TheDaunians (Latin:Daunii) were anIapygian tribe that inhabited northernApulia inclassical antiquity.[1] Two other Iapygian tribes, thePeucetians and theMessapians, inhabited the central and southern Apulia respectively. Although all three tribes spoke theMessapic language, they had developed separatearchaeological cultures by the seventh century BC.[2]
The Daunians lived in theDaunia region, which extended from theDaunian Mountains river in the southeast to theGargano peninsula in the northwest.[3] This region is mostly coincident with theProvince of Foggia and part ofProvince of Barletta-Andria-Trani today. Daunians and Oscans came into contact in northern Daunia and southern Samnite regions. Gradually, parts of northern Daunia became "Oscanized".[4][5][6]
The ethnonym is connected to the name of the wolf, plausibly the totemic animal of this nation. The cult of the wolf was widespread in ancient Italy and was related to theArcadianmystery cult.Daunos means wolf, according to ancient glosses,[citation needed] and is cognate with Greek θαυνος (thaunos) (compare θēριον (thērion) in the lexicon ofHesychius of Alexandria), from anIndo-European root *dhau- 'to strangle', meaning literally 'strangler'. Among the Daunian towns one may mentionLucera (Leucaria) and among other nations the ethnonym of theLucani (Loucanoi) and that of theHirpini, from another word meaning 'wolf'. The outcome of theProto-Indo-Europeanvoiced aspirate*dh is proper to the Illyrian languages and so is different from the corresponding Latinfaunus and Oscan, which is not attested.[citation needed]
TheMessapic tribal nameDaunioi/Daunii has been connected to theDardanianThunatae/Thunatai in the Balkans.[7]
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Recent archaeological evidence dating to the period between 1700 BCE and 1400 BCE in the post-Cetina horizon confirms trans-Adriatic migrations from the Western Balkans to southeastern Italy, which brought aWestern Paleo-Balkan language to Apulia. However, the way in which Proto-Messapic speakers spread in Apulia and whichpre-Indo-European languages that had existed in the region were thereby assimilated or displaced is still unknown.[8] Developing their own identity, the Daunians emerged as a sub-tribe distinct from the rest of theIapygians (Messapic-speakers) in theIron Age.
The descendants of the tribes that arrived inApulia, collectively known as theIapygians, were thePeucetians,Messapians and Daunians. The broader region was inhabited byItalic peoples ofSouthern Italy with whom the Iapygians maintained contacts; among them are theAusones/Oscans,Sabines,Lucani,Paeligni,Bruttii,Campanians,Aequi,Samnites andFrentani.Strabo, in a mythological construction to explain the foundation ofTaranto, connects the Iapygians withCretans. Strabo recounts that they were descendants ofIapyx and a Cretan woman. Archaeological material shows little contact between Iapygians and Greek colonists.[9] The retroactive ascription of aCretan orArkadian heritage for the Iapygians was simply constructed for political purposes of the time these sources were written,[10] and can be confidently attributed to mythology.[11]
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A genetic study published in 2022 examined DNA extracted from three necropoleis:Ordona,Salapia andSan Giovanni Rotondo, in the region ofApulia insouthern Italy, which have been linked to the Daunian region during theIron Age. Most samples from Ordona and Salapia date to the Daunian period and some samples from San Giovanni Rotondo date more broadly to the Iron Age. Paternal haplogroups of seven Iron Age samples were identified. Two paternal lineages of the Iron Age samples belong to J-M241, one of them could be further processed as J-L283+. Two Iron Age samples belonged to R-M269, one further designated as Z2103+ and one to I-M223.[12]
Iron Age Daunians showed the highest autosomal affinity with Early Iron AgeIllyrian populations fromCroatia and populations that were formed in Italy in theRoman Republican era, which both can be broadly included in a pan-Mediterranean genetic continuum (stretching fromCrete to Republican Rome and theIberian Peninsula). Links toMinoans/Crete andIron Age Greeks/Arkadia are less likely. A parsimonious explanation of the Daunian's origin favors a genetic continuity between the Daunians and the population that inhabited the area prior to the historical period that was analyzed, although additional influences from Croatia (ancient Illyria) cannot be excluded, as described by the material remains and the available historical sources.[13]
The Daunii were similar to, but also different from, the Peucetii and Messapii, who settled in central and southern Puglia.[14] Having been also less influenced by the Campanian civilization, it had thus a more peculiar culture, featuring in particular theDaunian steles, a series of funerary monuments sculpted in the 7th-6th centuries BC in the plain south ofSiponto, and now mostly housed in the National Archeological Museum of Manfredonia. Particularly striking is theDaunian pottery (as yet little studied), which began with geometric patterns but eventually included crude human, bird and plant figures.
