TULAR · TranscULturality and social innovation in frontier AReas of pre-Roman Italy

TranscULturality and social innovation in frontier AReas of pre-Roman Italy

Critical socio-cultural transformations occurred in central Italy between the 10th and the 8th century BCE, resulting in the emergence of a complex and flourishing Mediterranean urban society. Originating in Etruria - modern Tuscany, northern Latium, and north-western Umbria - the Etruscans were central to this radical restructuring of the ancient socio-political order, leading to the emergence of the first Etruscan cities. At the same time, the driving forces behind the Etruscan urbanisation expanded across the peninsula (modern Marche, Romagna and Campania), likely as a strategic consolidation of the territorial control. These sites had consistent settlement planning, funerary ritual and material culture; yet, they diverged markedly in their development during the Orientalizing period (8th to 6th century BCE). While some communities remained embedded within the Etruria network and developed into fully fledged city-states, others appeared to gradually disengage, as signalled by transformations in funerary ritual and material culture. The MSCA project TULAR (Etruscan for border) has examined how changes in human networks influenced diverse cultural, social, and economic adaptations of human communities in the formative period of the Etruscan society. By combining traditional archaeology (the analysis of funerary ritual and material culture) and cutting-edge scientific tools (multi-isotope of human and faunal remains and data analysis), the project has achieved a new chronologically detailed narrative of the formation phases of Etruscan society, implementing traditional narratives of the Etruscan civilisation. Meanwhile, the project was able to offer detailed biographies of individuals who took part in the dynamics of interaction, formation, and development of the emerging complex society in the Mediterranean. In doing so, TULAR is placed today as a transformative research initiative, revising, through seminal publications in peer-reviewed international journals, the traditional narrative of the Etruscan civilisation and providing a compelling reworking of our understanding of the European Iron Age.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union