How did the creators of new cities in Early Iron Age central Italy conceptualize the unprecedented entity that they were putting together? Discarding the common teleological assumption that they already had a clear model in their heads, the question of how they adapted existing material and mental structures becomes a relevant one. The paper argues that a key formative step was the creation of a notional space with powerful taboos and prescriptions attached to it. Within this truce space, elite-led groups gingerly came to live together in a multifocal, fragmented community. The archaeological record from various sites is shamelessly combined with textual evidence to advance a tentative reconstruction of a crucial watershed moment in the emergence of complexity.

The lecture will be followed by a wine reception.