The main Daunian centers wereTeanum Apulum (within the modernSan Paolo di Civitate), Uria Garganica, the location of which though is not known with certainty, Casone,Lucera,Merinum (Vieste),Monte Saraceno (nearMattinata),Siponto,Coppa Nevigata, Cupola,Salapia (nearCerignola andManfredonia), Arpi (nearFoggia),Aecae (nearTroia),Vibinum(Bovino),Castelluccio dei Sauri,Herdonia (Ordona),Ausculum(Ascoli Satriano), Ripalta (near Cerignola),Canosa di Puglia,Lavello andVenosa. Since its settlement, Messapic was in contact with theItalic languages of the region. In the centuries before Roman annexation, the frontier between Messapic andOscan ran through Frentania-Irpinia-Lucania-Apulia, the transboundary region between Daunians and Oscan-speaking Italic groups. An "Oscanization" and "Samnitization" process gradually took place; this is attested in contemporary sources via the attestation of dual identities for settlements. In these regions, an Oscan/Lucanian population and a large Daunian element intermixed in different ways.Larinum, a settlement that has produced a large body of Oscan onomastics, is described as a "Daunian city" andHorace, who was fromVenusia in the transboundary area between the Daunians and the Lucanians, described himself as "Lucanian or Apulian". The creation of Roman colonies in southern Italy after the early 4th century BCE had a great impact in the Latinization of the area.[6]
There are numerous testimonies among ancient authors (Pseudo-Scylax,Virgil,Festus,Servius) of a presence of the Daunians beyond the Apennines inCampania andLatium where some towns claimed Diomedian origins. The most notable instance isArdea, the centre of theRutulians, who were considered Daunians: Vergil writes that Turnus' father was Daunus. Festus writes that a KingLucerus of Ardea fought along withRomulus againstTitus Tatius and this is the origin of the name of the RomanLuceres.[15]
The Iron Age Daunian material culture persisted quite different from theirItalic neighbours until the region was encompassed into theRoman Republic in the 3rd century BC. This cultural distinction was due in part because of their geographical area, which was distant from the Ancient Greek centres ofMagna Graecia, and in part because of their close relations with the peoples on the other coast of theAdriatic Sea with whom they retained direct contacts across the sea.[16]
The custom of tattooing among Daunians can be detected inDaunian stelae and in matt-paintedollae. It can also be conceivably identified on the wall of a late 4th-century tomb chamber fromArpi, in which a painting shows tattoos on the arms of the 'priestess' riding aquadriga.[17] The tattooing practice is most often found in preliterate tribal communities, with women playing the chief role, both performing the ritual of applying tattoos and wear them. Among other things the tattoos may have been a symbol of sexual maturity, ancestry and tribal affiliations, as well as religious beliefs. Forearms were the most common tattooed parts of the body among Daunians.[18]
In theGraeco-Roman world, tattooing was conceived as a barbaric custom that was used exclusively for punitive or ownership purposes, but the Daunian perception of tattooing was different, as it was a deep and long-standing cultural embodiment distinguishing them from other cultures, as occurred amongIllyrians andThracians. The writings of ancient authors likeHerodotus (5th century BC) andStrabo (1st century BC) show that, in the Balkans, tattooing was in the purview of the elites; iconographic and literary sources reveal in particular that it was restricted to the female members of society. In the western Balkans, isolated from outside influences, the practice of tattooing continued until the early 20th century inAlbania andBosnia, regions that in antiquity were part of the area ofIllyria, where Daunian groups conceivably originated from. Besides of religious beliefs, the accounts of the early 20th century reveal that the tattooing custom in the Balkans was originally connected with a fertility rite, being associated with the beginning ofmenstruation, thus proving that a girl had become a woman.[19]
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