Latial culture#Periodization

File:Finds from the Iron Age in the Museo Nazionale Romano.jpg]]

The standard periodization based on pottery is accepted as standard with little variation; however, a tolerance of ±25 years is implied.Smith (1996), p. xii.Cornell (1995), p. 50.Giovanni Colonna, Aspetti culturali della Roma primitiva: il periodo orientalizzante recente, in ArchCl XVI, 1964, pp. 1-12. (Italian)Giovanni Colonna, Preistoria e protostoria di Roma e del Lazio, in Popoli e civiltà dell’Italia antica, II, Roma, 1974, pp. 275-346. (Italian) More recent work based on dendrochronology has indicated a need to revise some periodization, with preserved timbers indicating that the traditional chronology may be some fifty years later out of sync with the rest of Europe; this raises some difficulty inasmuch as the timbers' dates disagree with pottery's dates.{{sfn|Lomas|2018|pp=20, 349 n. 11}}

The first period of the Latial culture correspond with the remains of the Proto-Villanovan culture in archaeological sites in most of the Italian peninsula. The second and third periods correspond with the Villanovan culture in Etruria. They are characterised by simple and undecorated potteries and cremation as the main funerary rite.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|pp=53–54}} The fourth stage corresponds with an orientalising trend in Etruria; the third stage marks a transition between the two. Foreign influences start entering pottery production by Latial III and become indigenised by Latial IV. Much of these changes in material culture correspond with like contemporary changes in Etruscan sites; Latium, however, was a poorer area in general as it did not possess the rich mineral veins present further north.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=54}}

The early Latial period is characterised by small villages, with populations likely less than a few hundred. Material remains of their houses indicate a lack of masonry construction techniques; instead, oval wattle and daub huts with diameters rarely greater than {{convert|20|feet}} with thatched roofs were common. Pottery of the period was produced likely at the household level using coil techniques, as the pottery wheel was not introduced until the eighth century BC. Due to the lack of kilns, soft clay of the period also was heated in open flame, leading to a black and sooty appearance. Specialised skills other than metal working were non-existent.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=54}}

From Latial I–II, inhumation gradually replaced cremation as the main funerary rite. Grave goods were used: archaeologists have discovered in the Roman forum and the Alban hills ash urns that modelled huts that probably represented dwellings in the afterlife. Much of the evidence of funerary practices emerges from near Gabii on the Osteria dell'Osa and the six hundred graves excavated there.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=54}} The grave goods discovered there indicate a simple and poor society with status largely determined by gender and age; goods gradually became more developed over time, but within any one time were relatively uniform, indicating relatively low levels of wealth inequality. Cremation, due to its expenditure of fuel, was reserved "almost exclusively" for adult males between the aged 17–45 at death.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|pp=54–55}} Male graves included full-size or miniature representative weapons while female graves included spindles; both reflect a gendered division of labour. Personal ornaments were more likely to be buried with women.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|pp=55–56}}

Grave goods from Latial III start to display less consistency: miniature weapons are more regularly replaced with full-size weapons made of bronze. Jewelleries made from amber and potteries imported from Etruria and, in a few cases, from Greece – one globular flask has, inscribed by a metal point, the Greek letters EULIN – begin to make an appearance in graves. Expansion of metallurgy also is indicated by bronze hoards; the introduction of the pottery wheel also replaces coiled vessels. By this time the population also starts to disperse, bringing more lands under agriculture and increased surpluses, fuelling the lifestyles of local elites.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=56}}

Graves at Castel di Decima, located on the via Ostiensis {{convert|10|miles}} south of Rome date to Latial IV and show much more substantial dispersion in grave goods. Most inhumations were simple with no goods at all, but some of the wealthiest graves dated to the seventh century contained women dressed in rich garments adorned with amber and glass bead, gold and silvery fibulae, and ornamental silver wire.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|pp=56–57}} Women were also buried with bowls for mixing wine, suggesting that upper-class women in Latium participated in symposia and social gatherings as hostesses. The richest male grave at the site contained a sword, lance, breastplate, three shields, and a miniature chariot.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=57}}

Complex tombs – especially the Barberini and Bernardini tombs discovered in 1855 and 1876, respectively – contained large numbers of gold and silver objects along with interior artwork inspired by the Near East. Some of the objects were likely imported from Egypt or Phoenicia: one silver bowl contains a Phoenician inscription while depicting an Egyptian pharaoh in battle.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=57}} In the past, it was believed that these tombs in Latium reflected an Etruscan domination but further evidence from across Italy indicates that princely tombs of this sort were common on the peninsula and likely reflected an orientalising period across the peninsula's cultures.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|pp=57–58}}

