A Changing Cityscape in Central Italy

The Gabii Project Excavations, 2012–2018

Bibliographic Data

ID11073602
AuthorsJeffrey Samuels (0000-0001-7480-6806, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, corresponding author), Matthew Naglak (0000-0003-0473-3116, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts), Rachel Opitz (0000-0002-5232-1434, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland), J Marilyn Evans (0000-0002-5074-3799, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan), Andrew C Johnston (0000-0002-5658-9622, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut), Parrish Wright (0000-0001-8582-8242, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina), Alexandra Creola (0000-0002-9232-0305, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), James Prosser (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), P C James (University of Michigan), Arianna Zapelloni-Pavia (0000-0003-0536-704X, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), Jason Farr (The Gabii Project, Rome, Italy), Matthew C Harder (0000-0001-9292-7476, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri), Laura Banducci (0000-0002-0942-5203, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada), Mattia D’Acri (0000-0001-9689-4974, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri), Darcy Tuttle (0009-0006-4418-4376, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California), Sabina Ion (WonderLab Museum, Bloomington, Indiana), Sabina A Ion, Christina Cha (Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida), Shannon Ness (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), Katherine Beydler (University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa), Sheira Cohen (0000-0001-5972-858X, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), Victoria Moses (0000-0003-0333-9627, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona), Vicki Moses (University of Arizona), Luana Motta (0000-0003-4136-3142, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan), Laura Motta, Marcello Mogetta (0000-0003-2736-3410, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri), Anna Gallone (The Gabii Project, Rome, Italy)
Year2021
Volume46
Issue3
Pages132-152
Publication date2021-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Field Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0093-4690 • E-ISSN: 2042-4582
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00934690.2021.1877958
OpenAlexW3135394369
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited39

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)

Archaeology · Art · Cityscape · Elite · Excavation · Geography · Human settlement · Political science · Politics · Settlement (finance · Urbanism · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Architecture · Classical Antiquity Studies · History

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