This collection of 23 essays is a major new contribution to our understanding of northern Italy between the fourth and second centuries b.c., and comes at a time of increased focus and interest in the area. Two major exhibitions, one on the Veneto at Padova in 2013 (published as Venetkens: viaggio nella terra dei Veneti antichi [2013]) and another centred on Brescia in 2015/16 (published as Brixia: Roma e le genti del Po. Parco archeologico di Brescia romana [2015], and the hard to find but very useful accompanying volume of essays: Brixia: Roma e le genti del Po. III–I sec. a.C., un incontro di culture [2015]), have brought some of the riches of this area into focus. The volume, arising from a conference of the north Italian section of the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici, held in 2013, is immaculately produced, detailed and wide-ranging.
The volume begins with a very useful essay by L. Malnati, C. Cornelio, P. Desantis and V. Manzelli, setting the archaeological evidence from Bologna, Monterenzio, Spina, Ravenna and Rimini against the historical evidence for the invasion of the Gauls, the defeat of the Senoni and the impact of Rome. The authors conclude that there is a reflection of the historical account in the archaeological material, but as often it is muted and partial. This is a case study in what to expect from the archaeological evidence in cases of major cultural shifts, that is, a slower working out of the consequences rather than a sudden change. As noted by the authors, previous cultural exchange between north Italians and Gauls may have led to less obvious material changes.
A. Marinetti and P. Solinas give a helpful and accessible account of language change in the period. This is another sensitive index of culture change, but seldom straightforward, especially where the numbers of inscriptions are so small and dating so difficult. Subsequent to the sixth century there are indications of an increasing rigidity and formulism, as we see also in Etruscan. There are important public inscriptions, including boundary markers, and an intriguing suggestion of a reference to decumanus at Padova. Onomastics show Celtic and Etruscan names, and a complex mix of naming systems. Marinetti hypothesises closer and earlier links between Latin and Venetic languages, which would be interesting, whilst Solinas traces local continuities in the Celtic language, even after the adoption of the Latin alphabet.
F. Gilotta gives a characteristically careful account of the material evidence for exchange between the Po Valley and central Italy, taking into account ceramic evidence and metal objects. Sharply attentive to the complexity of the ‘biography of objects’, Gilotta cautiously suggests a livelier set of interactions down the Adriatic coast, and reinforces the importance of Spina in generating long-distance trade.
G. Gorini tackles the evidence of coinage in this area, which was largely in bronze and often in circulation for a significant period of time, even beyond the introduction of Roman coinage. We find coins from Populonia and Volterra in the north, for example at Doss Trento, and there is further diffusion into central Europe, for instance the hoard at Němčice-Víceměřice in Moravia. Local production may relate to the impact of the Gauls and the Hannibalic invasion.
C. Reusser presents the work of the University of Zurich at Spina. Geophysical results were followed by the excavation of an orthogonally planned area from the early fourth century, which by around 300 b.c. may have been replaced by artisan activity and especially salt extraction. After this we do see a break at Spina in this excavation, but Malnati et al. earlier in the volume show continuity elsewhere on the site.
G. Morpurgo's essay on the later phases at Marzabotto is an excellent and detailed account of a site we tend only to think of in its more active phases. Using University of Bologna excavations on Regio IV Insula 2, and the wider archive, she argues that the decline of Marzabotto in the fourth century, following contraction in the fifth, is not necessarily the result of a single dramatic event, but rather the generalised crisis of Etruscan commerce in the north. Celtic goods become more visible, especially in graves, including four by the temple of Tinia. Changes to the settlement pattern show a varied picture of use and non-use of the pre-existing structures. Morpurgo also shows that Marzabotto displays not simply Celtic influences, but also an impact from the Ligurians, which suggests an increase in their influence (also visible at Monte Bibele and elsewhere), and that Etruscan imports continued in the third century. The consequential picture makes Marzabotto less a settlement in dire crisis, and more one which displays similar patterns of accommodation and gradual co-existence, at least from the archaeological evidence.
A. Gaucci looks at the critical site of Spina. Govi's work has pushed its end date later into the third century, with surprising levels of activity in the fourth, notwithstanding the drying up of Attic pottery. Gaucci adds to the complexity of his picture by drawing on a comparison with Adria, which he rightly notes is insufficiently known. Work at the necropolis site of Valle Trebba seems to corroborate the decline of Spina's production of vernice nera at the end of the third century. The necropolis also shows local production, connections with Volterra, and increasingly with the upper Adriatic in the second half of the third century b.c. Gaucci finishes with a comparison of the evidence from onomastics. Spina has an intriguing fourth to third century set of Greek names, which he associates with the recruitment of mercenaries (Diod. Sic. 21.3.1 mentions Etruscans and Ligurians). Adria shows less Greek influence and later on more Celtic and some Latin names. His conclusion is that Spina worked hard in the fourth and third centuries to establish itself in Adriatic networks, whilst Adria was perhaps more receptive to the Celtic world, and that we should maybe look to the Roman intervention for an explanation of the final closure of Spina as a significant port, and the rise of Ravenna and Adria.
