A peculiar Iron Age Mountainous Society and Culture: The territory of Nursia before the Roman conquest (290 BC).

Before the Roman unification (290 BC), the territory straddling the ridges of the central Apennines had long served as the backbone of the Osco-Umbrian speaking Italic world. The distinctive topography of the region most probably contributed to shape a peculiar society and culture, influencing its structure and historical development. This talk focuses on the Sabine communities in the Nursia territory (Perugia, south-eastern Umbria) as a case study to examine societal and cultural patterns. The data come both from archival sources and previous and ongoing scientific research. They will be used to shed new light on the domestic, economic, sacral, and funerary patterns in the case study area and make a case for the presence of communities as vibrant and active as the better studied ‘great civilisations’ of the Thyrrenian plains (e.g., the Etruscans and the Romans).