Domi mansit, lanam fecit

Was That All? Women’s Social Status and Roles in the Early Latial Communities (11th–9th Centuries BC)

Authors

  • Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università del Salento

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v21i1.133

Keywords:

ancient Lazio, Osteria dell’Osa, prestige, status, horizontal and vertical roles, gender and status

Abstract

Seven female tombs from ancient Lazio dating from Latial period I (Final Bronze Age, 11th-10th centuries BC), and some 250 tombs dating from Latial period II (Early Iron Age, 10th-9th centuries BC) from the cemetery of Osteria dell’Osa, Rome, are analyzed from a gendered perspective. The sample shows a few significant features, which seem to differentiate it from the male component of the same contexts: 1. Gender specific personal ornaments are given to women from birth. 2. Some age specific artefacts and roles can be identified for all age classes. 3. A small number of female outfits includes some special indications of prestige; however, neither a systematic formalization of prestige features, nor specific correlates of roles or functions, can be identified. 4. ‘Priesthood’ is the only vertical role apparently given to women; in this case, too, there is some consistent indication that it was appointed from birth. 5. Secondary religious functions also seem to have been performed by some women. 6. Witchcraft might be the only self-appointed female role, which, however, apparently implied a diminished degree of integration in the community and kin group.

Author Biography

  • Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri, Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università del Salento
    Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri is Professor of Pre- and Protohistory and holds the chair of European Protohistory in the Dipartimento di Beni Culturali of the Università del Salento (Lecce, Italy). From 1974 to 2004 she carried out her professional activities as Director of the Pre- and Protohistoric Department of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma, and subsequently as Superintendent of Abruzzo. In 1996, she was awarded the Europa Prize for her study of the Iron Age cemetery of Osteria dell’Osa (Rome). Her research has involved mainly the Bronze and Iron Ages of Italy and the Mediterranean. The main topics have been east-west interaction in the Mediterranean, the Mycenaeans in Sicily and southern Italy, the Bronze and Iron Ages of ancient Lazio, Etruria and Veneto, and the development of sociopolitical and economic complexity in Italy. At present, she is preparing the final report on the excavations at the Final Bronze Age settlement of Frattesina, Veneto.

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Published

2008-08-09

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2008)

Section

Articles

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Sestieri, A. M. B. (2008). Domi mansit, lanam fecit: Was That All? Women’s Social Status and Roles in the Early Latial Communities (11th–9th Centuries BC). Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 21(1), 133-159. https://doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v21i1.133