La danza corale nei manufatti della più antica Età del Ferro dell’area centro-tirrenica

Giovannangelo Camporeale

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Abstract

Dance scenes, incised on clay materials of the earliest phase of the Iron Age from various centres of the Middle-Tyrrhenian area, are few and are one of the first forms of rupture with the abstract Geometric decorative repertoire. The representations show a choral dance that is a characteristic manifestation of pre-urban civilizations. The participants can be all male dancers or all female dancers or female and male dancers together. Their movement is slow, rhythmic, without spontaneous gestures, but it is also a performance. The artifacts, found in tombs, lead one to hypothesize a connection between this performance and funeral ceremonies, although some of the artifacts, for example the small pitchers, could have first been used in non-funerary ceremonies. The rarity of the subject in the figurative production, and the wealth of the grave gifts among which this subject appears, establish a close link between the dance and the wealthy class. In this way, the specific theme becomes a status symbol.