Albertocchi , Marina
«Craft Economy» and Terracotta Figurines. Approaching Systems of Production through Coroplastic Studies: Panel 3.14
Coroplastic studies have been developing in recent years due in particular to a different perception of terracotta figurines which are no longer considered as decorative objects but as privileged evidences of artisanal, socio-cultural and religious practices of the societies in which they were produced and used.
This volume is dedicated particularly to the craft practices and the processes and motivations that led to the production and the wide diffusion of terracotta figurines through the ancient world. The studies presented here, still in progress, are essentially based on a in-depth observation of the objects which are often the only remains excavated, as few workshops with all the tools and structures necessary for the manufacture of these artefacts have been recognized and studied so far. The object, whether moulds or figurines, is thus at the heart of coroplastic studies.
Different coroplastic sets, from various contexts in different geographical areas, are presented here, with the aim of comparing information on several problems concerning the manufacturing techniques, production processes and workshop faciès. Two main fields were explored: firstly the technical expertise and characteristic handiwork of the craftsmen, and furthermore the reconstruction of activities within the workshops, whose functioning and faciès may vary from case to case. The contributions collected in this volume thus provide some interesting insights that may help future researches in this growing scientific discipline.
Agrigento: Archaeology of an Ancient City. Urban Form, Sacred and Civil Spaces, Productions, Territory: Panel 8.2
The archaeological research in Agrigento has undergone a new and important impulse thanks to a new collaboration between the Archaeological Park "Valley of the Temples" and many Italian and European universities, who have worked side by side on shared projects and excavations. This volume aims to be a synthesis of the most recent research carried out in the various sectors of the ancient city, but also a testimony of a correct way of proceeding, in which different universities and management, protection and research structures actively collaborate in the search for a common vision of such an important city of Antiquity as Agrigento, which, until a few years ago was isolated and little known in the research community, except for the famous Hill of the Temples. Agrigento now displays an unprecedented richness in archaeological research: the various aspects of the social, architectural and economic life of the ancient city now emerge with greater clarity, as well as the urban spaces, its sanctuaries, housing estates, production sites, but also the agricultural management of the chora and the extra-urban territory in an overall vision of the city which, although still partly incomplete, produces one of the few complex syntheses of the life of a city in ancient Sicily.
