Historical Culture in Iron Age Italy

Abstract

Abstract Long before the emergence of Roman historical writing, the indigenous societies of Iron Age Italy were actively engaged in the transmission and use of the past. This book draws innovatively from anthropological and archaeological theory to provide a first account of this early historical interest. Key is an expansion from history narrowly defined to historical culture: the forms of written, narrative history familiar to us today are by no means the only manner in which societies articulate past and present. A new and more expansive understanding of what history is helps us recognize pervasive historical interests across a wider range of media. From the Early Iron Age to the third century BCE, Italian communities used a rich variety of burial practices, objects, calendars, and images to record and transmit their history. This book brings all this material together under the rubric of historical culture. The assembled evidence shows how Italy’s historical culture transformed over time as a reflection of broader changes in Italian social structure. The historical culture of Early Iron Age communities in Italy was transformed by the emergence and development of urban society before ultimately being absorbed by Roman imperial power. As the case of Iron Age Italy shows, different societies had different customs, and this applies to the ways in which communities engaged with their past. The account provides readers with an accessible presentation of several recent and important archaeological discoveries from Pre-Roman Italy.