COLLOQUIUM: Astrid Van Oyen, Cornell, "The Roman Rural Economy beyond Villa and Village: A Multi-Craft Community at Marzuolo (Tuscany, Italy)"

The site of Marzuolo in inland southern Tuscany, in a landscape of small farmers reconstructed by the Roman Peasant Project, highlights the precariousness of current models of the Roman rural economy, with their typological distinctions between villa and peasant economies. Recent evidence from the Marzuolo Archaeological Project shows that Marzuolo was neither villa nor village. Instead, the planned site accommodated a multi-craft community spearheading ceramic fine ware production, metalworking, carpentry, and other activities. As a site without type – and thus without disciplinary history – Marzuolo throws into relief questions about investment, innovation, knowledge transfer, and connectivity in the Roman rural economy.