From around 650 BC onwards, huts started to be replaced with masonry on stone foundations with tiled roofing. Grave goods also started to disappear across Italy, likely reflected the close of an orientalising period from {{circa|580 BC}}. Monumental temples started to be constructed, including the Temple of Minerva at Lavinium and the Temple of Mater Matuta at Satricum. These shifts likely reflected the creation of city-states under Greek influence, along with the development of metalworking and ceramics joined with population growth and higher levels of agricultural production. By this time, local elites had consolidated social status organised around political and religious authority. Latium, however, still remained poorer than Etruria to the north due to its lack of major mineral deposits, which left it less connected than the Etruscans to pan-Mediterranean trade networks.{{sfn|Forsythe|2005|p=58}}

Cremation was the only burial ritual used during the Late Bronze Age throughout the Latial culture,{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=25}} including the cemetery at Osteria.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=139}} Cremation burials are typically found at the center of burial clusters, possibly indicating that the deceased was the head of a household or family, or, alternatively, possibly a local community figurehead.{{Sfn|Rossenberg|2005|p=130}} Rossenberg argues that the cremation ritual may have carried domestic connotations in the Latial culture,{{Sfn|Rossenberg|2005|p=130}} as the remains of the deceased were often stored in hut-shaped urns, some of which were characterized by ovoid shapes topped by conical lids likely representative of a hut roof. These urns were often themselves stored within either stone containers or a pottery vessel called a "{{Lang|la|dolium}}," likely for the purpose of safeguarding the remains. The urns were interred within a type of cylindrical pit that varied between 0.5-1 meter deep and was typically around 1 meter wide.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=25}} Common ceramic funerary goods for cremation burials during the Latial period II included corded jars, small braziers, and jars with a retaining rim.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=26}} Miniature versions of standard funerary goods were frequently included within cremation burials.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=139}} Sets of miniature spearheads and figurines were typically placed first within the burial, often at the bottom of the larger container storing the smaller cinerary urn within. These burial objects were thus placed outside the container, whereas other funerary goods—often miniature knives, razors, and swords—were included within the vessel.{{Sfn|Rossenberg|2005|p=131}} The archaeologist Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri argues that the miniaturization of the grave goods likely derived from fears regarding the spirits of the deceased, which members of the Latial culture—according to Sestieri—sought to protect themselves from by depriving the dead of real weapons.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=120}} However, the archaeologist Lisa Cougle argues that miniature goods may have been employed in cremation rituals as the usage of real materials would require the burial and consequent loss of said items, thereby wasting potentially valuable resources.{{Sfn|Cougle-Jose|2010|p=50}} Among the rare example of cremation burials for women at Osteria, it is common for the deceased to be entombed with life-sized burial goods rather than miniatures.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=151}}

Cremation tombs remained in use during the Latial period II,{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=25}} although inhumation became more frequent.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=26}} The most common type of inhumation technique in the Latial Period II involved the interment of the deceased in a rectangular pit referred to as a "{{Lang|it|fossa}}." In some tombs, the corpse was laid within a coffin or only on a wooden board.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=26}} Another burial type referred to as the "{{Lang|it|tombe a loculo}}" utilized a loculus to entomb both the deceased and their funerary goods.{{Sfn|Rajala|2008|p=80}} Evidence from the cemetery at Osteria dell'Osa attests to post-mortem tampering with the skeleton of the deceased, which Sestieri argues may constitute instances of secondary burial.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=121}} In the majority of graves, the skull was separated from its mandible and turned around and—in some graves—the skull was relocated towards the feet. Certain burials also contained skeletons whose long bones were reorganized into parallel pairs.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=27}} Due to the poor preservation of necropolises in Old Latium, it is unclear whether such customs were pervasive throughout the Latial culture or restricted to the cemetery at Osteria. Even amongst the skeletons in Osteria, it is indeterminable whether all corpses within the cemetery were subject to such tampering. Sestieri suggests that, following the interment of the deceased, the grave was left uncovered for a period of time, possibly until the deceased's muscle and had decomposed. Following the completion of these rites,{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=123}} the bones could be displaced and the grave could then be covered with soil or stone.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=28}}

Inhumation burials during this period did not necessarily contain exclusively one corpse: double burials, burials containing two individuals, became common following the 9th-century BCE. These burials usually contained one male and one female, although several examples of burials containing same-sex pairs are known.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=27}} Loculi tombs were largely reserved for single burials, although rare examples of double loculi burials have been uncovered, which themselves were usually exclusive to a male and female couple or a mother and a child.{{Sfn|Rajala|2008|p=81}} By the 7th and 6th-centuries BCE, the Latial culture had come to favor the chamber tomb, a new type of burial in which the deceased were housed within rectangular room carved from tuff. There are at least two, possibly three, types of chamber tomb discernable in the archaeological record at Cisterna Grande within Crustumerium. One type consists of a small semicircular room with loculi on opposing walls that was entered via a short, narrow dromos and constructed from uneven stone surfaces with visible incisions. The other type consisted of a larger chamber that was entered via a large and deep dromos and could contain numerous loculi and additional coffin or trunk burials. It was common amongst both burial types for the entrance of the tomb to be obstructed in some manner although the method varied across each burial: Some chambers were only blocked by a single large slab whereas others utilized a heap of stones. Dromoi and loculi were absent from earlier chamber tombs; they only began to appear in such tombs by the end of the 7th-century BCE, or perhaps at the beginning of the 6th-century BCE.{{Sfn|Rajala|2008|p=81}}

During the Latial period II, the corpses of the deceased—or their cremated remains—began to be interred with large necropolises containing hundreds or thousands of burials that first emerged during this time. Archaeologist Francesca Fulminante suggests that the emergence of necropolises may connect to the concurrent urbanization of this period. Fulminante argues that, alongside the growth of the first urban centers, the notion of distinct areas for the living and the dead emerged.{{Sfn|Fulminante|2017|p=482}} Certain Latial communities—such as the settlement near Castello di Decima—likely made use of only one necropolis situated nearby the area, whereas other Latial settlements—such as the site of Crustumerium—utilized multiple cemetery areas.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=25}} Other corpses, particularly those of children, were buried within the boundaries of the communities themselves, often in close proximity to homes. Several graves placed within the confines of the local community have been identified as belonging to individuals of high social status due to the presence of prestigious burial goods within the tomb. For instance, the archaeological site of Valvisciolo contains a set of four double burials, all of which belong to female individuals, that are located near a votive pit and include numerous important burial goods such as ritualistic knives and various ornaments.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=27}} Sestieri notes that the settlement at Lavinium contains infant burials located near a set of unusually large huts on the highest hill of the area, which Sestieri suggests may reflect an attempt by local aristocrats to mark their family territory through the placement of infant burials.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|pp=226-227}}

Burials at Osteria during the Latial period II were often organized into clusters of related graves that likely represented a social unit within Latial society. Sestieri further notes that the individuality of each grave was preserved; the Latial culture, during this period, largely ensured that each burial remained spatially distinct and untouched and undamaged by other graves. However, by the Latial period III—at Osteria—graves sites were placed more closely together and burials often intruded upon the space of other burials.{{Sfn|Cougle-Jose|2010|p=60}} The compacted layout of the burials likely did not exclusively derive from any limitations on the area for inhumation, as the grave clusters are separated from each other by unoccupied space, indicating that the burials were intentionally assigned to a specific burial group.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=201}} Sestieri argues that the intentional congregation of these burials within each group reflects a desire to preserve the unity and individuality of their respective social groups. According to Sestieri, it is likely that each burial group represented a familial unit and that all the individuals interred within each site belonged to the same lineage.{{Sfn|Cougle-Jose|2010|p=60}} This system in which familial groups were valued greatly may have predicated the development of the Roman {{Lang|la|gentes}}, which were clans of individuals with shared kinship.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=203}}

Few female burials are attested during the Latial period I, with only five female and two probably female burials of a sample of thirty from the cemetery at Osteria dell’Osa.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=139}} However, Early Iron Age burials from the same cemetery reveal 250 female burials compared to 188 male burials.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=140}} Likewise, the cemetery at Crustumerium contains disproportionately more female graves than male graves during the period from 750 and 600 BCE. Archaeologists Albert J. Nijboer and Sarah Willemsen suggest that, at least at the cemetery of Crustumerium, various groups were excluded from interment within the local necropolis. Nijboer and Willemsen note that, alongside the scarcity of male graves at the cemetery, there are few infant or child burials despite the high rates of infant and child mortality during this time period. Based on the heavily skewed funerary sample from Crustumerium, Nijboer and Willemsen suggest that between 50-75% of the local population may not have been interred within the local necropolis.{{Sfn|Nijboer|Willemsen|2012|p=37}}

Venderbos notes that—during the Latial period I—certain burial items are largely exclusive to either male or female graves. In particular, objects such as arch fibulae, combs, spindles, spools, and spindle whorls are characteristic of female graves. In contrast, objects such as miniature weapons, razors, and serpent-shaped fibulae were associated with male burials.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=72}} Venderbos suggests that, during the Latial Period I, the Latial culture distinguished a type of "Warrior" burial exclusive to biologically male individuals and a type of "Weaver" burial reserved for biologically female burials.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=75}} Whereas archaeologists such as Sestieri argue that socially expressed gender in the Latial culture ought to conform to biological sex,{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=141}} Venderbos proposes a third, gender-neutral type of burial outfit she labels the "master of the household," which Venderbos suggests violated the gender distinction between male and female burials.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=61}}

In Osteria, it was common for a set of spools and spindle whorls to be interred alongside a set of two jugs and a cup within female burials, primarily young adult women or young girls. Sestieri argues that this phenomenon indicates that weaving was primarily performed by women who had not assumed child-rearing responsibilities.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=142}} Out of a total of 41 "weaver" burials in Osteria, the relative majority—a total of 18 graves—belong to individuals between the ages of 11 and 19.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=143}} Some of these graves include a type of large liquid container restricted to the graves of mature individuals, which Sestieri suggests may have indicated married status.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=146}} "Weaver" burials throughout the Latial culture often included items related to the maintenance of physical appearance, particularly hair-related objects such as combs, tweezers, and hair-spirals.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=67}} Female gravesites of all ages at Osteria dell'Osa unanimously contain items likely considered feminine within the Latial culture, many of which are seemingly personal accoutrements. Fibulae are among the most common feminine ornaments for all age groups in Osteria, although children's fibulae are typically smaller than fibulae uncovered in adult burials.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=144}} In Osteria, graves of younger women—with ages ranging from infant to young adult—typically contain a type of faience bead.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=144}}

Sestieri argues that many Latial culture ornaments served to enhance personal pleasure or prestige rather than to mark a formal or political status.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=67}} Sestieri proposes an additional function, suggesting that the provision of personal cosmetics to young girls in Osteria may have helped to advance the marriage strategies envisioned by their family groups.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=147}} During the Latial Period IIIA, female graves began to include more lavish burial goods such as beads, pendants of amber or glass, spindle-whorls, and 2-6 fibulae. This trend continued during the Latial period IIIB, during which female burials in Osteria contained larger quantities of personal adornments.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=117}} Other Latial period III cemeteries contained female burials with hair-rings made of precious metals and as many as 25 fibulae, which were usually accompanied by several suspension rings.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=28}} Suspension rings persisted as a female burial good into Latial period IVA, by which time they had become markers of social status were largely restricted to the graves of wealthy, prominent women.{{Sfn|Nijboer|Willemsen|2012|p=35}}

During the Latial period II, female gravesites typically contained a larger quantity of pottery than male burials, and the pottery in female burials is usually of higher-quality modeling or more ostentatious decorations than the vessels of male gravesites.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=142}} Although, in one funerary group, male burials contain an average of 4.2 pottery vessels per grave—29.4% of which are decorated—compared to an average of 4 vessels per grave in female burials—29.1% of which are decorated.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=142}} Sestieri argues that the distribution of food was likely performed by older family members, regardless of gender, as the vessels responsible for storing liquid—such as two-handed jars and amphorae—are present in the burials of both men and women, although restricted to the gravesites of adult individuals. One type of pottery, a small cup with a grooved handle—which was likely used to store food or liquids—typically appears in the gravesites of adult or elderly women.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=143}} Another type of pottery, a large liquid container restricted to the graves of older women, may have indicated marital status.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=146}} The pottery dated to the Latial period II at Osteria dell'Osa was likely handmade and produced within individual family units, resulting in variation in the manufacturing process across different vessels.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=142}} Sestieri argues that the responsibility of pottery production in the Latial culture likely primarily fell upon women.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=143}}

Latial period II female graves almost exclusively contained 1-2 fibulae, which were often attached to rings that were suspended from the pins of the fibulae.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=524}} During the Latial period II, these fibulae, and thus their associated suspension rings, were often placed on the breasts,{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=522}} although they could also appear by the skull.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=81}}{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=35}} By the Latial IIB2 and III periods, it remained common for suspension rings to be placed near the chest of the deceased.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=522}}{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=35}} Rings during the Latial period IVA were often placed near the pelvis of the deceased, which the archaeologist Gilda Bartoloni interprets as evidence that these rings may have borne reproductive connotations.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=523}} The archaeologist Cristiano Iaia further extends the possibility of reproductive associations to other types of Latial rings, noting that the period II rings situated by the breasts could also be interpreted as related to reproduction.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=523}} Moreover, Iaia notes the presence of a specific type of Latial period II ornament consisting of fibulae, alongside their related suspension rings, attached to a set of beads and pendants that were themselves hung from a single, central bead itself situated by the abdomen or the pelvis. Iaia argues that the proximity of this grave good to the pelvis indicates that it was connected to reproduction.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=524}} In Osteria, this type of ornament was included within a type of funerary set common to the graves of young women that comprised suspension rings, 1-3 fibulae, and a necklace.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|pp=524-525}}

Rings also progressively increased in size during the transition from the Latial period II to the IIB and III periods: Latial period IIA rings had an average width of 2-4 centimeters; Latial period IIB rings were, on average, 3-6 centimeters wide; and Latial period III graves could include up to ten rings, with a diameter ranging from 5-21 centimeters. This evolution culminated in the Latial period IVA, during which time graves began to include only a single, large suspension ring with a diameter of up to 40-45 centimeters and impressed or incised decorations.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=523}} Throughout Latial history, larger rings primarily appeared in the graves of adult women. However, smaller rings—although still primarily associated with adult women—also appeared with some frequency in the graves of subadult women during the first Latial periods and in adult or preadult male burials during the later periods.{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=32}} Archaeologists Francesca Fulminante and Giulia Pedrucci propose that the provision of rings to subadult women may not reflect any social function they held during life, but instead their potential to hold these roles once they matured.{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=34}} Bartoloni suggests that larger rings were connected with wealthier, more prominent women—perhaps with some relationship to motherhood.{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=41}} Fulminante and Pedrucci affirm this analysis, citing the tendency for larger rings to appear in wealthier burials during the Latial periods III and IV.{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=36}} Moreover, they note that—during periods II, III, and IV in Osteria—larger suspension rings typically appear in funerary groups with multiple preadult burials.{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=36}} However, Fulminante and Pedrucci extend the relationship between suspension rings, wealth, and motherhood to smaller rings, which are also found in connection with wealthier burials and funerary groups containing more preadult graves.{{Sfn|Fulminante|Pedrucci|2024|p=36}}

The deposition of burial rings was a phenomenon almost entirely unique to the Latial culture, although they appear in small numbers across Umbria and Sabina.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=526}} Samples of suspension rings have also been excavated at the Villanovan site of Caere, which Iaia suggests is likely due to the presence of Latial immigrants.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=527}} Iaia argues that the rings likely functioned as markers of ethnic affiliation for the Latial people, noting that the tradition persisted throughout Latial sites such as Capena despite heavy influence from foreign cultures such as the Villanovan or Etruscan civilizations.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=528}} Iaia suggests that, as the Latial culture oriented its social structure around kinship groups, it likely placed significant importance on intermarriage between ethnic or family groups, such as marriage between Latial women and Etruscan men. Thus, according to Iaia, the possible ethnic connotations of the rings may have developed in relation to the traditions of Latial marriage practices. Iaia further connects this burial custom to the rape of the Sabine women, a mythical event in early Roman history during which the Romans kidnapped the Sabine women for marriage.{{Sfn|Iaia|2007|p=529}}

