A Scale-Free, Relational Approach to Social Development in Late- Prehistoric Tyrrhenian Central Italy
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A SCALE-FREE, RELATIONAL APPROACH TO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATE- PREHISTORIC TYRRHENIAN CENTRAL ITALY by Ivan Cangemi A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology and Classical Art and Archaeology) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Professor John M. O’Shea, Co-Chair Professor Nicola Terrenato, Co-Chair Professor Christopher Ratté Professor Henry T. Wright TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES iii LIST OF TABLES vi ABSTRACT vii CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 SECTION 1.1: STATES, CITIES, AND THE PROBLEM OF SOCIAL COMPLEXITY 1 SECTION 1.2: RELATIONAL FIRST PRINCIPLES 4 SECTION 1.3: RESEARCH CONTEXT 10 CHAPTER 2: FROM THEORY TO IMPLEMENTATION 18 SECTION 2.1: REGISTER OF TARGET RELATIONAL PLANE 19 SECTION 2.2: SOCIAL CONTEXT OF TARGET RELATIONAL PLANE 22 SECTION 2.3: NETWORK GENERATION AND STRUCTURAL VALIDATION 30 SECTION 2.4: SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNITY CORES 40 CHAPTER 3: MEASURES AND EXPECTATIONS 46 SECTION 3.1: KEY MEASURES 48 SECTION 3.2: CHARACTER OF THE BF-PF SETTLEMENT RECONFIGURATION 51 SECTION 3.3: IMPACT OF LONG-DISTANCE EXCHANGE 53 SECTION 3.4: SUBSTANCE OF THE NEW CENTERS 56 CHAPTER 4: TERMINAL BRONZE AGE (BF) 59 SECTION 4.1: MAJOR SPATIAL SUBSETS 61 SECTION 4.2: BASE FOR RELATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION 73 CHAPTER 5: EARLY IRON AGE 1 (PF 1) 80 SECTION 5.1: MAJOR SPATIAL SUBSETS 81 SECTION 5.2: BASE FOR RELATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION 100 CHAPTER 6: EARLY IRON AGE 2 (PF 2) 107 SECTION 6.1: MAJOR SPATIAL SUBSETS 108 SECTION 6.2: BASE FOR RELATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION 124 CHAPTER 7: VERNACULAR SUBSTANCE 130 SECTION 7.1: PILOT STUDY OF MOBILITY PATTERNS 131 SECTION 7.2: VERNACULAR RELATIONAL LANDSCAPES 137 SECTION 7.3: INTER-SUBSET AFFINITIES 144 SECTION 7.4: FORM AND SUBSTANCE 148 CHAPTER 8: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 159 BIBLIOGRAPHY 165 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Location of TCI within Italy and detail illustrating major historical sites and ethnolinguistic regions 11 Figure 2.1: Early representation of the relationship between spectral classes and absolute magnitudes of stars 24 Figure 2.2: Sample burial assemblages from TCI 28 Figure 2.3: Regularities in the organization of community cores across network representations of different systems 32 Figure 2.4: Comparison of the email and academic collaboration networks to random models 32 Figure 2.5: Subset of the heterogeneous range of objects making up Bettelli’s category 10 34 Figure 2.6: Network representations of the Bettelli sample 35 Figure 2.7: Chronological sequences for TCI funerary contexts 37 Figure 2.8: Network representations of burials from Osteria dell’Osa 39 Figure 2.9: Association between community cores and subphases of the PF 1 at Osteria dell’Osa 42 Figure 2.10: Percentages of single objects up to length-5 combinations significantly associated with at least one cluster 43 Figure 3.1: Probability density functions derived from cross-party and same-party agreement rates within the US House of Representatives 51 Figure 3.2: Hypothesized relationship between the relative prominence of TCI centers and major axes of long-distance exchange 54 Figure 3.3: Relationship between mean degree and measure of settlement density observed within rural villages in modern Ecuador 57 Figure 4.1: BF-PF settlement patterns in northern TCI 61 Figure 4.2: Topography of the site of Bisenzio 63 Figure 4.3: Location of BF huts within excavated areas at Sovana 64 Figure 4.4: Scatters of material datable between the Middle Bronze Age and the BF on the site of Gabii and location of excavations 66 Figure 4.5: Location of the Quadraro burials relative to Gabii and Rome and hypothetical communication routes between the interior and coast 67 Figure 4.6: Findspots of BF settlement and funerary data and hypothetical extent of habitation areas at the site of Rome 68 Figure 4.7: BF material on the Civita plateau, Tarquinia 69 Figure 4.8: Foundations of BF huts at San Giovenale 70 Figure 4.9: Agricultural potential of soils within 125-kilometer radii of Veio, 72 Cerveteri, and Tarquinia Figure 4.10: BF aggregate networks 74 iii Figure 4.11: Averages of subset-vs.