Le terrecotte architettoniche della Daunia

This contribution reconsiders the entire corpus of Daunian architectural terracottas between the Archaic period and Romanisation, including anthemion roofs and “simple” roofs, antefixes, acroteria, friezes and other figurative plastic elements. Analysis of the contexts confirms that their traditional exclusive attribution to sacred buildings is definitively outdated, highlighting their use in “palatial” buildings, domestic and funerary spaces. Starting from the Archaic period, the adoption of terracotta roofing systems marks the transition to an architecture that integrated Greek and Etrusco-Campanian models through local reinterpretations, thus expressing the prestige of the local elites. Various case studies, such as Tiati, Arpi and Luceria, demonstrate the fluidity of the boundaries between public and private space and the importance of figurative heritage in defining Daunian identity. Despite the frequent lack of some stratigraphic contexts, architectural terracottas emerge as essential sources for understanding the processes of socio-economic transformation and the religious imagery of the region.