According to Sestieri, amongst the Early Iron Age burials, six male burials contain a sword as a grave good and five contain a knife, whereas only two female burials contain a knife and none contain a sword. If only graves containing burial goods indicative of high social status are considered, then the male-to-female ratios for the Early Iron Age and the Latial period I burials are similar. Henceforth, Sestieri argues that it is likely that—during Latial period I—only individuals of sociocultural importance were buried, most of whom were male.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=140}} Knives were possibly associated with religious and cult practices in the Latial culture, perhaps due to a connection with ritual sacrifice. Thus, as knives are the primary high-status burial good incorporated within female graves, the primary high-status social positions offered to women may have been religious in nature.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=140}} Only two adult women at Osteria dell'Osa were buried with knives, both of whom buried with a central position in the cemetery and had lavish burial goods.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=150}} Two types of Early Iron Age ritual artifacts uncovered at Osteria dell'Osa are unique to female burials: a set of double amphorae and a type of decorated hollow sphere with a handle.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=149}} One burial belonging to a girl younger than six years old contains a set of double amphorae decorated with depictions of birds, which Sestieri argues may indicate that girl was predestined for a religious role from a particularly young age.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=151}} Other graves contain religious equipment which may further indicate that women could be tasked with religious roles since youth: One grave from San Lorenzo Vecchio belonging to a young girl around the age of twelve contains a hut urn and a statuette that itself possibly is posed as if it were performing a religious offering. This grave in particular may indicate that women could play an active role in religious rituals from a young age.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=140}} Another grave from Guidonia contains an infant burial in which the deceased was entombed with a knife, a set of decorative ornaments, a spindle, spools, spindle whorls, and a distaff. Sestieri argues that the knife likely functioned as cult imagery, although the archaeologist Isabella Damiani instead interprets the object merely as another piece of weaving equipment.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=66}}

Amongst the 18 examples of knives as burial goods in inhumations at Osteria, 13 were placed by the feet or the lower part of the body while five were placed by the upper part. Archaeologist Erik van Rossenberg argues that the knives were likely associated with ritual eating practices, as ceramic vessels and spits—other objects associated with food—were also often placed by the lower body. Burials containing more than three spindle whorls at Osteria contain a collective total of 248 whorls, 51% of which (126 whorls) were placed by the upper part of the body and 42% of which (106 whorls) were placed by the lower part, with the remaining 7% (18 items) appearing by the central part. The placement of spindle whorls in graves containing a higher quantity of the item is more varied than in graves containing fewer. Out of the 147 spindle whorls from graves containing only one example of the item, 86% (126 whorls) appear by the upper part while 11% (4 items) appear by the lower part and 3% (4) items appear by the central part. In Osteria, of the 14 examples of razors as burial goods, 13 were placed by the upper body and one was placed by the lower body. This ritual is incongruent with the distribution of razors in the Iron Age necropolis of Fossa in Abruzzo, in which—of the 12 razors—five were located by the central parts of the body and seven were located by the lower parts.{{Sfn|Rossenberg|2005|p=131}}

"Warrior" burials dated to the Latial period I unanimously—with the exception of the settlement at Tenuta Quadraro—contained miniaturized versions of weapons or armor, which often included swords, spears, greaves, lances, or shields. Alongside miniaturized weapons, "warrior" graves often included razors, knives, and other cosmetic adornments. The presence of military equipment in such burials may indicate a perceived connection between war and masculinity within the Latial culture, although Venderbos suggests that such militaristic imagery may possess more metaphorical symbolism beyond a literal connection to warfare.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=62}} For instance, Venderbos notes that—in other cultures—weapons may hold a prominent position within rituals or ceremonial garb, especially as—according to Venderbos—ornately decorated weaponry can highlight personal prestige. Venderbos further suggests that weapons may also often serve as symbolic representations of power or authority.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=63}} Venderbos proposes a connection between the military equipment of the Late Bronze Age Latial culture with the ritualistic weapons of the Salian priests, an ancient Roman order of priests.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=64}} The "double shields" found in Latial period I tombs, which consist of two to three interlocking discs, may connect to the {{Lang|la|ancilia}}, a type of shield that held ceremonial significance in ancient Rome and was involved in the rituals of the Salii.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=63}} Venderbos suggests that personal beauty may have been significant for males in the Latial culture,{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=66}} as "warrior" burials during the Latial period I often contain cosmetic ornaments such as jewelry, including a type of snake-shaped fibula that is exclusively present in weapon-containing burials and always absent from weaponless burials.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=65}} During the Latial period IIIA, male graves from Osteria often included more serpent-shaped fibulae, whereas weapons—such as swords or spear-heads—appeared infrequently throughout male burials.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=117}} The Latial period II graves at Osteria and the graves of the Le Rose necropolis in Tarquinia are organized into clusters of burials centered around male graves, indicating a patriarchal family structure.{{Sfn|Cougle-Jose|2010|p=58}}

