A Workshop on Friday 1 June 2018

University of Sheffield
Jessop West G03

14:00-18:00

Since 2012, excavations by the University of Sheffield have been ongoing at Vagnari, the site of a Roman village (vicus) in south-east Italy and the core administrative and distributive centre of a rural estate acquired in the early first century A.D. by the emperor. Fieldwork here has significantly contributed to an understanding of the profit-driven Roman exploitation of the environment in ancient Apulia. Revenues were generated, in part by the emperors’ slaves, through cereal crop cultivation and viniculture, the metal industries, and the production of tile and brick. In the most recent excavation seasons, new evidence reveals that an older settlement of at least the second century B.C. was acquired and transformed into the imperial vicus, prompting us to rethink the history and development of the region following the Roman conquest of Apulia in the third century B.C. The vicus and the imperial estate flourished in the first and second centuries A.D., but by the fourth century, the settlement was no longer inhabited, and its structures were quarried for building materials for a new, smaller village that was established nearby.

The workshop aims to present the archaeological research at Vagnari in its wider context and to discuss the impact of Roman expansion in south-east Italy on the culture and economy of the region. Speakers include Alastair Small who, together with Carola Small, discovered the site of Vagnari and conducted the first phase of fieldwork at the site from 2000, and Maureen Carroll, the director of excavations at Vagnari since 2012. A key and important part of the workshop is the presentation by the relevant project specialists of the artefacts and assemblages recovered in the Sheffield excavations. The workshop brings together these specialists to foster discussion of the artefacts themselves and their significance, and to engage participants at the event in this discussion.

There will be coffee/tea in the afternoon break and light refreshments at the end of the workshop. Participation in the workshop is subject to a fee of £15; Roman Society members pay a discounted fee of £10. If you wish to attend the conference, please complete the registration form on the Online Store.

University of Sheffield Online Store

Queries can be directed to Maureen Carroll (p.m.carroll@sheffield.ac.uk).