13.6: Conclusion

By drawing on (a) Zaghetto’s interpretation of situla art as a sophisticated communication system, (b) recent developments in sociolinguists breaking down the division between iconic and verbal literacies and (c) Street’s understanding of literacy as an ideological practice whose nature is context-dependent and power-laden, this chapter discussed the reciprocal interplay between Venetic writing and iconography at Iron Age Este, with an emphasis on their material dimension and their role in elite consumption practices. Both writing and situla art were most likely adopted from non-local contexts by Venetic privileged groups in order to enhance their social prominence and advertise their access to exotic goods and knowledge of rituals and ideas attested in foreign regions. Hence, I outlined a preliminary account of the intricate relationship between writing, situla art and other means of status expression adopted by the Este elite, such as formal drinking. This relationship suggests that — when considered in the perspective adopted in this chapter — the conventional scholarly habit of studying situla art and writing as unrelated phenomena taken outside their similar social milieu of development is less persuasive. By contrast, the Este elites were able to elaborate a complex hybrid language, flexible but partially stable over time, which was probably adopted to advertise the social prominence and affiliation of its recipients and creators. The adoption of foreign modes of status enhancement and consumption as well as the continuous re-elaboration and transmission of the entire ‘package’ may have promoted changes in bodily practices and forms of self-perception and self-representation of the elite person him/herself. Both situla art and writing were part of the ‘package’ and their importance in ‘creating’ Este elite individuals cannot be underestimated.