The archaeologist Ilona Venderbos proposes that in addition to the standard "warrior" and "weaver" type burials, the Latial culture—during the Late Bronze Age—utilized a third, gender-neutral burial category referred to as the "master of the household."{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=67}} Venderbos cites the presence of hut-shaped funerary urns within cremation burials, arguing that the urns symbolically represented new homes for the deceased. She compares the Latial traditions to a similar practice in the Etruscan culture, in which leadership over an {{Lang|grc|oikos}} (a type of family unity) may have been represented within burials via the deposition of miniature huts, which themselves often took the form of hut-urns.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=69}} Thus, Venderbos suggests that the hut-urns in the Latial culture likely also signified that the deceased held a prominent domestic role during their lifetimes. Furthermore, Venderbos relates the hut-urns to the miniature furniture prevalent in Latial period I tombs, arguing that the latter objects may have functioned as banqueting equipment.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=70}} This banqueting equipment, according to Venderbos, may have itself been largely reserved for more elite individuals within Latial society—the same kind of prominent persons selected for hut-urn burials.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=72}}

Tombs dated to the Latial period IIA contain grave goods whose gender associations in the Latial period I are incongruent with the biological sex of the deceased. One tomb from the Forum of Caesar contains a biologically female individual buried with arch fibulae, a hair rang, necklaces and a serpentine fibula and another grave from the Forum Romanum that likely contained a female individual also includes a serpentine fibula. The necropolis at the Forum Romanum also contains a grave belonging to a male individual that itself includes a spindle whorl as a burial good.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=80}} One grave from Osteria likely contains the skeleton of a biologically male individual who was interred alongside a necklace, a spindle whorl, hair rings, and an arch bow fibula. The presence of traditionally feminine ornaments within the burial of a likely biologically male individual compelled the archaeologist Lisa Cougle to suggest that the deceased was transgender, although the archaeologist Cecilie Brøns suggests that the individual may have been viewed as more feminine as their death occurred prior to reaching adulthood.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=81}} The cemetery at Osteria may reveal two other transgender burials, as two separate possibly male individuals appear entombed with arch bow fibulae and spindle whorls. However, the sex determinations of these skeletons may be unreliable, as the sex of one skeleton can only be ascertained via analysis of their tooth size, whereas the sex of the second skeleton can only discerned based upon several fragments of their crania.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=81}}

Moreover, several male burials from Osteria contain fused or suspension rings situated near the skull that are otherwise associated with female burials, perhaps indicating that these male individuals—although perhaps not transgender—may have expressed a more feminine gender identity.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=81}} Cougle notes that the long bones of these skeletons were typically slender, possibly indicating that their slenderness was considered feminine, thus prompting their burial with more feminine objects.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|pp=81-82}} Venderbos disputes this analysis, noting that these rings were absent from other tombs containing slender males, indicating that the Latial culture did not necessarily perceive slimness in males as effeminate, and therefore they did not include these rings within all burials belonging to slender males.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=82}} Venderbos further suggests that these rings may have merely constituted a new type of ornament within Latial culture male fashion, perhaps representing a breakdown in gender norms as the typically feminine item became accessible to men.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=82}} It is also possible that several instances of these rings within the archaeological record may have actually acted as components to other objects, such as fibulae. Thus, Venderbos suggests that traditionally feminine objects—such as fibulae—may have become incorporated into the masculine coiffure.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=82}}

Numerous graves dated to the Latial period II lack fibulae, which were otherwise the most common grave good and—according to Cougle—the most heavily gendered. The majority of the graves that lack fibulae are infant burials, leading Cougle to argue that the infants may not have yet been assigned a gender identity, thereby negating the need for a gender-signifying object.{{Sfn|Cougle-Jose|2010|p=296}} Out of a sample of Latial period IIA and IIB subadult graves gathered by Venderbos, only 40% of the burials included objects suggestive of any gender identity. According to Venderbos, the majority of these children were gendered as women, usually via the presence of hair rings, arch bow fibulae, or a necklace.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=90}} Sestieri notes that, in Osteria, the graves of nearly all girls younger than 12 years of age in Osteria contain gendered items, whereas the graves of boys from the same age groups almost entirely lack markers of gender roles.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=146}} Moreover, Sestieri argues that the presence of cult-related objects in the graves of subadult women indicates that these individuals received these ritual roles in youth.{{Sfn|Sestieri|2008|p=151}}

The distinction between "warrior" and "weaver" burials also weakened during the Latial period II. "Warrior" type burials persisted into the IIA period, although they generally contained fewer miniature weapons, often only containing a spear and a lance. Although razors were almost always included in male burials dated to the Latial period I, there were few razors present in Latial period IIA1 male burials. However, the "warrior" type completely dissipated from the funerary record by the Latial period IIA2. Regular-sized razors and serpentine fibulae continued to appear in male burials, although weapons, corded jars, and miniature braziers largely vanished from such tombs.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=87}} All female burials from the Latial period II and onwards contain a spindle whorl, perhaps indicating that the spindle whorl had come to merely signify that the deceased was female, rather than to convey any more complex gender identity or role in life.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=88}}

Sestieri argues that, by the Latial period III, the representation of the different gender roles within the funerary record at Osteria had largely dissipated.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=98}} However, knives remained prevalent in female burials at Osteria, which may represent either the cult-related function ascribed the knives from early periods, or—as Sestieri argues—they may signify that women were responsible for the cutting and distribution of meat.{{Sfn|Sestieri|1992|p=209}} Gender identity continued to be expressed in the funerary record through the interment of certain gender-specific articles of clothing. Female burials in Castel di Decima were marked by the presence of hair rings, a headdress with amber or glass-paste beads, and new types of fibulae—such as the boat fibulae, leech fibulae, or fibulae with an amber bow. Likewise, in Osteria and Caracupa, female burials are differentiated by the inclusion of hair rings and arch bow, leech, or boat fibulae.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=99}} Men from Castel di Decima were often entombed with a short-sleeved tunic, an iron lance, a sword, and a mantle fastened to either the chest or the right shoulder by 1-2 serpentine fibulae. Some male burials from this cemetary contain buckles or hooks that Venderbos interprets as the remains of decayed belts.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=98}} Male tombs from Osteria and Caracupa were marked by the inclusion of serpentine or dragon fibulae and the presence of weaponry.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=99}}

Latial period III graves from the Esquiline necropolis often include both objects considered feminine and objects considered masculine in other Latial cemeteries. For instance, multiple Esquiline tombs contain both spinning tools and weapons while other graves contain both the feminine boat or leech fibulae and the masculine serpentine or dragon fibulae.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|pp=99-100}} Other tombs include axe or arrowhead-shaped pendants, combining the pendant—a traditionally feminine ornament—and weaponry, which were traditionally masculine objects within Latial society. Although Venderbos argues that these ambiguous burials reflect the breakdown in gender norms, the archaeologist Einar Nilson Gjerstad suggests that some Esquiline tombs may have merely functioned as double burials for men and women, thus explaining their combination of objects belonging to separate gender identities.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=100}} The irregular deposition of fibulae in the Esquiline necropolis may also be explained if fibulae were not as strongly associated with gender specifically within the Esquiline cemetery.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=99}} Likewise, it is possible that the pendants from Osteria lost their gendered connotations or had become status symbols that were allottable to both male and female graves. Other gender-ambiguous graves from Osteria have also been interpreted as burials of high-status individuals. One female grave situated in a central position within their burial group contains arrow-shaped pendants alongside numerous other lavish ornaments.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=100}} Another female tomb also located in the center of their burial group, this one belonging to a 60-year-old individual, contains a bronze spearhead and serpentine fibulae.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=101}} Possible associations between arrow or axe-shaped pendants and high-status may be reinforced by the more certain function of arrowheads and axes as signifiers of social status.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=102}} Anthropologist Bettina Arnold suggests that that women in these high-status female graves with masculine burial items may have constituted "honorary males"—women who are treated as males due to their assumption of traditionally masculine roles. However, Venderbos disputes this analysis, arguing that no such "honorary male" burials have been identified in Iron Age Italy and—since it is impossible the confirm the biological sex of many of the individuals interred within these tombs—it is impossible to prove that these individuals were, in fact, women buried as men.{{Sfn|Venderbos|2022|p=110}}

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{{Italy topics}}

{{Lazio}}

Category:Latins (Italic tribe)

Category:10th-century BC establishments

Category:6th-century BC disestablishments

Category:Archaeological cultures of Europe

Category:Archaeological cultures in Italy

Category:Iron Age cultures of Europe