Archaeology

MARIA CRISTINA BIELLA
MARIA CRISTINA BIELLA

In consistency with the educational purposes of the whole teaching course, aim of the teaching unit is to give students knowledge and comprehension skills in the field of
CIVILIZATION OF ADVANCED PREHUMAN ITALY, that complete and/or reinforce those acquired in the first grade of studies. Moreover, it will make the students able to approach orginal themes in a research context, making more complex judgments, communicating knowledge and its process, and studying the subject in an independent and self-educational way.

The course aims to provide an overview of population in Italy during the first millennium BC, with particular regard to the relations between different cultural areas of the peninsula, of which will be debeated also linguistic aspects, and relations with non-indigenous communities.

The course aims to help students develop a critical knowledge of cultural manifestations in pre-Roman Italy through the study of specific case studies, stimulating a reflection on the transition from archaeological sources to historical reconstruction.

Ideally, students should have already taken at least a college-level survey a course of Etruscan Studies. Useful reading requirements for those who feel their background knowledge not strong enough are:
G. Bradley, G. Farney (eds.), The Peoples of Ancient Italy, Boston-Berlin 2017;
C. Smith, Etruscans: a very short introduction, Oxford 2014.
For students who can read Italian:
M. Pallottino, Storia della prima Italia, Milano 1984.
Further bibliography will be made available upon request.

The course aims for the A.Y. 2024-2025 to provide an overview of the archaeological and epigraphic manifestations of the sacred in pre-Roman Italy (8th-2nd c. B.C.).
It is divided into two parts (A-B), a first archaeological one (M.Cristina Biella, 3 CFU) and a second one of epigraphic character (Alessandro Conti, 3 CFU).
During the lectures, different practical examples will be presented, handouts will be provided and discussion will be encouraged, and educational excursions to museums and sites will be organised.

Part A (M.Cristina Biella, 3 CFU)
The first part of the course, after a methodological introduction, will consider the various archaeological manifestations of the Sabine cultural area. This will be done starting from the analysis of specific examples, relevant to different archaeological contexts and different chronologies.

Lecture 1: Introduction to the course
Lecture 2: Methodological issues
Lecture 3: The Sabines in the sources
Lecture 4: The Sabines: those of the Tiber Valley and those of the interior
Lecture 5: Case study 1: Cures and southern Sabina
Lecture 6: Case study 2: Poggio Sommavilla
Lecture 7: Case study 3: Foglia
Lecture 8: Case study 4: Magliano Sabina
Lecture 9: The oldest Sabine epigraphy
Lecture 10: Inland Sabina
Lecture 11: Excursion to the Archaeological Civic Museum of Fara Sabina

Papers listed in the detailed Syllabus (https://elearning.uniroma1.it/, CULTURE DELL' ITALIA PREROMANA (LM 2025-26));
Lectures and visits to the Museums (.ppt files and notes).

The students who do not attend the lectures must add five more papers among the ones listed in the detailed Syllabus (https://elearning.uniroma1.it/)

During the lectures, different practical examples will be presented, handouts will be provided and discussion will be encouraged, and educational excursions to museums will be organised.

In presence

Assessment will be through an oral exam. Minimum mark: 18/30.
The student must demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the topics of the course.
Max. mark 30/30 cum laude. The student must demonstrate an outstanding knowledge of the topics of the course and a clear attitude towards critical thinking.

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• 01a_An introduction to the course


• 01b_Languages and writings of pre-Roman Italy_An introduction


• 02a_The Latins and the other peoples of ancient Latium (i)


• 02b_The use of writing in ancient Italy


• 03a_The Latins and the other peoples of ancient Latium (i)


• 03b_The alphabets in pre-Roman Italy


• 04a_Settlements and cities in ancient Latium (i)


• 04b_Literacy/ies at different speeds in pre-Roman Italy (i)


• 05a_Settlements and cities in acienti Latium (ii)


• 05b_Literacy/ies at different speeds in pre-Roman Italy (ii)


• 06a_Sacred areas in ancient Latium (i)


• 06b_The epigraphy of archaic Latium: an introduction (i)


• 07a_Sacred areas in ancient Latium (ii)


• 07b_The epigraphy of archaic Latium: an introduction (ii)


• 08a_The necropoleis of acient Latium (i)


• 08b_The epigraphy of archaic Rome


• 09a_The necropoleis of acient Latium (ii)


• 09b_Etruscans and Latins in the archaic period through the lens of the epigraphic record


• 10_"Latins"(?) outside ancient Latium


• 11_12_ Outing at the Museo Nazionale dei popoli italici "A. Maiuri" (Veroli)