Livestock Economy and the Emergence of Urbanism in Central Italy during the Iron Age and Archaic Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper discusses subsistence specialization, livestock mobility, and husbandry strategies at Gabii during the eighth–fifth centuries BCE, a time of transition to state-level, urbanized political systems. The site of Gabii is one of several emerging cities in the Lower Tiber Valley that grew along a similar trajectory, expanding from dispersed hut clusters to a nucleated urban center. This process has long been linked to increased intensification of food production and specialized economies necessary to sustain demographic growth. Zooarchaeological evidence at Gabii instead indicates continuity of animal rearing practices and the persistence of household-level economies. Isotopic analysis (87Sr/86Sr, 13C, 18O) of cattle, sheep/goat, and pig teeth reveals diverse management strategies, seasonal sheltering, and differential seasonal feeding practices. Cattle were likely offered fodder and well water but ovicaprine livestock’s diet and water source shifted seasonally. While long-distance transhumance and vertical herd mobility is attested for later periods, Gabii’s animals were raised nearby during all seasons. These rearing choices reflect food production, social practices, and the role of mobility during a period of social and economic change, offering new insights into how early urban centers in the region adapted with important implications for global discussions of urban development.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37330.0