian period

It is probable that further work in the area and the identification of more sites with bring into focus amore complex network of roads and tracks. However, it is worth noting that the possible sanctuary sites– which are all Lucanian – support this tentative suggestion of tracks in the Lucanian period. It iscommon for sanctuary sites to be on crossroads, and these sites appear to be very close to our suggestedcrossroads points.

It is evident that these tracks, and the important sites identified above, surround and encase the bestagricultural land in the area. The highlighted zone, above, shows an area of relatively flat land, goodrich dark soil, excellent drainage and protected topography.

The Roman Conquest of Lucania

The Roman Wars with the SamnitesWhile the Lucanians fought the Greeks in the plains of Campania and southern Basilicata, the Romanshad been busy trying to gain control of central Italy – they had begun the life-and-death struggle withthe Samnites. These wars started when the Romans took northern Campania in the First Samnite War(343 to 341 BC) and continued in the intense, vehement and drawn out Second Samnite War (326 to304 BC). These wars were mainly about control of Campania and central Italy, and even involvedEtruria in the later part of the Second Samnite War. The Lucanians are said to have been brought intothis conflict as the allies of Rome (though this could be a fabrication), though they took little part in thefighting. The Lucanians seem to have thought of their alliance with Rome as a useful ploy against theGreeks, who were their main concern. The Lucanians were also likely worried that these new players inthe politics of the South – the Romans – might ally themselves with the Greeks (as the Romans did,briefly, when Alexander Molossus of Epirus fought in Italy).

Although little part was played by the Lucanians, this second war between the Romans and theSamnites was no simple matter for either the Romans or the Samnites; the Romans suffered some oftheir most humiliating defeats at the hands of the Samnites (such as the Battle of the Caudine Forks).The Second Samnite War was also an important point in time for the Lucanians, because it was duringthis war that the Romans first crossed the Ofanto River. The reason for this was that the Daunians, orsome of the Daunian cities, had joined the Romans in alliance against the Samnites. While the Romansmade their first attempt at colonising at Lucera and consolidated their position in Puglia by bringingTeanum Apulum and Canosa to their side, other towns such as Forentum-Lavello were captured. Thisis important because Forentum-Lavello was south of the Ofanto, and is thought to have been on or nearthe border with Lucania.

The Romans during this period were very careful in their diplomacy with the Lucanians. It is quiteclear that they feared any alliance with the two great warrior groups in the South: the Samnites and theLucanians. They were scrupulously careful during their wars with the Samnites not to cross orencroach upon Lucanian territory, or to interfere with Lucanian-Greek disagreements.

It was, in fact, attempts by the Samnites to make an alliance with the Lucanians in 298 BC that resultedin the Third Samnite War between Rome and the Samnites. It is evident that the thought of thecombined strength of the Samnites and the Lucanians had the Romans very, very worried, and theywere intent upon making the Lucanians their allies. The result, after the destruction of the Samnitealliance with Gauls and Etruscans and the defeat of the Samnites, most notably at Sentinum in Umbriaand Aqilonia across the Ofanto in Campania, meant that the Lucanians were now “allies” (actuallydependents) of Rome. The capture of the Samnite fortress at Venosa in 291 BC was one of the last actsof the war, and the Romans took advantage of the occasion to establish their first real colony in thesouth. It was a massive affair for its time – 20,000 colonists – but reflected Venosa’s wonderfullystrategic position between Samnites, Lucanians and Daunians. The Roman were still worried; Venosaand the Roman confiscation of territory at Aquilonia show that the Romans still wanted to keep theSamnites and the Lucanians apart.

Aftermath: Pyrrhus of Epirus and the Lucanian WarsHowever, it took a Greek to unite the peoples of South Italy against the Romans, even if it all startedwith a Greek city bringing in the Romans.

The crisis came when the Greeks of Thurii (Sibari) began yet another war with the Lucanians. This wasby no means a new or strange situation; the Lucanians and the Greeks of Sibari had fought many warsin the preceding two centuries, and the Greeks had often brought in their allies to help, but this time theGreeks sought Roman help – and the Romans granted their request. One can understand the fury of theLucanians: they had been allies of Rome in the Samnite Wars, they were ostensibly allies now, and yetthe Romans were taking the side of the Lucanians’ traditional enemies. The alliance also disturbed theother Greek cities, notably Taranto, which saw itself as the hegemonic power in the area. TheTarantines realised that the Romans were hemming them in with colonies and allies, and now garrisonsnot only in Sibari, but also in other cities along the coast: Croton, Locri, and Reggio. They appealed tothe king of Epirus, the man regarded as the greatest general in antiquity after Alexander the Great:Pyrrhus of Epirus.

Pyrrhus of Epirus

When Pyrrhus arrived in Italy in 281 BC, almost the whole of South Italy joined him against theRomans. The Greeks, the Bruttii, the Lucani, the Messapi, and even the battered remnants of theSamnites joined in this attempt to free themselves from Roman domination. Only the Dauniansremained loyal to the Romans. Initially the alliance of the South prospered. At the Battle of Heraclea(Policoro) in 280 BC, the Romans suffered a defeat at the hands of Pyrrhus and the allied forces.Although it was a victory, the Greek phalanx – which was the backbone of Pyrrhus’ army – sufferedheavy losses. The next year another battle was fought in Puglia at Ascoli Satriano. The Battle ofAsculum in 279 BC was another victory, but it was such a bloody victory and the losses to Pyrrhus’army were so great that Pyrrhus is reported to have said, when congratulated on his victory: “One morevictory like that against the Romans and we will be ruined" – which is the origin of the expression“Pyrrhic victory”. He was also said to have admired the Roman army: “With such an army I couldconquer the world!”

