Ancient Roads in the Territory of San Giuliano

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Etruscan Centralization to Medieval Marginalization: Shifts in Settlement and Mortuary Traditions at San Giuliano, Italy" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper discusses the evidence for Etruscan and Roman roads in the territory of San Giuliano and evolving strategies for control of the surrounding landscape. Road survey conducted as part of the San Giuliano Archaeological Project (SGARP) has problematized prevailing conceptions derived from literary sources and more limited archaeological knowledge about the Ancient political organization of Southern Etruria. Rock-cut Etruscan roads connected the site to key centers on the Tyrrhenian coast and in the Tiber Valley, as well as to an important transcontinental route to the north. The identification of defensive works along these roadways, designed to protect San Giuliano, suggest its independence until the late fifth century BC. Likewise, connections with intermediate sites reveal the importance of its immediate region, situated between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Tiber valley within the modern prefecture of Viterbo. A late fifth-century road directly connected the major coastal site of Cerveteri to San Giuliano, and was partially reutilized by the Roman Via Cassia in the third century BC. Combined with materially attested trade connections, and data from the new excavations at San Giuliano, studying the features of Etruscan and Roman roads can improve our understanding of political and economic history in South Etruria.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Etruscan Centralization to Medieval Marginalization: Shifts in Settlement and Mortuary Traditions at San Giuliano, Italy

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33272