An Inland Response to ‘Orientalization’: Funerary Ritual and Local Practice in Central Italy

Summary

Greater trade and connectivity has often been associated with changes in cultural practice. This is particularly the case for the Orientalizing period for which the traditional view holds that objects, ideas and practices from the eastern Mediterranean exerted tremendous influence on local Italian communities during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. This paper articulates the subtle differences between the presence of imported objects, changes in material culture, and alterations in cultural practice for two inland sites within the Apennine region of the Abruzzo. It examines funerary assemblages from the necropoleis of Fossa and Campovalano through mutliscale bootstrap resampling of grave goods. The results show that although both communities experience increased connectivity during this period, the number of imported objects does not necessitate a change in funerary ritual. The frequent presence of imported bucchero at Fossa shows strong ties with Etruria, but the local Iron Age funerary tradition was maintained. At Campovalano, although the number of imported objects is low, local ceramics and metal wares were employed within a new funerary practice of banqueting. Through this examination of local responses within the Italian interior, it further demonstrates importance of contextualizing the impact of greater foreign contact with an understanding of practice.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Connectivities in Prehistoric and Classical West/Central Mediterranean

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17506