Background to the Project
Central Italy in general, and Etruria in particular, is a
key region for the study of literacy in Italy. It was the first region
to adopt writing from Greeks and Phoenicians, and to adapt it to local
purposes. The early date of the introduction of alphabetic writing poses
interesting questions about possible connections between literacy and
the social, economic and political changes which resulted in the
development of state/urban societies in the region. Whereas
Developmental Literacy in early Italy aimed to examine the
impact of literacy on societies which adopted writing as a secondary
phenomenon, taking it from neighbouring populations which were already
literate, the project proposed here aims to look at a key area of
primary development, in which writing is adopted from external sources
and at an earlier stage of development. Further to this, analysis of
the Developmental Literacy database has demonstrated that there
is considerable variation in the adoption, usage and social context of
literacy, even between societies at a similar stage of development and
in close contact with each other, and sometimes even between individual
communities in the same region. This strongly suggests that
further work is needed on other areas, especially those areas which are
central to the earliest development of writing in Italy. To enhance the
study of variation in the development of early literacy in central
Italy, we will study not only Etruria itself but also the neighbouring
areas in which Etruscans settled and with which they had close contact
(principally Latium, Campania and Umbria).
The
Evidence
The evidence for literacy is diverse, comprising
inscriptions on durable materials such as metals, stone and terracotta,
and a wide variety of artefacts such as pottery, loom weights, metal
vessels, tombstones and personal ornaments. In addition, Etruria is one
of the few areas of Italy for which there is non-epigraphic evidence for
literacy and for the wider culture of writing. Visual representations of
reading and writing, and the archaeological survival of writing
implements of various types, such as styluses and writing tables, are
found in significant quantities, and attest to the importance of
literacy in Etruscan society. There is a body of traditional grammatical
and philological work on the inscriptions, but these studies rarely take
account of the archaeological context, and the wider social background.
Since the quantity of written material from the regions is very large,
the project will focus on evidence for the period from the earliest
development of writing to approximately the early 4th century
BC. In addition to keeping the sample size manageable, this will allow
us to focus on a specific phase in the development of Etruscan society,
which underwent significant social changes and changes from the 4th
century onwards. This would create methodological difficulties in
drawing comparisons in the uses of literacy between the later and
earlier evidence.
Project aims
The primary objective of the project is to develop an
understanding of the social context of literacy in Etruria, from its
earliest development to approximately the beginning of the 4th
century BC. The project will seek to build on the studies mentioned
above by undertaking a more comprehensive and fine-tuned chronological
and geographical survey of the early inscriptions from Etruria. It will
also attempt a more systematic survey of the wider culture of writing,
studying items related to writing and other evidence such as visual
representations of writing in tomb-paintings, sculpture and
locally-produced vase-painting. By comparing different types of evidence
for writing and literacy, it should be possible to reach some more
secure conclusions about the introduction and diffusion of writing, and
its social context.
Our second objective is to contribute to the development
of theoretical accounts of ancient literacy and its impact on society,
in particular in the context of early Italy. There has recently been
considerable interest in the development of literacy in early societies
amongst anthropologists, archaeologists and historians working on many
early societies, but only relatively recently have scholars attempted to
apply this theoretical work to early Italy.
Finally, the project will aim to use the study of
literacy as a vehicle for examining cultural differentiation within
Etruria. There has been a strong trend in Etruscan studies to regard the
region as a cultural unity in Antiquity, but in fact, there are major
differences within the region (and especially between north and south
Etruria) in culture, in economic development, in contacts with areas
beyond Etruria, and in urbanisation. By examining possible differences
in the establishment and usage of literacy between various parts of the
region, or between major centres, we hope to shed further light both on
differentiation within Etruria and also differences between the
Etruscans and their central Italian neighbours, such as the Latins or
Campanians.
The complexity of the social context of literacy in
Etruria is illustrated by the contrasting results obtained by two short
but influential studies (Stoddart and Whitley 1988; Cornell 1990) and a
recent book (Bagnasco Gianni 1996), which reach very different
conclusions about the extent and uses of literacy in central Italy.
Stoddart and Whitley argue, on the basis of the epigraphic evidence, for
a very restricted culture of writing in early Etruria in which literacy
was confined to (and controlled by) a very small elite, while Bagnasco
Gianni puts forward a model in which literacy is female-dominated and
domestic in its early stage but is rapidly transformed into an elite,
male-controlled, activity. Cornell, in contrast, argues for more a
widespread – but still elite-based – literacy on the basis of visual and
literary evidence. In particular, he argues for a different methodology,
moving away from a purely epigraphic approach and taking into account a
wider range of literary, visual and artistic sources. This project aims
to explore these hypotheses and to expand upon them. In particular, it
aims to develop methodologies to examine Cornell’s hypothesis more
systematically and at greater length. On a wider level, we will address
some key questions about the nature of Etruscan culture and identity in
the archaic period. The distinctive language of the Etruscans has had
the effect of conferring an impression of cultural unity on communities
throughout Etruria, which is in serious need of revision. We hope to use
this project to examine the connections between patterns of literacy and
the formation of state-societies in central Italy, including the
variations in these patterns within Etruria. This will allow us to
examine the significance of such variations for our understanding of
ethnic/cultural identity of the region. We also wish to examine any
differences between Etruria itself and areas of Etruscan contact or
expansion such as Bologna/Marzabotto, Latium, and Campania, in order to
understand better the role played by writing and literacy in
culture-contact and diffusion at this date. Specific
(inter-related) research questions to be addressed include:
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How
widespread was literacy in archaic central Italy and was it
restricted according to class, occupation or gender?
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For what purposes was literacy used (both those we can
document and those we may perhaps infer from the evidence available)
and how can we characterise literacy in our case study? Who were the
writers? Who were the readers? What outcomes were expected from the
act of writing?
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Can regional, local or site-specific patterns of
literacy be recognised and can these be correlated with other patterns
documented archaeologically, to suggest associations with either
developments in socio-cultural complexity (e.g. state formation) or
ethnic/cultural identity?
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What was the nature and role of contact with areas of
other literacies within Italy (e.g. Greeks, Phoenicians and other
Italic peoples), and
what was the nature and role of contact with areas
without independent literacy within Italy, especially as related to
the Developmental Literacy project?