After this battle Pyrrhus decided to try his fortunes in Sicily, leaving his Italian allies to the mercy ofthe Romans until he returned in 275 BC. After the inconclusive Battle of Beneventum between Pyrrhusand the Romans in 275 BC, Pyrrhus left Italy for good, leaving only a garrison at Taranto. The garrisonheld out against the Romans until 272 BC. This was a disaster for the Lucanians. This war had lastedsome 10 years, following decades of war between the Romans and the Samnites, but it had taken placealmost entirely in Lucania. The territory of the Lucanians was ravaged, their towns in ruins, theirwealth used up or taken. Now the Lucanian territory was broken up and the best parts given to Romans,their allies and their colonists

From 272 BC there was no challenge to Roman power in the south. The Romans consolidated theirposition with colonies in the land of the defeated. We have already mentioned Venosa (291 BC), butthere was also Paestum (273), and above all Tarentum (272). Lucania had seen more than twenty yearsof warfare but were still vulnerable to Rome’s resentment after the departure of Pyrrhus.

Hannibal Barca

It was another two generations before the Lucanians made another attempt to free themselves from theRoman yoke. This time it was the arrival of Hannibal in 216 BC and his massive victory at Cannae, just

over the border in Puglia, that brought the Lucanians some possible hope of freedom. Unfortunately,the long-term result was the wholesale destruction of Lucania. Not all of Lucania joined Hannibal, butthis resulted in both sides ravaging the territory of the other. Moreover, Lucania became the main zoneof operations during the later part of the war. The long and destructive war, and the eventual expulsionof Hannibal and his defeat in Africa, meant that Lucania never recovered from these disasters, andunder the Roman government the region fell into decay.

The Roman reorganisationThe Decline of the SouthThe reasons for this decline, which can also be seen on a larger, different scale all over Lucania andmuch of South Italy, are complex and multifaceted. There is no one cause, no one explanation for whyLucania fell from prosperous to poor, but a number of factors that occurred together. First, there werethe wars: the Samnite war, the campaigns against the Lucanians (which we know not from thehistorians but from the Fasti triumphales), the war with Pyrrhus and the Greeks of Magna Graecia, andthe war with Hannibal. These wars were extremely destructive and saw much of South Italy devastated.Then there was also an ecological collapse, with much of Magna Graecia and its hinterland seeingwidespread deforestation and resultant silting of rivers, destruction of farmland and rising rates ofmalaria and other diseases. There was certainly also destruction and confiscation of land by theRomans, particularly after the Pyrrhic war. Lastly there was the reorganisation of the economy of thesouth.

An example can be given in the case of the Via Appia. This road, which was constructed between 312BC and 264 BC, effectively cut off Lucania. We know that before the Via Appia was constructed, tradewas intense between the Greeks of Magna Graecia and the Lucanians, and that much of this waschannelled through the larger Greek cities like Metaponto, Taranto and Heraclea. The Via Appia,however, cut out Lucania, running from Campania to Venosa north of the Vulture and then down theeastern border of Lucania through Gravina, Taranto and Brindisi. The Lucanian trade in their fine woolmust have suffered. Similar economic hardship must have been felt by the whole of South Italy, fromthe end of the First Punic War onwards, when the agricultural wealth of the Sicily and south wassimply appropriated by Rome. Worse still, historians have described Roman demands on Lucanianmanpower, to help them fight their overseas wars, as ruinous.

The destruction brought about by Rome’s conquest of the south, added to the economic hardship ofexpropriated land and agricultural output, the removal of manpower for long periods in wars fromwhich the Romans took almost all the spoils, the problems with the environment, and the bypassing ofLucania by the Via Appia, and above all a general shift of focus from the former Mediterranean “hub”of Magna Graecia-Carthage-Sicily-South Italy north to Rome, had a massive impact for South Italy andLucania in particular. Lucania never really recovered, and while one cannot state that this was in anysense Roman policy, Rome was certainly the catalyst that brought it all about.

Winners and LosersHowever, the Roman conquest of the south did not bring complete disaster, nor was all of South Italyadversely affected. It is an exaggeration to believe what some historians depict as a catastrophe, the“desertification” of Lucania during the Roman period – an idea they get from Pliny, who was certainlyoverstating the case of a countryside ruined by vast expanses of public land and latifundiae (largeRoman estates that used slave labour). There was decline, changes in settlement patterns and a lowerlevel of prosperity, but the situation was not one of a depopulated Lucania on the brink of collapse. Itmay have been like that in some places, but not all places. There were winners and losers, and thewinners were those who used the new Roman settlements to their advantage.

It would appear certain that the Vulture region was in a good position as far as the Romanreorganisation was concerned. This was mainly because of the foundation of Venosa. The Romansmade Venosa the focus of their domination of northern Lucania, and with the development of Banzi(ancient Bantia) and Acerenza (ancient Aceruntia), this made the Vulture a zone with growing urbancenters, probably an increasing population, and with markets for agricultural produce. The Roman roadsystem in the area, while of little benefit to Lucania as a whole, meant that this small part of Lucaniawas well serviced and close to the major road of the south.

Roman roads in the Vulture area

In the Vulture it would seem that Lucanians had an opportunity to profit from the Romanreorganisation of Lucania, though it is not until the 1st century BC that we see concrete evidence in thearchaeological record.

