A changing cityscape in Central Italy: The Gabii Project Excavations, 2012–2018

Samuels, J. T. et al. (2021) A changing cityscape in Central Italy: The Gabii Project Excavations, 2012–2018. Journal of Field Archaeology, 46(3), pp. 132-152. (doi: 10.1080/00934690.2021.1877958)

Abstract

Excavations carried out at the Latin city of Gabii between 2012 and 2018 have contributed new data to a number of debates around the emergence, lived experience, maintenance, decline, and resilience of cities. Gabii’s urban trajectories demonstrate both seemingly familiar forms of urbanism and, on closer study, many locally circumscribed elements. Specifically, the Gabii Project excavations have uncovered an early Iron Age (8th–5th centuries b.c.) hut complex that has provided evidence for architecture, funerary rites, and quotidian activities during the initial polynuclear settlement at urbanizing Gabii. A unique monumental complex constructed in the 3rd century b.c. has been identified and is interpreted as a public structure potentially used for ritual activities; the study of this complex raises questions about the creation and reception of markers of civic identity. Excavation data has further characterized the reorganizations that took place during the first centuries a.d., when Gabii’s settled area contracted. Rather than unidirectional decline, evidence for industrial activities increases, and elite investments in the city persist, especially in the mixed-use elite domestic and agricultural complex. These results provide detailed evidence for how ancient cities developed and transformed in the face of shifting local and regional conditions, especially smaller urban centers (Gabii) at the periphery of mega-urban centers (Rome).

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The Gabii Project is promoted by the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan and supported by generous grants from the University of Michigan, the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, the National Endowment for the Humanities, FIAT Chrysler Automobiles, the National Geographic Society, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation, and several private donors. The excavations are conducted under permits (concessione MIBACT, Prot. nos. DG4254/2012, DG 3151/2013, DG3930/2014, DG6156/2015, DG AR4980/2016, DG-ABAP 15682/2017, and DG-ABAP 0015053/2018) from the Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali e per il turismo and in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Roma.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Opitz, Dr Rachel
• Authors: Samuels, J. T., Naglak, M., Opitz, R., Evans, J. M., Johnston, A. C., Wright, P., Creola, A., Prosser, J., Zapelloni-Pavia, A., Farr, J., Harder, M., Banducci, L., D’Acri, M., Tuttle, D., Ion, S., Cha, C., Ness, S., Beydler, K., Cohen, S., Moses, V., Motta, L., Mogetta, M., and Gallone, A.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Journal Name: Journal of Field Archaeology
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 0093-4690
• ISSN (Online): 2042-4582
• Published Online: 28 February 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Trustees of Boston University
• First Published: First published in Journal of Field Archaeology 46(3): 132-152
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy