Urbanism and Urban Transformations in the Plain of Gioia Tauro from 900 to 250 B.C.E. (15 min)

Presenters

Anna-Elisa Stuempel, University of Melbourne

Abstract

In this contribution, we present the settlement development and urban transformations in the Plain of Gioia Tauro (PGT), situated in Calabria, within a time frame from around 900 to 250 B.C.E. While there are different models defining urbanization, that is, urbanism, in archaeological research, we regard it as a product of connectivity as “processes of interaction generate both economic and political growth, and they ultimately produce and influence the built forms and social characteristics of all cities,” following the definitions made by Smith and Lobo (2019) and Fulminante (2021). In this contribution we want to examine how much the Greek colonization of Tyrrhenian Calabria and its influence have been a catalyst in transformations regarding urbanization of settlements and landscape management within the indigenous communities situated there. Our study aims at gaining a new, detailed insight into the process of indigenous urbanization and, closely examining the dispersion, continuity, and discontinuity of indigenous settlements. For doing so, data deriving from excavations and survey have been compiled in a geodatabase and the results were visualized in a GIS environment.

While often investigated unilaterally in the light of Greek colonization, recent efforts in (landscape) archaeological research conducted in the region of Calabria are increasingly trying to move away from this biased viewpoint. Focusing rather on the actual vast archaeological record offered by the indigenous and colonial Greek settlements alike, objective insights are gained regarding the general history of ancient Calabria and its indigenous communities, their (material) culture and the (political) relation between them and the Greek settlers. In our contribution, we want to propose that applying critical definitions of urbanization as working hypothesis allows for identifying already strongly urbanized (indigenous) landscape(s).