Lucanian Resistance and ContinuityEven though the people and the economy of Lucania had greatly suffered from the Roman conquest ofthe south, the Lucanians had managed patches of recovery and even, in places, prosperity. Their senseof identity had certainly not been damaged, which we can see in their continuing use of their veryLucanian sanctuaries. Although Lucanian towns had suffered – most had, in fact, ceased to exist – theLucanians still occupied the countryside. From the height of Lucanian success in the 4th century therewas certainly a decline, but – as we can see in the archaeological record in the Vulture region – therewere still Lucanian farmhouses occupying the land in the 2nd century BC.

There was continuity in most aspects of Lucanian life and culture. In terms of government very littlechanged. We know that the Romans had treaties of alliance with various Lucanian political entities andthese did not change, nor were the various offices that have been found on inscriptions. The Samnite-Lucanian office of meddix, known to have been in use from the earliest date, was still in use in the 2nd

century BC at Muor Lucano and even in the Social War in the 1st century BC. The Lucanian use of asenate is still known from 2nd century BC Atena Lucana in the form of senateis (σενατηις). These forms of government seem to have lasted largely unaltered until the Lucanians were given Romancitizenship.

In the economy little changed, except perhaps for a gradual yet constant contraction of available land,which resulted in a decline in prosperity in Lucania. The Romans took a great deal of Lucanian landand turned it into ager publicus – Roman public land – which in practice was anything but public. Thisland was given to Roman colonists or settlers, but most often was taken by rich Romans and used forlarge agricultural factories – latifundiae – that used slave labour. Often these large “farms” took goodcultivatable land and used it only for pastoral land. The rich Romans who ran these huge ranches wereoften not very concerned about their neighbours, and often tried to drive them off their land in order toincrease their properties. Even herdsmen were not immune. We have evidence from Romaninscriptions that Lucanian pastoralists were ejected from land – often not even Roman land – to makeway for Romans or Roman settlements (such as Forum Popilii – modern Polla).

The language of the Lucanians also continued without any indications of decay or replacement byLatin. Even by the 2nd century BC, as attested by the inscriptions mentioned above at Muro Lucano and

Atena Lucana, there is little change. Greek letters were still used and the language was still Oscan. Alittle later Latin letters start to be used, but this is usually after the granting of Roman citizenship in 90BC.

It is probably the sanctuaries which are the best manifestation of Lucanian resistance and continuityduring these centuries. It is important that we have very little in the way of archaeological remains ofRoman temples – or Roman ritual practice of any kind – in Lucania. Although the templum augurale atBanzi is well known as an example of Roman augury and ritual, it is overshadowed by the much morenumerous Lucanian sanctuary sites that have been discovered: Rossano di Vaglio, Torre di Satriano,San Mauro, Buccino, Serra Lustrante (Annento), San Marco (Grumentum), Chiaromonte S. Pasquale,Pomarieo Vecchio, Garaguso, Roccagloriosa and many more. These sites kept operating as sanctuariesusually until at least the 1st century AD. Moreover, they kept using the Oscan language, the particularLucanian layout of ritual space, the same Lucanian mode of dedication and a stubbornly unchangingritual – long after the Romans had taken over everything else.

The Lucanian warrior culture no doubt showed a good deal of continuity, and also had an outlet in theirservice in the Roman Republican armies. This warrior culture seems to have been particularlyimportant to the Lucanians, and can be seen in an aristocratic ideal of individual fighters that is evidentboth in the literary texts and in archaeological evidence. This is why we find Lucanian tombs,particularly the tombs of men, easy to identify: because of their deposits of weapons and warriorembellishments. The Lucanians were famous as warriors in antiquity: what is evident from the historiesthat have come down to us is that the Lucanians were either feared and resisted, usually with the helpof troops and mercenaries, or were sought after as allies. In the end the Romans forced them into theposition of subservient allies after 272 BC, but the Lucanian contribution to Roman arms was certainlysubstantial. We know that many Lucanians must have served in Rome’s armies all over theMediterranean. For example, in 225 BC the Romans demanded contributions from their allies to fightanother invasion of Gauls. The Lucanians contribution was 30,000 foot and 3,000 horsemen, while theLatins, always considered to have been the most numerous, contributed 80,000 men. Lucanian namescome down to us in the Roman histories, more often than not, because a contingent of Lucaniansoldiers is mentioned for the achievement of some notable feat (against Carthaginians, Greeks, Gaulsand Spaniards, to name a few) – always commanded by a Lucanian officer, but always under a Romangeneral.

However, by the beginning of the 1st century BC the Lucanians, and most of the rest of Italy, had hadenough of fighting for the Romans without any of the benefits. Roman citizens certainly had greaterwealth and greater opportunities than Italians, even though much of the wealth had been gained byarmies made up mostly by Italians. The issue came to a head when the Roman tribune Marco LivioDruso decided to try to give the Italians Roman citizenship. This was exactly what they wanted anddeserved, but Livio Druso was murdered in 91 BC before he could bring though the law grantingcitizenship to the Italians. The Italians almost immediately revolted.

The war that began is known as the guerra sociale, named after the socii – the allies of the Romans inItaly. These peoples, led mainly by the Samnites and the Lucanians decided to create a new politicalentity that they called ITALIA – the first use in history of the name for a political entity. This war wasparticularly bloody and destructive, with most of the fighting occurring in Lucania, Samnium and in theterritory of the Marsi. In Lucania, P. Licinius Crassus, the Roman commander, was very early ondefeated by the Lucanians under their leader (meddix) Marcus Lamponius and forced to take refugebehind the walls of Grumentum. Much of Apulia was also lost to Rome through the sudden raidsconducted by Vidacilius, with many cities, including Canusium and Venusia, won over to the Italiancause. It could not last, however, and in the end Sulla (later dictator of Rome) brought another wave ofdestruction to Lucania and northern Puglia.

