Investigating urban provisioning and environmental exploitation in Archaic Italy through herding practices
Over 2500 years ago, some of the earliest cities in Western Europe emerged in central Italy. As in all urban societies, increased rural productivity was essential for their growth. Yet, little is known about these early cities marshalled the resources needed to support urban life. How were surpluses achieved? How far were resources moved? What types of environments were exploited?
URBAN HERDS
UrbanHerds is a research project led by Dr Angela Trentacoste investigating urban supply and environmental exploitation in Archaic Italian cities (c. 600–400 BC) through the lens of animal herding. Funded by the Humboldt Foundation and now hosted at the British School at Rome, the project integrates zooarchaeological and multi-isotope analyses to reconstruct animal management and contextualises herding practices with landscape studies to better understand urban ecology and the relationship between pastoralism, settlement systems, and the natural environment.
For more on the project, see the Project page.
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Image credits
Lead image: Flock of sheep transhumance in Campo Imperatore, Abruzzo, Italy. Jon Gudorf Photography
Gallery: click on image for credit.