Offrandes alimentaires en Italie du sud: le témoignage des terres cuites en milieu funéraire

Terracottas play a crucial role in ancient funerary rituals, both in the setting of grave furnishings and in the ceremonies taking place during and after the burial. Notwithstanding the limited occurrence in the majority of Greek necropoleis in comparison to other offerings, recent studies have further illumined the way these objects contributed to the “construction” of the identity of the deceased, with particular reference to gender and age-classes. Among these artefacts, the clay models imitating fruits and food as well as the reliefs and figurines bearing this kind of offerings constitute a specific case-study. Together with the rare realia retrieved from tombs and the data coming from other documentary sources – literary and epigraphic evidence, iconographies attested on figured pottery, etc. –, the study of these items contributes to the understanding of an important aspect of the funerary sphere, also thanks to the comparison with the ‘symbolic food’ attested in sacred contexts. The paper provides some reflections about the presence of these terracottas in necropoleis of Western Greece and of indigenous areas in southern Italy. The aim is to investigate the way these offerings participated in the funerary strategy and ritual performance, and the different meanings they assumed according to their specific contexts.