Mobility of people and things in Bronze Age Italy
Workshop, Thursday 31st May 2018, 10:00 a.m. – 6 p.m. The British School at Rome
Via Antonio Gramsci, 61, 00197 Roma RM
06 3264939
Themes and aims of the workshop
The workshop “Mobility of people and things in Bronze Age Italy”, hosted by the British School at Rome will focus on some key-questions, which are currently at the top of the archaeological research agenda in Europe and in other parts of the world: what approaches can we use to identify movements of people, materials and intangible culture in the archaeological record? Why does the Bronze Age represent a privileged domain for mobility studies? What were the characteristics, meanings and social implications of mobility for the communities settled in Italy during the second millennium BC and how did mobility contribute to shaping their historical trajectories?
Presentations from specialists will discuss new data from Bronze Age Italy and methodological advances in biogeochemistry (isotopes), archaeometry (petrography and mineralogy), landscape and distribution analyses.
Recent theories from the social sciences on human mobility have changed the conceptual basis on which archaeologists understand movement, including an emphasis on “routes instead of roots”. At the same time, recent technological improvements in genomic sequencing, isotope analysis of teeth/bones and archaeological materials as well as network analyses, are transforming the map of the Bronze Age Italy and Europe from a mosaic of static archaeological cultures to a fluid world of inter-dependent polities acting in complex landscapes.
After decades of mainstream scepticism, mainly streaming from a desire to reject traditional culture-historical ideas, migrations, diasporas, and the general displacement of individuals, objects and ideas have returned as one of the most frequently cited explanations for cultural transformation. In recent years, advances in scientific methodologies have significantly facilitated the use of mobility as a primary metric with which to evaluate past societal change, continuity and stagnation.
In addition, the urgency of a discussion on this topic arises from the increasing sophistication of scientific methods, which is amplifying the distance between humanities and science-based interpretations. The workshop, therefore, aims not only to provide a much-needed survey of the current state of research, but also to develop an interdisciplinary debate on the theoretical and methodological framework for further advances in archaeological research on mobility.
Mobility, migration, social interaction and permeability. Exploring how societies respond to these phenomena in the past may contribute to the debate about the greatest single challenge that is currently facing Europe.
Organizers
Dr. Claudio Cavazzuti, prof. Robin Skeates
Confirmed speakers
Alberta Arena, Sapienza – Università di Roma, Freie Universität Berlin
Alberto Cazzella, Sapienza – Università di Roma
Andrea Cardarelli, Sapienza – Università di Roma
Andrew Millard, Durham University, UK
Angela Trentacoste, University of Oxford
Antonio Carandente, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Boris Olujić, University of Zagreb
Claudio Cavazzuti, Durham University, UK
Cristopher Prescott, Norwegian School at Rome
David Vicenzutto, Università degli Studi di Padova
Elisa Dalla Longa, Università degli Studi di Padova
Emil Prodrug Muzej Grada Šibenika
Flavio De Angelis, Università di Roma Tor Vergata
Francesca Cortese, Università di Roma Tor Vergata
Giovanni Leonardi, Università degli Studi di Padova
Giovanni Tasca, Università degli Studi di Padova
Giulia Recchia, Università degli Studi di Foggia
Ilenia Arienzo, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Ilaria Rucco, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Jan Sevink, University of Amsterdam
Isabella Damiani, Musei Capitolini
Luca Alessandri, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the Netherlands
Maja Gori, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Marco Bettelli, CNR – ISMA (Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo Antico)
Mario Federico Rolfo, Università di Roma Tor Vergata
Maryanne Tafuri, Sapienza – Università di Roma
Maurizio Cattani, Università degli Studi di Bologna
Mauro Antonio Di Vito, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Michele Cupitò, Università degli Studi di Padova
Robin Skeates, Durham University, UK
Languages
Talks and discussion will be in Italian or English.
Participation fees
The participation to the workshop is free, coffee/tea breaks and a final wine reception will be provided by the organization. Lunch is offered only to the invited speakers.
Any non-speaker participant who would like to join the common lunch at The British School can pre-register in advance (within 15th of May 2018) and pay 12 euro at the registration desk at the moment of arrival. As food and drinks have to be bought in advance according to the expected numbers, we kindly ask you to pre-register for the lunch only if you really intend to join us. Otherwise, there are restaurants and coffee bars with sandwiches and any kind of hot meals, just beside the British School (Caffè delle Arti) and 100 metres further (Arch Bar).
For any information and pre-registration for the common lunch, please contact claudio.cavazzuti@dur.ac.uk or 0039 3389095308 (Claudio Cavazzuti).
How to arrive
The British School at Rome is situated just north of Rome’s historic centre in the Valle Giulia, which separates the Parioli district from the Villa Borghese Gardens. This area, less than 10 minutes walk from Piazza del Popolo, is home to several foreign academies, embassies, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia.
Reaching the British School at Rome with public transport is quite easy (see the map): if you arrive at Termini Train Station, take Metro B (direction “Rebibbia” or “Jonio”) and stop at “Policlinico” metro station. Then, just outside metro station (viale Regina Margherita), take Tram n. 3 (direction “Piazza Thorvaldsen/Valle Giulia”) or n. 19 (direction “Risorgimento/S. Pietro”) and stop at Piazza Thorvaldsen/Valle Giulia, which is just in front of the British School at Rome. The whole journey should take around 30-40 minutes.
If you plan to come by car there are parking places all around the British School at Rome, but most of them are “blue”. Parking ticket costs 1 euro per hour.