Red-figure vases in Sacred Spaces. The case of Apulia

Despite the serious lack of data concerning figured vases’ places and contexts of discovery, more precise indications in recent editions have enhanced our knowledge of the role played by these vases in the spaces in which they were used. The updated information on Apulian red-figure pottery has enabled a new mapping of the contexts, revealing the presence of products from Apulian workshops in both sanctuaries and spaces intended for religious activities in residential areas, an observation that previous specialised studies had failed to highlight. Multivariate analysis of these data is facilitating increasingly significant observations about the preference for certain vase shapes in this non-funerary ritual use, in relation to their function and performative potential. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of a large, shared and constantly updated database, using a standardised language consistent with the main research questions concerning red-figure pottery. We will also address the observations that can derive from this structured approach, with reference to vase shapes which seem to go beyond their apparently almost exclusively funerary function and occupy various spaces in which ritual acts took place.