Burial and social change in first millennium BC Italy: approaching social agents - volume 11

In the first millennium BC, communities in Italy underwent crucial transformations which scholars have often subsumed under the heading of 'state formation', namely increased social stratification, the centralisation of political power and, in some cases, urbanisation.

Relatively little attention has been paid to the question of how these key developments resonated across the broader social transect, and how social groups other than ruling elites both promoted these changes and experienced their effects.

The chief aim of this collection of 14 papers is to harness innovative approaches to the exceptionally rich mortuary evidence of first millennium BC Italy, in order to investigate the roles and identities of social actors who either struggled for power and social recognition, or were manipulated and exploited by superior authorities.