Simbolismo e valori rituali. Il marchio da pane come espressione della cultura agropastorale lucana

Abstract

While it is true that the craftsmanship most closely linked to the agropastoral world belongs to the past and cannot be revived, it is also true that the production of certain objects linked to popular and agropastoral art and inserted into the social context of the time has come down to us, albeit in a completely different dimension, in many cases losing its original intended use and taking on new symbolic meanings linked to new historical, cultural and economic contexts, by virtue of new processes of producing authenticity, enhancing memory, recalling tradition, and induced feelings of nostalgia. One of the objects connected to Lucanian agropastoral culture in the past is the stamp or bread mark, strongly connotative of the Matera countryside. The production of this object as well as its use shows a strong cultural and symbolic identity linked to the ritual meaning of the practice of bread-making and the relationship between: 'dough grown' and ready to be baked, the object in charge of carving it and the individual performing this action. The bread mark represented the last act in the bread-making process and its main function was to mark the bread with the initials of the head of the family so that it would not be confused with other breads during baking. Its symbolic value was expressed in defining the ownership of the main food, often one of the only forms of sustenance, to the head of the family.