A.C. Penzo presents the evidence from the important site of Monte Bibele, which with its sanctuary and votive deposit, settlement and necropolis offers a remarkably coherent and rich set of information. Her first phase (early fourth century) is predominantly characterised by Etrusco-Umbrian material in the votive deposit; in the second phase burial evidence includes some significant amounts of weaponry, with important transalpine elements, and ceramic votives in the sanctuary; the third phase from the mid-fourth century sees a continuing and increasing mix of influences; but the fourth and final phase into the third century shows increasing Celtic influence, and the site ends at the end of the third or in the early second century b.c.
S. Carosi and M. Miari look at cult and settlement in Romagna, especially along the river routes, with strong central Italian deposits in cults which seem largely female and chthonic, with Hercules being the exception. Continuity into the Roman period is evident. S. Paltineri and M. Robino show how the site of San Cassiano di Crespino, founded in the sixth century, in its reorganised fourth-century form shows the influence of Adria on its hinterland. This chapter comes to similar conclusions to that of Gaucci. A. Bondini illustrates the importance of the position of Este between various different groups through the elite burials of the fourth and third centuries; the clear evidence of mobility in almost all areas of available evidence is striking. G. Cresci Marrone and M. Tirelli examine the second-century monumentalisation of the sanctuary of Altino north-east of Venice, which is influenced by local, Etruscan and Greek ideas, but may in the end have reflected the arrival of Roman interests in the area.
F. Giudice and I. Giudice argue that known historical considerations impacted on the fourth-century Athenian economy and explain the reduced presence of Attic pottery in Italy, but with a useful appendix of updates to Beazley they are able to show a shift in the flow of goods from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic. M. Gamba and G. Gambacurta look at contexts showing evidence of divination practices in the Veneto – they have an impressive sample of 30 sites. S. Solano brings together the evidence for pre-Roman inscriptions for the Valcamonica, including the extraordinary collections of inscriptions on rock faces, which she argues indicate local elite continuity. R.C. de Marinis, S. Casini and M. Rapi synthesise data from the lower Mincio valley. They conclude with a brief section on Mantua, where new evidence is beginning to emerge from a hitherto rather poor record, to support a view of the multi-ethnicity of the site. They also query whether it is automatically correct to see Forcello as the emporion of Mantua, a problem one hopes the new evidence will begin to resolve.
M. Gambari's account of funerary practices in Piedmont notes the significant increase in evidence of wine consumption from the fourth century b.c., but also argues for a strong coherence between the archaeological and ethnographic record. Bondini updates information on Celtic archaeological material in Modena (arguing as others do in this volume for local continuities).
Three essays look specifically at upland areas. R. Macellari and J. Tirabassi give details of work in the Apennines south-west of Reggio Emilia; L. Gervasini and M. Mancusi present some impressive material from the uplands behind Spezia; and C. Chiaramonte Treré and G. Baratti discuss their work at Guardamonte (near Tortona), with a methodological account of working on difficult mountain sites and reconstructing stone walls. These three essays form an interesting commentary on the current state of upland archaeology in Italy.
F. Marzatico's detailed yet chronologically wide-ranging synthesis of work on Raetia will be an invaluable starting point for future research into this very obscure group of people, who at least in their northern extension seem to have borne the brunt of the wars which finally convulsed this area in the second century b.c.
The volume concludes with an elegant and concise essay by G. Sassatelli (with which many readers will want to start), which emphasises the significance of the Gallic impact on northern Italy, whilst noting the success of the Ligurians and Veneti in accommodating the new situation. However, he introduces a potent notion by saying that all north Italy, even the areas more dramatically affected, remained ‘Mediterranean’, and the area retains an outward-facing dynamism based around the Adriatic.
This is a highly specialist volume; readers who do not know the region will need a good map to locate sites. The logic of the organisation of chapters is not entirely clear, although there are so many points of contact that any order would miss some. Cross-referencing would have helped reinforce the high degree of coherence. But these are quibbles; this is an outstanding collection of material, much of it hard to access, and it touches on many critical themes. And it is about one-sixth of the price of the last corresponding volumes published by Fabrizio Serra, before the Istituto took the decision to move to Giorgio Bretschneider (and with clearer illustrations). All in all, this is an extremely welcome volume.
