State Formation and Urbanization in EIA Rome: Investigating the Role of the Exchange and Human-Environment Interactions

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，由尼古拉·泰雷纳托博士领导的一个多学科国际小组将在罗马市中心的台伯河遗址进行考古研究，这座古城就是围绕着台伯河而发展起来的。初步钻探表明，台伯海岸的环境对早期罗马人来说极具挑战性，经常发生洪水，淤泥和土地滑动。然而，鉴于港口的战略意义，居民不得不在公元前第一个千年早期的两三个世纪里用填充物、河墙和重铺路面来收回这一地区。这是罗马人进行的第一个集体项目之一，可以说它标志着国家结构和城市政府的首次出现。挖掘工作将揭示这一关键的人类影响是如何以及何时发生的，同时也可以更精确地重建城市建立时的原始环境条件。S. Omobono的另一个特点是存在一个邪教结构：一个木制的寺庙，其正面是非常明显的船只抵达港口。它是为了纪念古地中海商人的一个关键神--好运。挖掘工作将探索一些相关的许愿沉积物，这些深坑中有献给女神的物品，揭示了早期城市宗教生活的重要方面，并探索了崇拜场所和早期市场之间的联系。因此，该项目将揭示经济、社会和政治等多个变量的相互作用，这些变量促成了这个早期标志性国家的崛起。暴露的深层自最初沉积以来一直被淹没在水中，这种情况允许保护有机材料，如木材、皮革、织物和其他许多材料，这些材料通常会腐烂并永远消失。这种罕见的湿保存将允许恢复一系列独特的文物和其他易腐材料（如水果或昆虫），这将大大提高早期地中海文化和环境的知识。从墓葬中发现的物品可以很好地证明，来自叙利亚、塞浦路斯和希腊等地中海商业中心的商人经常访问罗马。由于靠近港口，贸易的证据预计将在S特别丰富。Omobono。结合特殊的潮湿保存和许愿坑的存在，该网站很可能产生一系列独特的进口材料。它们的顺序和数量将明确地检验早期国家的形成伴随着远距离商业接触的急剧增加的假设。

With support from the National Science Foundation, a multi-disciplinary international team directed by Dr. Nicola Terrenato will carry out archaeological research at a Tiber River site in downtown Rome around which the ancient city grew. Preliminary drilling has shown that the environment of the Tiber shore was extremely challenging for early Romans, with frequent flooding, silting and land sliding. Given the strategic significance of the harbor though, the inhabitants had to reclaim this area with infill, river walls and resurfacing over a course of two or three centuries in the early first millennium BCE. This was one of the first collective projects that the Romans undertook and it arguably signaled the first emergence of a state structure and of a city government. The excavations will reveal how and when this crucial human impact took place, while at the same time allowing a more precise reconstruction of the original environmental conditions when the city was founded. The site of S. Omobono is also characterized by the presence of a cult structure: a wooden temple whose façade was highly visible by the ships arriving in the harbor. It honored Good Fortune, a key deity for ancient Mediterranean traders. The excavation will explore some of the associated votive deposits, deep pits in which objects dedicated to the goddess were thrown, revealing important aspects of the religious life of the early city and exploring the connection between cult places and early markets. Thus the project will shed light on the interaction of multiple variables - economic, social and political - which contributed to the rise of this early and iconic state.The deep levels which will be exposed have been submerged in water since their original deposition, a situation that allows the conservation of organic materials, such as wood, leather, fabric and much else, which normally rot away and are lost forever. This rare kind of wet preservation will allow for the recovery of a unique range of artifacts and of other perishable materials (such as fruits or insects), which will significantly improve knowledge of early Mediterranean cultures and environments. New light will be thrown on aspects such as agricultural production, diet, craft activities and trade.It is well attested from goods found in tombs that merchants from Syria, Cyprus and Greece, among other Mediterranean commercial centers, would regularly visit Rome. Given the proximity to the harbor, evidence of trade is expected to be particularly rich at S. Omobono. Combined with the exceptional wet preservation and the presence of votive pits, the site is highly likely to yield a unique range of imported materials. Their sequence and quantification will definitively test the hypothesis that the formation of early states is accompanied by a sharp increase in long-distance commercial contacts.