Introduction a: Dance, Space, Ritual. Material Evidence of Dance Performance in the Ancient World

This volume shifts the scholarly focus from textual sources to material culture, exploring ancient dance and ritualized movement through an archaeological lens. By investigating "dancescapes"—performative spaces in sacred, funerary, and domestic contexts—the contributions analyze gestures, clothing, sounding jewelry, and iconographic evidence across diverse ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures. This multidisciplinary study aims to reconstruct the social and religious functions of dance, highlighting the dynamic interaction between bodily movement, performance space, and collective identity.