In the ancient world beeswax and honey were of crucial importance not only for nutrition, but also for a range of activities including various artisanal practices. A rich body of iconographic and ...literary evidence has proven very informative, but archaeological data are strongly underrepresented in studies on ancient beekeeping. A multidisciplinary excavation project of the Etruscan trade center of Forcello near Bagnolo San Vito (Mantua province), led to the discovery of charred honeycombs in a workshop dated to 510-495 BCE. Morphoscopical, palynological and chemical analyses (IR, LC-MS, GC-MS) were conducted on these honeycombs and their associated materials (bee-breads and a mixture of melted honeycombs) in order to reconstruct beekeeping practices and the local environment. Palynological data indicate that honeybees were feeding on plants from both aquatic and ruderal landscapes. The palynological record from the bee-breads suggests the practice of itinerant beekeeping along rivers, an activity described by Pliny the Elder (Natural History, XXI.43.73) a few centuries later in relation to the town of Ostiglia (Mantua province) ca. 20 km downstream the investigated site. Hence, confirming the historical source, beekeeping in Iron Age Northern Italy appears to be characterized by a remarkably high degree of specialization. In addition, the pollen content of the melted honeycombs provides evidence for an unprecedented Vitis vinifera (grapevine) honey. The pollination syndrome suggests that bees fed on nectar of pre-domesticated or early-domesticated varieties of Vitis vinifera, confirming the archaeobotanical record of pips from Iron Age Northern Italy.
•Charred honeycombs, honeybees, bee-breads and honey found in one Etruscan Workshop.•Pollen composition suggests mobile boat beekeeping and a unprecedented Vitis honey.•The archaeological evidence matches a passage from Pliny the Elder's Natural History.
This book discusses how Greek and South Italian vase paintings of the musical contest between Apollo and Marsyas became the model for Etruscan representations of Cacus ambushed by the Vibennae ...brothers, two Etruscan heroes of the sixth century B.C. The study demonstrates that the Etruscans knowingly adapted Greek iconographic forms to represent their own legends.Originally published in 1982.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of- print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
This paper discusses two kinds of research implemented to federate different disciplines and knowledge in support of archaeological research and the protection of the tangible and intangible heritage ...of ancient Tarquinia. The first part of the work examines the results obtained from the archaeological analysis, the concrete implications on the sustainability of ancient cultural landscapes and their possible transmission over time as an expression of the culture of a community. The second part of the work presents the reading and analysis of the ancient landscape and sites through chrono-stratigraphy, especially regarding two case studies in Tarquinia: the ‘monumental complex’ and the Ara della Regina sanctuary. The work focuses on the intangible aspects of the landscape as a result of archaeological research in the archaeoastronomical field. The orientation of the sacred structures and landscapes is presented herein regarding Etruria and the two case studies. The results shed light on the city’s perception by the population, identifying it as an entity that held and sheltered every aspect of the community’s life. The preliminary results of this study have made it possible to recognise aspects of significant historical and cultural value, which are the heterogeneous expression of a solid identity to be safeguarded and developed in a sustainable way.
There are few reported cases in the literature of spinal injuries from the past, and all of them resulted in the death of the individual or led to severe health consequences. From the historical ...record, it is well known there were no cures or treatments for spinal lesions in the past. Given the paucity of historical documents focused on this topic, anthropological research on spinal injuries can contribute with important information regarding the medical history of this kind of trauma. Moreover, skeletal trauma and occupational markers may be crucial for the reconstruction of habitual behaviors and the identification of causes and timing of death. We report results of an anthropological study of a case of vertebral injury discovered in an individual from the Italian Iron Age that highlights this important topic. The aim of this study was to assess the habitual activity pattern and manner of death of an ancient inhabitant of Spina in Padanian Etruria (northeastern Italy).
We performed a detailed anthropological and paleopathological analysis of skeletal remains.
The unknown individual was identified as a middle-aged man characterized by a particular trauma to the spine. Lesion analysis revealed a perimortem injury at the L2-L3 level. Characteristic markers on the bones indicated intense physical activity carried out during his life.
This Etruscan, in all likelihood a sailor according to the occupational markers, did not survive a stabbing attack with a bladed weapon.
Archaeological excavations carried out in Early Iron Age Vetulonia (northern Tuscany, Italy) brought to light a funerary urn particularly noteworthy for the presence of an unusual decoration obtained ...by plastering the vase surface with an organic dark grey substance, on which metal strips were originally fixed. In order to reveal the origin of such coating, it was chemically studied by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Chemical analysis not only revealed that birch bark tar was used as coating/adhesive material for the manufacture of the urn, but also allowed us to discuss the significance of the vessel in terms of eco‐technological knowledge and possible cultural connections on a large geographical scale.
Three examples of plant landscape shaping, carried out by Iron Age populations living in different geographical areas, are presented. The examples differ in population type (Garamantes, Etruscans, ...and Romans), archaeological context (settlement, necropolis, furnace, port), and area of plant exploitation (respectively, Fezzan - Libyan Sahara and Tuscany, Latium - central Italy). The leitmotiv of the three parallel investigations highlighted that humans induced clear changes in plant cover modifying the quantitative ratio among native elements and spreading the plants of economic interest even outside of their natural habitats. Micro- and macroremain analyses once more enhanced that landscape reconstruction depends on both wild and cultivated plants, and that the cultural plant landscape is composed of a complex mixture of indigenous and exotic elements. Archaeobotany results in great help in reviewing ancient prejudices, rewriting history in a modern ecological view, also discovering a different role in the landscape evolution of past civilizations. In this light, the Garamantes deeply transformed the oases in agrarian producer sites, and the Etruscans, in the area of the Gulf of Follonica, modified the previous forest vegetation, probably enhancing the xeric features. The Romans, believed as the main creators of the environmental changes in the Mediterranean basin, surprisingly did not produce consistent plant changes in the area of the Tiber delta, in the surroundings of the imperial port of Rome, during the first century AD.
By considering votive, mortuary and secular rituals, the volume offers a contribution to the continued study of Etruscan culture and gathers new material, interpretations and approaches to the less ...emphasized areas of Etruscan religion.
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