Although destructive, the war between Rome and its allies achieved the result which the Italians hadbeen seeking. After 90 BC, almost all of Italy was granted Roman citizenship. The guerra sociale,when taken with the equally destructive war with Spartacus and slaves a little later, brought Lucania, atleast in economic terms, to its knees. However, the Lucanians had gained political rights in Italy, alongwith all the other Italic peoples. The name “Italia” would not be used again for a real political entityuntil the Risorgimento in the 19th century, but Rome had brought the Italians together at last. TheLucanians had become Roman; now they began to change their culture to suit.

Roman and Late Roman Lucania

The Vulture and Roman Apulia and LucaniaAlthough we can date Roman Lucania from the law passed in 90 BC giving citizenship to most ofItaly, it only really becomes comprehensible to us after Augustus reorganised the administration ofItaly. It was in 7 BC that Augustus divided Italy into the regions that are in many cases still with ustoday. Lucania became part of Regio III Lucania et Brutii, which covered the area from the TyrrhenianSea in Campania to the Bradano River, and from the Sele River in the north to the tip of the toe of Italyin Calabria. We have already pointed out how much confusion there has been about just where thenorthern border of Lucania was defined, but the Roman border between the Regio III of Lucania andRegio II of Apulia is equally uncertain.

Map of South Italy (English 1830)

We can be fairly certain, thanks to writers such as Orazio, that the Vulture region was deemed to be onthe border between Apulia and Lucania, with the Vulture volcano probably in Lucania. However, map-makers over the centuries have had enormous difficulties with the area. Since they knew that Venosawas in Apulia and that the Bradano was the eastern border, they usually made the mistake of placingthe entire Vulture region in Apulia – including Banzi, Acerenza, Forenza. One will note that somemaps are very confused about the Vulture region, with Banzi sometimes directly south of Rionero andthe Vulture volcano on one occasion to the east of Venosa. Atella is even placed to the north ofVenosa in one map.

Germany 1865

France 1742

France 1764

Amsterdam 1742

The source of much of this confusion has been the texts of ancient historians and geographers, fromwhom we get much of our information. The confusion is not restricted simply to matters of geography,but to history. If one reads the Roman writers Strabo and Pliny and takes what they say to have beenliterally correct, then Lucania in the Roman period was desolate. In the 1st century AD Strabo tells usthat the once-populous provinces of Samnium, Apulia and Lucania were by his time decayed and

depopulated; while Pliny a little later in the 1st century AD talks of the latifundia (those huge Romanestates) in South Italy being ruinous to Italy. Many modern historians have taken these reports as beingcompletely accurate. As we have seen, there was some truth to what Strabo and Pliny had to say, butthat does not mean that South Italy was a desert, as some people describe it in antiquity. This is wherearchaeology has been useful.

Archaeological research in Lucania over the last 40 years shows that Roman Lucania underwentsomething of a recovery from the 1st century BC onwards, a recovery that accelerated over time.Lucania may never have become as prosperous as many other areas in Italy, but it did recover from itslowest point in the 2nd century BC, changing its settlement patterns and the focus of its economy andproducing a Roman Lucania that was certainly better than what preceded it. Much of this research hasbeen done by the Superintendency for Archaeology in Basilicata, but very much has also been done byscholars such as Alastair Small, Michael MacKinnon, Robert Buck, Helena Fracchia and MaurizioGualtieri. These archaeologists (from Italy and Canada) have uncovered new evidence for RomanLucania at places such as Ruoti, Oppido Lucano and Roccagloriosa. We can now add to this anotherItalian-Canadian collaborative project which is bringing new archaeological data to light: the VulturArchaeological Project.

What is this new evidence showing a recovery in Roman Lucania? A brief outline is that excavationsand survey projects in Lucania in recent years show that Roman villas, sometimes quite rich villas,started to be built in areas such as the Bradano valley at sites such as M. Ciccotti, S. Gilio, Piforni,Calle, S. Agata, S. Pietro, M. Irsini and M. Orsini; also in the Potentino at sites in Potenza itself,Malvaccaro, and S. Giovanni di Ruoti; as well as many others at Banzi, the Ofanto valley, Lavello,Venosa, and Melfi-Rapolla. These villas almost always have their earliest levels in the 1st century BCor 1st century AD. Moreover, survey projects around Venosa, in the Bradano valley, in the Potentino atRuoti and near Tolve, as well as those in western Lucania all point show a similar picture: a growinguse of the landscape from the 1st century BC onwards.

Roman site between 140 AD and 460 AD

Although the picture shown of an increasing number of Roman sites at Ruoti peaks in the 2nd centuryAD, this is not always the case. In some areas in Lucania, the number of Roman sites stays high evenduring the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD. Certainly the large Roman villas seem to continue inuse without breaks. The increasing number of sites in the landscape of Lucania, particularly northernLucania, may have a lot to do with the building of Roman roads in the area.

Network of Roman roads in the Vulture

These roads connected to the Via Appia and trade routes into Puglia, which probably served theRoman villas and the agriculturally productive farmhouses in northern Lucania, and allowed them totransport their produce both within the Vulture zone and beyond, to Puglia and into Campania andnorth to Rome. However, the increase in sites around Ruoti, for example, may have been related to thebuilding of the Via Traiana in 109 AD, which went from Benevento to Canosa and then to Brindisithus bypassing Lucania altogether. The Via Appia still functioned, but over time it saw less and lesstraffic.

