La navigazione tardo-arcaica in Adriatico. l’iconografia navale e la peculiarità della tradizione nautica / Late-archaic navigation in the Adriatic sea. the naval iconography and the peculiarity of the nautical tradition

Abstract

RiassuntoLa navigazione nell'Adriatico in epoca arcaica, tra il IX e il VI sec. a.C., si caratterizza per una fitta rete di scambi e contatti interni, sia in senso est-ovest, tra le due coste, sia in senso nord-sud. Tale situazione, ben documentata a livello archeologico, trova riscontro in un piccolo nucleo di iconografie navali, databili tra il VII e il VI / inizi V sec. a.C. che presentano caratteristiche peculiari nel più ampio panorama dell'iconografia navale del Mediterraneo. Si riscontrano, infatti, tipologie navali specifiche in cui, al posto dei classici timoni laterali, compare per la prima volta un timone unico al centro della poppa, che anticipa una soluzione tecnica introdotta a livello generale solo nel Medioevo. In base al riscontro dell'iconografia, l'uso di questo timone rimane un fatto isolato al VII-VI secolo e al solo Adriatico centro-settentrionale.Parole chiave: Adriatico, navigazione arcaica, Prima Età del Ferro, iconografia navale, timone. AbstractAdriatic navigation in archaic period, between IX and VI century BC, is characterized by a dense network of inner exchanges and contacts, both in east-west direction, between both coasts, and in north-south direction. This situation is well reflected by archaeological findings and also by a small group of naval iconographies dated back between VII and VI / early V century BC, representing peculiar features inside the largest context of ancient Mediterranean naval iconography. It is recognized specific naval typologies with a central rudder instead of the classical ancient side rudders, a technical solution introduced at a general level, as known, only in the Middle Ages. Based on the ancient naval iconography, the use of this archaic central rudder is a fact confined chronologically to the VII-VI century BC and geographically to the only central-northern Adriatic Sea.

Not the same landscape. Rediscussing digital approaches to premodern spatial knowledge systems

“…When describing navigation, this narrative structure is paradigmatic and hodological, articulated through a linear sequence of features on the coastal line, connected by various kinds of spatial and conceptual relations. For this reason, periploi sparked debate among scholars, who questioned the effectiveness of this system at providing support for navigation: some believe that a big part of the Greek navigational skillset was transmitted orally (Medas 2008), while others, combining archaeological evidence, believe that Greek seafaring was just primitive and approximate (Janni 1996). But the shape of the periploi is a result of the material circumstances under which navigation happened: Ancient Greek seafaring originated from coastal navigation in a closed sea during the Colonization (7th c. BCE) and from the subsequent establishment of habitual routes of communication across coastal centers (Dueck 2012: 111-ff.).…”