THE CULTURAL CONTEXT
The Stele Statues in Italy and Europe
In general, the phenomenon of stele statues spans a period from the end of the 4th millennium BCE to the early 3rd millennium BCE, and in some cases extends to the Iron Age.
Over 700 stele statues can be attributed to this long period of time, distributed across a vast area of Europe, including Italy. The distribution extends north of the Black Sea, from the Caucasus to Bulgaria (30 in the Caucasus, around fifty in Crimea and Moldova, approximately 170 in Ukraine, 40 in Bulgaria, and around sixty in Romania). Stele statues also appear in Hungary and throughout the Italian and Swiss Alpine region, where almost 150 stele statues have been recognized so far. Only around ten stele statues come from Germany, which likely represents a cultural lag.
A significant concentration of stele statues can be observed in the central Mediterranean area, where, in addition to the 63 statues in Lunigiana, there are approximately seventy stele statues known in Corsica and Sardinia, and around thirty in Puglia. The example of Vado all’Arancio (Massa Marittima) remains isolated.
Another significant group is located in southern France, with 177 stele statues. In the Paris Basin, there are only 8 stele statues, and in Brittany, there are 21.
In the Iberian Peninsula, there are approximately a hundred stele statues concentrated in the central-eastern part and in Portugal. These statues, which vary greatly from each other, testify to the presence of a complex interweaving of cultural influences that have impacted the region.
Only a small number of stele statues originate from Greece (one from Soufli Magoula in Thessaly, a few from the island of Thasos), four from Anatolia, around ten from Syria and Iraq, and only one fragment of a stele statue has been discovered in Malta so far.
It is possible to divide the monuments into four main groups: Eastern, Alpine, Western, and Central Mediterranean.
The Eastern group includes the statue steles found in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor: in the Balkan-Pontic, Greek-Anatolian, Syrian, and Iraqi regions.
The majority of statue steles in the Eastern group appear to be male, as the depiction of breasts is absent. The human figure is well represented, with depictions of the head, face, arms, and sometimes legs, as well as anatomical features of the face and torso. Weapons such as axes and bows with arrows, belts, necklaces, and animal figures are also depicted.
For the Balkan-Pontic statues, it is possible to propose a dating since they have been found in direct association with burials belonging to cultures of the Early and Middle Chalcolithic period (late Neolithic to early Copper Age). These cultures were characterized by a nomadic and pastoral way of life, settlements located on hills (often fortified), and the domestication of horses, which were often buried in tombs.
In southern Russia (Kazakhstan) and Romania, there are some statue steles dating to the Iron Age, between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE.
In the Alpine group, two main areas can be distinguished: an eastern area – Sion, Aosta, Lunigiana, Provence – and a western area – Valcamonica, Valtellina, Trentino-Alto Adige.
In the first area, excluding the Lunigiana group, stone slab steles have been found, in which the anthropomorphic aspect is always clearly highlighted with the representation of the head (through the shape of the stone or engraved anatomical elements), arms, and sometimes even the clavicle band. The attributes include daggers, bows and arrows, necklaces and belts, and eyeglass pendants in the Aosta-Sion group; daggers, axes, spears, necklaces, and belts in Lunigiana.
A distinction must be made, within this first geographical area, for the steles from Provence, as they are much smaller in size (20-40 cm in height) and the iconographic motifs are limited to the representation of the face often decorated with geometric patterns.
In the central Alpine area, the iconography is richer and includes weapons, ornamental objects, symbols, animals, and clothing elements such as shawls and veils. In this group, however, the anthropomorphic aspect is never indicated anatomically (Valcamonica), but is simply suggested or evoked by the arrangement of attributes and symbols (Valtellina). Arms, facial features, or other anatomical elements are never outlined, for example. Only the recently discovered steles in Arco (Trento) and Revò (Valle di Non) have a “T”-shaped face.
Therefore, the attributes, especially the weapons, assume greater importance compared to the anthropomorphic nature of the stele statues. With their repetitiveness and precise arrangement on the stone surfaces, they express a complex ideology that gains value in relation to a progressive schematization of the expressed symbols.
Regarding chronology, we have archaeological associations only for the Provence stele statues dating to the Chassey culture (Late Neolithic), for those in Aosta associated with cultural elements from the Copper Age and Bell Beaker culture, and for those in Sion linked to the Saone Rhone culture (Copper Age) and Bell Beaker culture.
For the other stele statues, it is the attributes depicted on the monuments that allow for a tentative chronology, which mostly confirms a dating to the Early Bronze Age-Copper Age.
In the Lunigiana group, the tradition persists until the Iron Age (7th-6th century BCE).
In the western group, two areas can be distinguished.
The first area includes the Lower Languedoc, Rouergue, Paris Basin, and Brittany in France. In these monuments, precise anatomical elements are always indicated: face, arms, legs, sometimes hands and feet, scapulae, and in some cases, breasts. The attributes vary, including necklaces, weapons (axe, dagger, bow with arrows), belts, and baltei. The more elaborate specimens reproduce vertical draperies of clothing.
Only some stele statues from Languedoc have precise references to archaeological contexts: they come from both funerary and habitation contexts attributable to Copper Age cultures (Ferrières and Fontbouisse).
Furthermore, some attributes depicted on these monuments have been found in dolmens and burial caves dating from the Late Neolithic to the Copper Age, which seems to locally evolve until the beginning of the Bronze Age.
The representations of stele statues engraved on the walls of hypogea or on dolmen pillars have been dated, along with the hypogea and dolmens themselves, to the Copper Age.
The second area is located in the Iberian Peninsula. It
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