The Via Appia and Via Traiana

The Vultur ProjectThe research that has been conducted in the Vulture region around Rionero and Atella has broughteven more evidence for how Roman Lucania functioned. Several points have already been made clearby the evidence. These include the fact that there is continuity in many sites from the Lucanian period,that many other sites begin in the 1st century BC or 1st century AD, that the 3rd century showed nodecline in settlement, that the Late Roman period showed continuity from the preceding period, andthat the Vulture was rich in Roman sites showing a marked prosperity throughout the Roman period.

Roman sites and tracks in the Vulture

The evidence of continuity is interesting. From our survey project in the Vulture, we have found fivecertain Roman sites that also have evidence for settlement in the Lucanian period. This means thatabout 17% of the Roman sites identified in the survey project lasted from the 4th or 3rd century BCthrough to the Late Roman period. This might increase if excavation at these sites was undertaken andmore evidence collected. At the Roman site of Torre degli Embrici the earliest material dates from the4th century BC and the latest from the 7th century AD, a quite surprising history of more than 1,000years of occupation at the same site.

This is not an unusual pattern of evidence. Other survey projects and excavations in Lucania havefound that Roman sites, usually the larger and richer Roman sites such as villas, have evidence ofLucanian occupation at their lowest levels. The implications of this are far reaching. It means thateither Romans were taking over Lucanian sites, presumably because they were well sited or were aready source of building materials, or that Lucanian sites became Roman – as clear a case ofRomanization of the Lucanians as one could imagine. The former possibility of sites being taken overseems unlikely, simply because the likelihood of sites being regarded as suitable for Roman villas in somany cases in so many different environments is difficult to believe. In numerical terms it is hard toprove. Survey at Venosa, for example, shows that an area certainly expropriated and given to Romanshad only 5% of sites showing continuity, but in the area around Rionero – probably remaining at leastinitially in Lucanian hands – it was 17%.

The evidence of continuity, the transition from Lucanian to Roman, fits into what we are discoveringfrom other areas of South Italy about Romanization. It is becoming clear that Romanization was littlemanifested among the Lucanians until after the guerra sociale. The construction of Roman stylehousing, such as large villas and Roman baths (terme), began in the 1st century BC-1st century AD at atime when we hear of the first Lucanian senators at Rome, and Lucania and Lucanians appear inliterature. After all, Orazio mentions not only Lucania very often – identifying himself as confusedabout whether he was Apulian or Lucanian – but he mentions the Vulture explicitly:

Me fabulosae Volture in avioNutricis extra limen Apuliae

“Trackless Vulture” was thus perceived as rough, the abode of nature, covered in forest and occupiedby wild animals. However, its very appearance in Horace’s Odes implies that is was known toHorace’s readers (what is the point of mentioning the wilderness of Borneo, to give a modern example,

unless people know what and where Borneo is?), that it was part of the sphere of known places thatwould be familiar to a reader of Roman poetry. The “roughness” of Lucania fits the stereotypicalimage, but it must have been a somewhat Romanized Vulture for it to have been familiar.The growth of rural settlement in this period after the guerra sociale is seen all over Lucania, andclearly in the Vulture survey. The Vulture was certainly becoming Roman. Before the 1st century BCthere had been, as we have seen, only a few settlements, but by the 2nd century AD the Vulture hadfarmhouses and villas covering the landscape in a system of tracks and roads – leaving the mostcultivatable land open (that flat rich land between Rionero and Atella).

The number of villas found in the survey is surprising. Although we have only surveyed about 20% ofthe area of the Vulture in the territory of Rionero (and some of Atella), we have found very clearevidence of at least six substantial villas. This is a higher concentration than even the Ofanto valley –or any other area in northern Basilicata.

Roman villas in the Rionero-Atella area

The number of large villas in the area suggests that the Vulture was used intensively in the Romanperiod. One may speculate, with some reason, that the Vulture may have been as famous in antiquityfor its waters as it is presently. The fact that we have been able to identify terme at many of the sitescertainly suggests that rich Romans understood the value of the Vulture spring waters.

The simple number of Roman sites in the Vulture area goes against the trend for Lucania, where onedoes see an increase in the number of sites but usually not beyond the numbers from the 4th centuryLucanian peak. The Vulture was therefore one of those areas in Lucania that seem to have benefitedwhile other areas did not. The prosperity in the area can be gauged not only by the number of sites, butby the many phases of building and rebuilding that one finds at the Roman sites.

The Roman villa and terme at Torre degli Embrici is a good example. Here excavations have thus farfound two different terme complexes; one appears to have been built at a very early date, at least asearly as the 1st century BC. The villa itself underwent periodic rebuilding and additions. We haveidentified at least eight major phases of construction, dating from the 1st century BC through to the 6th

century AD.

Torre degli Embrici

This continuity and prosperity in the Roman period in the Vulture is also evident in the 3rd century AD,when some scholars have suggested that there was a general decline throughout Italy. At Torre degliEmbrici, in fact, there appear to have been two phases of construction – additions to the buildings atthe site – in the 3rd century. This argues, conversely, for a period of stability and normality in the 3rd

century in the Vulture.

Daily Life in Roman LucaniaArchaeological research over recent decades has allowed us some insight into the life of people inantiquity and particularly in the Roman period. Archaeology is, after all, the study of what people havedone in the past, how they lived and what they left behind them. History is very often the study ofwhat people have written in the past, which is not always reliable and concentrates on what the mostpowerful where doing. Archaeology looks at all aspects of life and society.

The Vultur Archaeological Project has an important part in helping us to learn and understand moreabout how people lived in the Vulture region in antiquity.

