The Latial culture ranged approximately over ancient

Old Latium Old Latium ( la, Latium vetus or ') is a region of the Italian peninsula bounded to the north by the river Tiber, to the east by the central Apennine mountains, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea and to the south by Monte Circeo. It was the t ...

. The

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

Latial culture coincided with the arrival in the region of a people who spoke

Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...

. The culture was likely therefore to identify a phase of the socio-political self-consciousness of the Latin tribe, during the period of the kings of Alba Longa and the foundation of the

Roman Kingdom The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began wi ...

. Latial culture is identified by their hut-shaped burial urns. Urns of the Proto-Villanovan culture are plain and biconical, and were buried in a deep shaft. The hut urn is a round or square model of a hut with a peaked roof. The interior is accessed by a door on one of its side.

Cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

was practiced as well as burial. The style is distinctive. The hut urns were miniature versions of the huts in which the population lived, although during this period they also developed the use of stone for temples and other public buildings.Gordon (2007), p. 46. The Apennine culture of Latium transitioned smoothly into the Latial with no evidence of an intrusive population movement. The population generally abandoned sites of purely economic advantage in favor of defensible sites which later became cities. The term pre-urban is used for this era. The population movement to more defensible sites may indicate an increase in marauding.

Periodization

The periodization is accepted as standard with little variation; however, a tolerance of ±25 years is implied:

Sites

Latial I is concentrated in the Rome area, in the

Alban Hills The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the hi ...

and in the Monti della Tolfa. Evidence of the civilization is mainly funerary obtained from ''

necropoleis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually i ...

'' (cemeteries).

was the predominant rite.Forsythe (2005), p. 54. Cremation burials consist of a hut-urn with ashes of the deceased placed in a '' dolium'' (large jar) with some other vessels used for food offerings. The pottery is undecorated. Instead of a hut-urn a vase with a cone-like roof or simulated helmet was sometimes used. The ''dolium'' was placed in a stone-lined ''pozzo'' (hole) and commemorated above-ground. For grave goods, spindle-whorls identify females and miniature armor and weapons, males. Statuettes, some with hands outstretched, may be present.

Notes

References

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External links

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{{Lazio 10th-century BC establishments 6th-century BC disestablishments Archaeological cultures of Southern Europe Archaeological cultures in Italy Iron Age cultures of Europe Italic archaeological cultures