Archaeological Notes

The catalogue published here brings to attention the historical, documentary and cultural value of apparently marginal and too often neglected archaeological artefacts: terracotta figurines. And indeed, despite their modesty, terracotta figurines constitute - along with other objects of use, such as pottery - a constant and almost ubiquitous trace of human societies that preceded us. Generally, albeit wrongly, we are inclined to regard evidence from the past with selective attention, according to a hierarchical scale determined by artistic merit, monumental appearance, and more or less explicitly dating value. Objects such as fictile figurines, often serially produced and of rough workmanship, sometimes handmade, sometimes moulded, with few typological variations, struggle to find a definite place within this narrow frame of reference. However, these apparently insignificant objects acquire a special value when we are able to observe them from a firm contextual perspective, that is, from within an archaeological stratigraphy and, therefore, a reliable relative chronology. This is the case with the figurines that constitute the subject of this catalogue. They all come from one and the same site: Barikot, an urban settlement excavated with exemplary methodological rigour, which makes this collection a unique reference for South Asian studies. The documentary value of this catalogue is self-evident, but another aspect worth mentioning is that it came as the fruitful result of a students’ training process. The first systematic data collection was undertaken, under the guidance of Luca M. Olivieri and me [A. Filigenzi], by two students at the University of Naples L’Orientale, Giuseppina Esposito and Gennaro Alterio, who developed two comprehensive catalogues ‒ of the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines respectively ‒ as their Master’s Thesis project. The final stages towards the publication were reached thanks to the project “iCHeriSH” (Inputting Cultural Heritage and Side Histories into the digital arena: Towards a collaborative network for South Asia), funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and based at the University of Naples L'Orientale and Ca' Foscari University of Venice. iCHeriSH is an online resource for South Asian cultural heritage supported in both web and Android applications, with multimedia resources. The project was conceived in the framework of the social disruption created globally by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also affected university education, thus stressing more than ever how e-learning and benevolent smart education may play a crucial role under all kinds of difficult circumstances. It aims to provide a flexible tool for education, training, 2 research and dissemination activities, at the same time improving the quality of online didactic material against the spread of online misinformation. Also, it aims to encourage the engagement of youth in historic preservation as well as the use of social media in the dissemination of the same. It is in the framework of this project that the post-graduate student Roberta Gooni made the English version and the editorial revision of the text. The decision to include the completion of this catalogue in the iCHeriSH program stems precisely from the commitment of the latter to the 'Side Histories', of which the terracotta figurines represent a privileged material projection. Their wide diffusion and large numbers make them a key to the sphere of popular culture and traditional knowledge. And yet, despite their pervasiveness, we still know very little about their circuits of use, which can embrace a wide range of symbolic substitutions: play, gift, sacrifice, propitiation and so on. We are confident that this collection, so significant for its precise archaeological setting, will contribute noticeably to our knowledge of the terracotta figurines. The synchronic and diachronic collocation of typologies and typological variants, of persistence and innovations, of concentrations and absences will help us to better understand their functions and meanings and, by extension, the underlying system of social, cultural and economic values that motivated their existence.