Terme. One of the most important social activities for the Romans was the daily visit to the terme.Although we think of bathing as a private affair, for Romans it was a social, communal activity.Roman terme were like what we now think of as Turkish baths or spas. In the terme people socialised,met their friends and family, and relaxed in a communal environment. Courtship was conducted aswell as sealing business deals.

Although Romans frequently used public baths (in Rome in 354 AD there were 952 bathsdocumented), private baths were considered a very desirable luxury. The rich Roman villas of theVulture area included terme, and these would have been looked upon with envy by those not wealthyenough to construct their own. Such terme often had some of the richest decoration with marble ormosaic floors, carefully decorated walls and ceilings, and marble statues such as that found at Torredegli Embrici. The terme in the Rionero area all have these features and show a history ofdevelopment over the centuries, following fashion in the design of terme in the Roman world.

Statue of Aphrodite from Torre degli Embrici

The basic design of Roman baths was based upon a person gradually exposing themselves toincreasing temperatures. Roman terme contained a series of rooms which were progressively hotter.The process started with an apodyterium – a room where the bather changed clothes – then thefrigidarium (cold room) with its tank of cold water, the tepidarium (warm room), and finally thecaldarium (hot room). The caldarium, heated underneath the hollow floor, contained cold-water basinswhich the bather could use for cooling. After taking this series of sweat and/or immersion baths, thebather returned to the cooler tepidarium for a massage with oils and final scraping with metalimplements. It was important also to use oils, perfumes and cosmetics in the terme, if these could beobtained. At Torre degli Embrici we have found rooms with the remains of cosmetic bottles, hair-pinsand implements for applying cosmetics.

Typical baths: I. Caldarium, IA. Bagno, II. Tepidarium, III. Praefurnium, IV. Frigidarium, V. Apside,VI. Bagno.

In order to have a good functional terme it was, of course, necessary to have a good supply of water.Naturally, the Vulture with its many springs and natural sources of water was ideal for baths. All thevillas and baths in the Vulture area are beside or very close to a natural water source, with gooddrainage.

Work and Agriculture. In the Vulture area there is no evidence for manufacturing or industry. Thearea was, like the overwhelming majority of places in antiquity, entirely dependent upon and entirelyoccupied with agriculture. This meant various forms of farm management involving both thecultivation of the land and the keeping of herds of sheep, cattle, pigs and other domestic animals.

The Romans had three basic systems of farm management: direct work by owner and his family;tenant farming in which the owner and a tenant divide up a farm’s produce; and slaves forced to dowork and supervised by slave managers – often in very large estates called latifundia. The usual size ofa farm seems to have been between 5 hectares and 50 hectares, though estates associated with villascould be very much larger.

The evidence from the Vulture shows that there was a variety of farm sizes in the area. Large estatescan be presumed to have been associated with the large villas such as Torre degli Embrici, while smallfarms probably of less than 10 hectares were attached to some of the houses a short distance to thenorth of Rionero. The farms were probably not much different than those operating only a few decadesago in the area. Wheat and other grains were grown, with areas set aside for vines and vegetables.Some domestic animals would have been normal. We have evidence from our excavations for sheep,cattle, pigs, horse and asses. Olive oil was probably produced in enough quantity for local use, as wasfruit.

When Cato described the ideal farm of about 25 hectares he said it should have "a foreman, aforeman's wife, ten labourers, one ox driver, one donkey driver, one man in charge of the willowgrove, one swineherd, in all sixteen persons; two oxen, two asses for wagon work, one ass for the millwork". For equipment he recommended "three presses fully equipped, storage jars in which fivevintages amounting to eight hundred cullei can be stored, twenty storage jars for wine-press refuse,twenty for grain, separate coverings for the jars, six fiber-covered half amphorae, four fiber-coveredamphorae, two funnels, three basketwork strainers, [and] three strainers to dip up the flower, ten jarsfor [handling] the wine juice”.

Some crops grown on local farms would have included wheat, barley, millet, pea, broad bean, lentil,flax, sesame, chickpea, hemp, turnip, olive, pear, apple, fig, and plum. Many of the seeds of theseplants are to be found in archaeological levels at Torre degli Embrici. To supplement their productionthere was certainly commerce between areas, particularly with the adjacent Ofanto valley and Puglia,which would have been more productive in certain forms of agriculture. The keeping of sheep, alwaysan important part of the Lucanian economy, was certainly widespread and involved movementbetween the low-lying areas and the Vulture between seasons. Luxuries, however, would have beenimported. It must be remembered that some of the most important ingredients in Italian cooking werenot available in antiquity. Tomato, peppers, potato, maize, many fruits, sugar, coffee, chocolate, just toname a few, were not known. However, important staples such as garum, which is a fermented fishsauce that was regarded as essential in ancient cooking, had to be imported. The Roman love ofshellfish also meant that the many shellfish remains we have found in our excavations were importedfrom the coastal areas.

San Giovanni di Ruoti reconstruction

The wines of Lucania were definitely as famous in antiquity as they are today. Roman poets as well asmore practical men such as Varro and Cato praised the wines of Lucania. Similarly, the sausages ofLucania were famous as were the pigs. Under Diocletian, a new system of taxation was imposed inwhich Lucanians had to supply pigs (or pig meat – sausages) rather than coin. It is thought that thisrequirement may have reduced the number of sheep and increased pig-rearing, but this is not certain.However, the Lucanian sausage is known all over the Mediterranean: in Bulgaria as "lukanka", inGreece as "loukanka", in Portugal as "Linguiça", and in Spain as "longaniza." The larger estates, suchas Torre degli Embrici, invested in pigs. Evidence from Torre degli Embrici as well as sites such asSan Giovanni di Ruoti shows that pigs were an important part of the economy.

