The emergence of the first urban centers in central Italy, including Rome, Gabii, and Tarquinii, is thought to have profoundly affected the landscape and fundamentally transformed agricultural systems to meet the demands of growing populations. Palynological and hydrological records from central Italy can now be combined with carbon stable isotope analyses of charred crop remains recovered through recent excavations. At Rome in particular, these new isotopic data can be compared with evidence of rapid changes in the Tiber River regime, including increased flooding during the Archaic period. However, the interplay among human agency, environmental change, and climatic factors remains exceptionally difficult to discern because archaeological proxies are limited and often ambiguous. Evaluating regional climatic events and their effects therefore requires careful attention to scale, including both chronological resolution and spatial range. Identifying diverse cultural responses and adaptive behaviors in the archaeological record is equally challenging, underscoring the complex causes of early urban development in Tyrrhenian central Italy.

Laura Motta specializes in people-environment interactions in the Mediterranean during the later prehistory and early historical periods. She is the co-director of the Archaeobiology Lab at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and the director of environmental archaeology for the Gabii Project.

FAST (Field Archaeology Series on Thursday) Lectures are free and open to the public. The talk will take place in Room 125 of the Kelsey Museum’s Newberry Hall. Light refreshments will be provided at 5:30 PM, with the lecture starting at 6:00 PM.

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