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

在国家科学基金会的支持下，一个由尼古拉·特雷纳托博士领导的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，古城就是在那里发展起来的。初步钻探表明，台伯河沿岸的环境对早期罗马人来说极具挑战性，经常发生洪水、淤泥和土地滑坡。然而，考虑到港口的战略意义，居民不得不在公元前1世纪初用填充物、河墙和重新浮出水面的两三个世纪的过程来填海。这是罗马人最早进行的集体项目之一，可以说它标志着国家结构和城市政府的第一次出现。这些发掘将揭示这一关键的人类影响是如何以及何时发生的，同时允许更准确地重建这座城市建立时的原始环境条件。S.Omobono遗址的特点还包括一座邪教建筑：一座木制寺庙，抵达港口的船只可以很容易地看到它的正面。它向古代地中海商人的关键神灵好运致敬。此次挖掘将探索一些相关的祈愿矿藏，即扔女神物品的深坑，揭示早期城市宗教生活的重要方面，并探索祭祀场所与早期市场之间的联系。因此，该项目将揭示多种变量--经济、社会和政治--的相互作用，这些变量促成了这个早期的标志性国家的崛起。将暴露的深层自最初沉积以来一直被淹没在水中，这种情况允许保存有机材料，如木材、皮革、织物和许多其他材料，这些材料通常会腐烂，永远消失。这种罕见的湿保存将允许回收一系列独特的文物和其他易腐烂的材料(如水果或昆虫)，这将显著提高对早期地中海文化和环境的了解。会议将在农业生产、饮食、手工艺活动和贸易等方面提供新的线索。从墓葬中发现的商品可以很好地证明，来自叙利亚、塞浦路斯和希腊等地中海商业中心的商人会定期访问罗马。考虑到距离港口很近，S.Omobono的贸易证据预计会特别丰富。结合特殊的湿气保护和许愿坑的存在，该遗址极有可能生产出一系列独特的进口材料。它们的序列和量化将最终检验这样一个假设，即早期状态的形成伴随着远距离商业接触的急剧增加。

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.