Basically, the stability and orderliness of life in Roman Lucania meant that agriculture continued in theVulture in a very predictable and simple way. The continuity of sites in the Vulture, with farmhousesand villas occupied for centuries, show that life in the fields did not change much. The staple foodswere produced, the sheep kept in pasture and trade conducted with Puglia to the east, Campania to thewest and along the Bradano to the south.

Late Roman LucaniaThere is a widespread belief that the Romans were in a state of decline from at least the 4th centuryonwards, and that this led to civil war, population decline, economic collapse and the eventual “fall” ofthe Roman Empire at the hands of the Goths in 410 AD. However, this is no longer how scholars

understand the history of the Late Roman Empire. For many decades now, historians have understoodthat the period after Diocletian (284 – 305 AD) was a vibrant time of renewal and new beginnings, andthat Classical culture had not gone stale or ossified. We see this in the Vulture region, which can benoted for continuity and renewal.

While there is no doubt that the Late Roman Empire was in the process of changing its character fromwhat came before – most importantly it was becoming Christian and sowing the seeds for a culture thatwe call the Early Middle Ages – we must remember that the process took many centuries and thepeople involved saw little perceptible change. The 4th century was a time of perceived strength underEmperors such as Constantine the Great and Theodosius the Great, while the 5th century (even after thesack of Rome in 410 AD) still had Emperors and an Empire. The Eastern Empire was relativelyuntouched, and the Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the "Roman" tradition.

However, this is not to say that all was well in the Empire. There was both a general lowering ofpopulation levels and a move from the cities back to the country. Long-distance trade was greatlyreduced and many areas of the empire reverted to a simpler, subsistence economy. Markets andmarket-towns declined, and there was a greater degree of local production and consumption, ratherthan webs of commerce and specialized production. The civil wars of the 4th century and the warsbetween various Germanic tribes and between some of these tribes and Roman imperial armies leftgreat areas devastated. But among all this, Lucania seems to have been hardly affected at all.

In the 4th century, sites in the Vulture area seem to have undergone a renaissance. At a number of sitesthere is evidence for rebuilding, reorganisation and reordering. At Torre degli Embrici we haveevidence that the villa was almost entirely redesigned and new sections built. A water mill was added,new channels for water, a possible aqueduct was built and a new section was added. Moreover, wehave evidence that the villa was redecorated with painted plaster. We find most of our coins from these4th century contexts: coins of Licinius, Constantine, Constans and others.

Coins of Licinius and Constantine

The Lucanian economy, throughout Roman times, had been much more dependent upon localexchange and had always been a largely subsistence economy. Its trade with the outside world wasconcentrated upon Puglia and Campania, with some connection to the Roman wool market and Romandemand for pigs and sausages. What trade there was with the larger Mediterranean world camethrough North Africa, with its famous Terra Sigillata ceramics and its connections with the easternMediterranean. Very little of this changed for Lucania. Connections with Puglia and Campaniacontinued, Rome continued to import Lucanian pig-meat although the wool trade was drasticallyreduced, connections with North Africa were uninterrupted and there is very little evidence that thewars (Roman civil wars or Roman-barbarian wars) touched Lucania.

Much of this is demonstrated by archaeological evidence from the Vulture. A good example of this isthe Lucanian production of ceramics during this time. Although industry was not an important part ofthe economy, there was one industry that is not often mentioned: Lucanian ceramics. For most ofantiquity Lucania had imported almost all its fineware ceramics, but from the 4th century onwardsLucania became the centre of production for a type of pottery that became very popular.Archaeologists call it ceramica comune dipinta nella Lucania tardoantica.

This type of pottery was produced from the 4th century through to the 7th century and can be foundnot only in Lucania but all over South Italy as well as Rome itself. The distribution of this type ofpottery shows that Lucania maintained its connections with the world around it. Similarly, the

presence of terra sigillata africana ceramics from the 4th century through to the 7th century at Torredegli Embrici (and other sites in the Vulture), as well as amphorae from all over the Mediterranean(coming via Carthage in North Africa) show that trade with the outside world continued.

Nor is there any evidence of destruction in the Vulture area until the 7th century. This is in contrastwith the Ofanto valley where Roman villas such as Casa del Diavolo near Lavello, the Finocchiarovilla, and the villa at Serra dei Canonici near San Nicola di Melfi were destroyed in the 6th century,probably during the Gothic wars.

In fact, sites such as Torre degli Embrici were constructing new additions to the villa during thisperiod. In the Vulture the only evidence of disruption is the construction of what appears to be a wall(not quite a fortification wall) and a large tower at Torre degli Embrici. These seem to have beenconstructed with some idea of defence or refuge; although no villas were destroyed in the 6th centuryin the Rionero-Atella area, the destruction in the Ofanto valley must have been well known to peoplein the area.

Such continuity and relative peace did not, however, continue indefinitely. In the 7th century ADalmost all the large Roman sites in the Vulture area were abandoned and some were burned. Was thisdestruction by Goths or Longobards? It is possible, but it may also have been something far morenatural, possibly an earthquake.

Emperor and senators. Although Roman Lucania seems to have come to an end by the 7th centuryAD, it was not a period of obscurity. Lucania was not a backward or unknown part of Italy that Romeor the barbarians simply forgot. In fact, this was a time of importance and influence for Lucania. Theemperor Flavius Libius Severus Serpentius (461-465 AD) was Lucanian and it is in the 5th and 6thcenturies that we hear most about senators from Lucania.