-subset distributions for the BF 75 Figure 4.12: BF relational patterns derived from average values 77 Figure 5.1: Network based on the PF 1 sample from the Piana S Bernardino, Polledrara, and Porto Madonna cemeteries, Bisenzio 82 Figure 5.2: PF scatters on the site of the historical city of Caere 84 Figure 5.3: Networks based on the PF 1 sample from the Sorbo cemetery, Cerveteri 85 Figure 5.4: PF scatters on the site of the historical city of Gabii and location of surrounding cemeteries 87 Figure 5.5: Networks based on the PF 1 sample from the Osteria dell’Osa cemetery, Gabii 89 Figure 5.6: Location of PF 1 funerary contexts and hypothetical extent of habutation areas at Rome 92 Figure 5.7: Networks based on the PF 1 sample from the Forum and Esquiline cemeteries, Rome 93 Figure 5.8: PF 1 scatters on the site of the historical city of Tarquinii and location of surrounding cemeteries 95 Figure 5.9: Networks based on PF 1 samples from Tarquinia 97 Figure 5.10: Sketch of channels linking burial pits at Arcatelle 98 Figure 5.11: PF scatters on the site of the historical city of Veii 99 Figure 5.12: PF 1 aggregate network 101 Figure 5.13: Examples of shoulder- and neck-handled jugs from burial 19 at Selciatello di Sopra 101 Figure 5.14: Averages of site vs. site distributions for the PF 1 104 Figure 5.15: PF 1 relational patterns derived from average values 105 Figure 6.1: Plan and selection of objects from burial 10, Area A of the Gabii Project excavation site 110 Figure 6.2: Networks based on the PF 2 sample from Osteria dell’Osa, Gabii 111 Figure 6.3: Hypothesized chronological shifts in the location of burials on the Esquiline, Rome 115 Figure 6.4: PF 2 scatters on the site of the historical city of Tarquinii 116 Figure 6.5: Development of the ‘Area Sacra’ on the Civita 117 Figure 6.6: PF subphase scatters on the site of the historical city of Veii 120 Figure 6.7: Plan of the cemetery of Quattro Fontanili, Veio 121 Figure 6.8: Networks based on the PF 2 sample from Quattro Fontanili, Veio 123 Figure 6.9: PF 2 aggregate network 125 Figure 6.10: Averages of site vs. site distributions for the PF 2 126 Figure 6.11: PF 2 relational patterns derived from average values 127 Figure 6.12: Vessels from burial 8, Olmo Bello cemetery, PF 2 127 Figure 7.1: 87Sr/86Sr results from the cemeteries of Quattro Fontanili and Osteria dell’Osa 133 Figure 7.2: Comparison of intra- and inter-subset kernel density estimations, PF 2 135 Figure 7.3: 87Sr/86Sr results for samples associated with suitable burials for network reconstruction 136 Figure 7.4: Comparison of relational averages associated with the burials of isotopically identified locals and nonlocals 137 iv Figure 7.5: Comparison of settlement distributions during the BF 3 and PF 1 138 Figure 7.6: Phase-by-phase comparison of intra- and inter-subset kernel density estimations 142 Figure 7.7: Changes in the relative insularity of individual subsets over time 143 Figure 7.8: Comparison of BF 3 inter-subset averages 146 Figure 7.9: Chronological development of subset-vs.-subset relational averages 147 Figure 7.10: Digital terrain models illustrating the geomorphological variability of 150 TCI Figure 7.11: Comparison of averages derived from distributions of hypothetical settlement sizes under different density assumptions 153 Figure 7.12: Relationship between surface area of settlements and averages and clustering for intra-subset pairs 155 Figure 8.1: Comparison of alternative approaches to the study of discontinuities and associated classificatory schemes 164 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Traditional chronological subdivisions and abbreviations 11 Table 1.2: Core terminology 16 Table 2.1: Pseudo-code for the detection of stable community cores 31 Table 4.1: Spatial distances and subset-vs.-subset averages for the BF 79 Table 5.1: PF sample characteristics for all subsets of TCI associated with at least 20 burials 81 Table 5.2: Chronological breakdown of the PF 1 sample from Osteria dell’Osa by sex, age, and ritual 89 Table 5.3: Sample characteristics for burial grounds associated with the area of Tarquinia 97 Table 5.4: Spatial distances and subset-vs.-subset averages for the PF 1 106 Table 6.1: Spatial distances and subset-vs.-subset averages for the PF 2 129 Table 7.1: Sliding scale used for the population estimates illustrated in figure 7.8 152 Table 7.2: Analytical results and attributes pertaining to burials included in the pilot isotopic study of PF 1b2-PF 2 Quattro Fontanili and Osteria dell’Osa 157 vi ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the interplay between relational patterns and trajectories of social development within late-prehistoric Tyrrhenian Central Italy (TCI). Despite historical disagreement, TCI is now recognized as a context of radical social transformations leading to or even encompassing the formation of states and cities. Between the end of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age (12th-8th centuries BCE), in concert with substantial changes attested in the funerary record, hundreds of small settlements distributed evenly across the research area were replaced by a few large and formally heterogeneous centers. Based on a narrow evidentiary range, these developments tend to be viewed in terms of differential progression along a single axis of complexity, with the emerging centers categorized according to apparent scale and historical prominence.