The Archaeology of Roman Portugal in its Weste Mediterranean Context

by: Tesse D. Stek (Editor),André Caeiro (Editor)

Publisher: Oxbow Books

Publication Date: 2022/6/20

Language: English

Print Length: 256 pages

ISBN-10: 1789258324

ISBN-13: 9781789258325

Book Description

The Archaeology of Roman Portugal contributes to the wider debate on Roman imperialism and expansionism, by bringing to the fore a much-underrepresented area of the Roman empire, at least in English-language scholarship: its westemost edge in mode day Portugal. Highlighting the perspective from Roman Portugal contributes to our understanding of the Roman empire, through presenting both an extraordinary landscape in the sense of economic opportunities (ocean resources, marble and metal mining), and also settlement history. The volume presents new data and insights from both archaeology and ancient history, discussing their significance for our understanding of Roman expansion and imperialism. A key goal of the volume is to discuss how the Portuguese panorama compares to other areas of the Iberian peninsula, and to better integrate Portuguese scholarship in the academic debate on the Mediterranean Roman world, and to contextualise it firmly within the wider Iberian and Weste Mediterranean. The volume brings together an inteationally diverse team of scholars in archaeology and ancient history from Portugal, Spain, Germany, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. It explicitly discusses different national and disciplinary research traditions and historical frameworks in order to assess the potential of integrating best practices in archaeological approaches and methodology.Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsList of contributorsIntroductionTesse D. Stek and André CaeiroI. Contested landscapes: between pre-Roman polities and early Roman encroachment 1. Exploring Rome’s early military deployment strategies in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula Jordi Principal and Carles Padrós Gómez2. Late Iron Age and early Roman conflict and interaction in southe Callaecia (north-west Iberia) João Fonte3. Towers, territory, and the negotiation of a colonial landscape in the early Roman Central Alentejo Joey Williams, Rui Mataloto, and Karilyn Sheldon4. The last frontier: Late Iron Age society, Roman conquest, and the Romanisation of the territory north of the River DueroJesús García SánchezII. Economic targets: integrating and energising resources 5. Upgrading town appearances: relating white marble exploitation and town development in Roman Lusitania Devi Taelman6. Shifting landscapes: change and adaptation in the Lusitanian territory during the first globalisation André Caeiro7. Adding complexity to a complex world: the role of tableware imports in Portugal during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCVincenzo SoriaIII. Cities and hillforts: settlement organisation in the Roman west8. Land-use and settlement pattes around Ercavica in Antiquity: initial findingsMiguel Ángel Valero Tévar9. Understanding the town-territory relationship: a case study from Lusitania Cristina Corsi10. Why would we need a city? The dispersed civitates in Lusitania Pieter Houten11. Roman rural life in the far west: the case study of the Serena Region (Badajoz, Spain) Victorino Mayoral Herrera, Martina Cecilia Parini, and Luis Sevillano PereaIV. Local religious and cultural identity 12. The role of cult places in shaping landscapes during the Roman expansion: an Iberian perspective on a Mediterranean process Ignasi Grau Mira13. Men, women, children, animals: the votive statuary from the sanctuary of Endovellicus at São Miguel daMota/Alandroal (Portugal) Thomas G. Schattner14. Romanising the mountains? Exploring cultural change through archaeological spatial analysis in westeSierra Morena (Spain) Maria del Carmen Moreno Escobar15. Oppida and public spaces: constructing identities in Late Iron Age and early Roman north-west Iberia Manuel Feández-Götz and Marco V. García Quintela16. Funerary practices and material culture: a ‘portrait from life’ in the fields of Lusitania Mónica Rolo

About the Author

The Archaeology of Roman Portugal contributes to the wider debate on Roman imperialism and expansionism, by bringing to the fore a much-underrepresented area of the Roman empire, at least in English-language scholarship: its westemost edge in mode day Portugal. Highlighting the perspective from Roman Portugal contributes to our understanding of the Roman empire, through presenting both an extraordinary landscape in the sense of economic opportunities (ocean resources, marble and metal mining), and also settlement history. The volume presents new data and insights from both archaeology and ancient history, discussing their significance for our understanding of Roman expansion and imperialism. A key goal of the volume is to discuss how the Portuguese panorama compares to other areas of the Iberian peninsula, and to better integrate Portuguese scholarship in the academic debate on the Mediterranean Roman world, and to contextualise it firmly within the wider Iberian and Weste Mediterranean. The volume brings together an inteationally diverse team of scholars in archaeology and ancient history from Portugal, Spain, Germany, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. It explicitly discusses different national and disciplinary research traditions and historical frameworks in order to assess the potential of integrating best practices in archaeological approaches and methodology.Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsList of contributorsIntroductionTesse D. Stek and André CaeiroI. Contested landscapes: between pre-Roman polities and early Roman encroachment 1. Exploring Rome’s early military deployment strategies in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula Jordi Principal and Carles Padrós Gómez2. Late Iron Age and early Roman conflict and interaction in southe Callaecia (north-west Iberia) João Fonte3. Towers, territory, and the negotiation of a colonial landscape in the early Roman Central Alentejo Joey Williams, Rui Mataloto, and Karilyn Sheldon4. The last frontier: Late Iron Age society, Roman conquest, and the Romanisation of the territory north of the River DueroJesús García SánchezII. Economic targets: integrating and energising resources 5. Upgrading town appearances: relating white marble exploitation and town development in Roman Lusitania Devi Taelman6. Shifting landscapes: change and adaptation in the Lusitanian territory during the first globalisation André Caeiro7. Adding complexity to a complex world: the role of tableware imports in Portugal during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCVincenzo SoriaIII. Cities and hillforts: settlement organisation in the Roman west8. Land-use and settlement pattes around Ercavica in Antiquity: initial findingsMiguel Ángel Valero Tévar9. Understanding the town-territory relationship: a case study from Lusitania Cristina Corsi10. Why would we need a city? The dispersed civitates in Lusitania Pieter Houten11. Roman rural life in the far west: the case study of the Serena Region (Badajoz, Spain) Victorino Mayoral Herrera, Martina Cecilia Parini, and Luis Sevillano PereaIV. Local religious and cultural identity 12. The role of cult places in shaping landscapes during the Roman expansion: an Iberian perspective on a Mediterranean process Ignasi Grau Mira13. Men, women, children, animals: the votive statuary from the sanctuary of Endovellicus at São Miguel daMota/Alandroal (Portugal) Thomas G. Schattner14. Romanising the mountains? Exploring cultural change through archaeological spatial analysis in westeSierra Morena (Spain) Maria del Carmen Moreno Escobar15. Oppida and public spaces: constructing identities in Late Iron Age and early Roman north-west Iberia Manuel Feández-Götz and Marco V. García Quintela16. Funerary practices and material culture: a ‘portrait from life’ in the fields of Lusitania Mónica Rolo