Suggested Reading

AncientCalpurnio Siculo, Cesareo, Emanuele. La poesia di Calpurnio Siculo. Palermo, Scuola tip, "Boccone delpovero", 1931;

Cato, de agri cultura, tr. Mario Lauria, Roma, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis, 1978;

Cato e Varro, M. Porci Catonis De agri cultura liber. M. Terenti Varronis Rerum rusticarum libri tres / exrecentione Henrici Keilii. Lipsiae : in aedibus B.G. Teubneri, 1884;

Hecataeus, Hecataei Milesii fragmenta, testo, introduzione, appendice e indici a cura di G. Nenci, La NuovaItalia, Firenze 1954;

Orazio, Odi e epodi / Quinto Orazio Flacco ; introduzione di Alfonso Traina ; traduzione e note di EnzoMandruzzato Edizione10. ed, Milano; Rizzoli, 1997;

Pliny the Elder, Storia Naturale, traduzione e note a cura di G. Ranucci, Einaudi Editore, Torino 1982;

Strabo, Geographie, texte établi ET traduit par F. Lasserre, Société d' Edition `Les Belles Lettres', Paris 1967;

Modern

Adamesteanu, D. Scavi scoperte e ricerche storico–archeologiche, in “Realtà del Mezzogiorno.Mensile di politica economia e cultura, n.8-9”, 1971, pp. 833-861;

Bottini, A. 1976: Aspetti culturali del IV secolo A.C. In Tocco, G. (ed.), Civiltà antiche del MedioOfanto. (Napoli.), 26–29.

Bottini, A. 1979: Una nuova necropolis nel Melfese e alcuni problemi del periodo araico nel mondoindigeno. AnnAStorAnt, 1, 77-94.

Bottini, A. 1980: L’area melfese dall’età arcaica alla romanizzazione, VI – VIII a.C., Attivitàarcheologica in Basilicata, 1964 – 1977. Scritti in onore di Dinu Adamesteanu. 313-334.

Bottini, A. 1981: L’area Melfese: Banzi e Lavello, in Siris e l’influenza ionica in Occidente. AttiTaranto XX 1980. (Taranto.), 344-347.

Bottini, A. 1982: Il Melfese fra VII e V sec. a.C. Dialoghi di Archeologia, 4, 152-160.

Bottini, A. 1982: Principi guerrieri della Daunia del VII secolo. Le tombe principesche di Lavello.Archeologia, materiali e problemi 7. (Bari.).

Bottini, A. 1985: Attività della Soprintendenza in Basilicata. Magna Graecia. Rivista di archeologia-storia-arte-attualità, 1/2, 20.

Bottini, A. I Lucani. Milano : Electa, 1987.

Bottini, A. Armi : gli strumenti della guerra in Lucania / a cura di Angelo Bottini. Bari : Edipuglia,1994.

Buck, Robert J. The ancient roads of southeastern Lucania. London : British School at Rome, 1975.

Da Leukania a Lucania : la Lucania centro-orientale fra Pirro e i Giulio-Claudii : Venosa, CastelloPirro del Balzo, 8 novembre 1992-31 marzo 1993. Roma : Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato,1993.

Del Tutto Palma, L. Le iscrizioni della Lucania preromana. Padova : UNIPRESS, 1990.

Gualtieri, M. 2003: La Lucania romana : cultura e società nella documentazione archeologica (Napoli,Loffredo).

Horsnæs, Helle W. The cultural development in North-Western Lucania : c. 600-273 B.C. Roma :Erma di Bretschneider, 2002.

Isayev, E. Inside ancient Lucania : dialogues in history and archaeology, London : Institute of ClassicalStudies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 2007.

Magaldi, E. Lucania romana. Roma : Istituto di studi romani, 1947.

Osanna, M. Torre di Satriano. I, Il santuario lucano / a cura di Massimo Osanna e M. Maddalena Sica.Venosa : Osanna Edizioni, 2005.

Simpson, C. 1982: The Roman villa at Atella. Echos du monde classique, 26, 191-198.

Simpson, C. 1983: La villa romana di Atella: Sondaggi preliminari. In Gualtieri, M., Salvatore, M. &Small, A.M. (eds.), Lo scavo di San Giovanni di Ruoti ed il periodo tardoarcaico in Basilicata. (Bari.).

Small, A. & Buck, R.J. 1994: The excavations of San Giovanni di Ruoti (Toronto ; Buffalo, Universityof Toronto Press).

Small, A.M. 1999: La Basilicata nell’età tardo-antica: ricerche archeologiche nella valle del Basentelloe a San Giovanni di Ruoti. L’Italia meridionale in età tardoantica, Atti del XXXVIII Convegno di Studisulla Magna Grecia (Taranto, 2-6 ottobre 1998). (Taranto.), 331-342.

Small, A.M. & Freed, J.S. 1986: San Giovanni di Ruoti (Basilicata). Il contesto della villatardoromana. In Giardina, A. (ed.), Società romana e impero tardoantico, III. Le merci, gliinsediamenti. (Roma-Bari.).

Szilagyi, J.G. 2004: In Search of Pelasgian Ancestors: The 1861 Hungarian Excavations in theApennines (Budapest, Atlantisz Publishing House. Museum of Fine Arts).

Tagliente, M. 1985-86: I Signori dei cavalli nella Daunia di età arcaica. AnnPerugia, 23, 303-321.Taglient, M. & Bottini, A. 1990: Due casi di acculturazione nel mondo indigeno della Basilicata.Banzi. Una tomba infantile e le anthesterie. Lavello. Una rilettura dell'askos "Catarinella". PP, 45, 206-231.