Simon Stoddart, Magdalene College, Cambridge, UK, and 
Christopher Smith, British School at Rome, Italy. Email: ss16@hermes.cam.ac.uk

A workshop was held in Rome on the late morning and early afternoon of Wednesday 30 March 2011 on the theme of Frontiers in Etruria, supported by the McDonald Institute (Cambridge) and the British School at Rome. This is one of a number of initiatives by the Director of the British School to provide pilot studies and support for new initiatives bringing together Italian and British colleagues. The workshop opened with an explanation of the concept of the workshop: to employ interdisciplinary principles of archaeology, ancient history and anthropology, across deep time, to understand frontiers within Etruria (fig. 1). The early papers presented theoretical and methodological elements while the afternoon concentrated on case studies and ended with integrative conclusions supplemented here by a political anthropologist who was unable to attend the event.

Fig. 1: The entanglement of an ancient frontier of Etruria in the later History of Europe. The operatic set of the Etruscan military frontier with Rome by an Italian (Bibbiena) for an Austrian composer (Fux) first performed in Prague on 28 August 1723 for the coronation of Charles VI as King of Bohemia

Carmine Ampolo opened the discussion with an analysis of sentiments of belonging, drawing on biblical and other analogies to understand multiple identities. The modern concept of a singular identity as normative does not seem appropriate within the context of the complex interplay of social, religious and political roles played by individuals in antiquity. This was followed by a paper by Gabriele Cifani who gave an overview of the development of ideas of the frontier from a classical and sociological perspective, drawing on his experience of the Tiber Valley. Andrea Zifferero followed this up with a more methodological approach, both outlining an important contribution to ritual frontiers and new possibilities employing place names. 

The afternoon continued with presentations on some key selected regions of Etruria (fig. 2). Pietro Tamburini presented the frontier of Volsinii, by analysing the varied dynamics of the cardinal directions of this frontier zone flanking Lake Bolsena. Enrico Pellegrini added the greater detail of one such frontier to the north provided by the tombs of Grotte di Castro excavated by the Soprintendenza. Carmine Ampolo illustrated the complexity of the frontier formed by the Tiber between Latium and Etruria. This was followed by a more specific illustration of this frontier area by the Dutch and Italian team led by Francesco di Gennaro in the Crustumerium area. Simon Stoddart summarised the evidence for the complex situation in the frontier area between the Faliscan and Etruscan area centred on the centre of Nepi which was probably under Etruscan political control but presented a distinctive cultural identity. The case studies were concluded by Andrea Zifferero's revelatory fieldwork at Marsiliana d'Albegna, which has opened up interesting insights into the nucleation of population at an early date in the Albegna frontier region between Vulci and Roselle/Vetulonia. 

Fig. 2: The Northern frontier of Etruria looking south towards Perugia

The workshop concluded with a presentation of some anthropological principles by Simon Stoddart, drawn from collaboration with Hastings Donnan in Northern Ireland. In a parallel summary of the varied frontiers presented by colleagues he illustrated the political, social and cultural variations of the frontier, and how the frontier can have a longue duree impact on later memories and political organisation. This can now be supplemented by the comments of Bjoern Thomassen who was unable to attend the workshop. He particularly emphasises the need to compare the modernity of anthropological study with the time depth provided by archaeology and ancient history, exploring also the difference between boundaries and frontiers, in terms of their exchange processes, autonomies and sacralities, which can be particularly explored in fruitful dialogues between liminalities and marginalities. 
 

Further information:

http://www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/news/101007/ or http://www.bsr.ac.uk/frontiers-of-etruria