Linda Gosner
I am a Mediterranean archaeologist focused primarily on Iron Age and Roman archaeology and history. My current research centers on local responses to Roman imperialism in rural and industrial landscapes of the western Mediterranean (primarily Spain, Portugal, and Sardinia). In particular, I am interested in the impact of empire on technology, craft production, labor practices, and everyday life in provincial communities. My work engages with broad questions about human-environment interaction, community and identity, labor history, mobility, and culture contact. I work at Texas Tech University as an Assistant Professor of Classical Archaeology. I am on research leave until spring 2025 on fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) and the American Council of Learned Societies.
My current book project examines the social, economic, and environmental impacts of Roman conquest and colonization in and around imperial mining districts in the Iberian Peninsula, investigating diachronic changes and continuities in landscape use, daily life, technological practice, labor organization, and economic interactions at these locales. This book is based on my PhD dissertation, Mining Matters: Rural Communities and Industrial Landscapes in Roman Iberia (3rd c. BCE – 2nd. CE), completed at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University in 2016.
Aside from my research in Spain and Portugal, I conduct fieldwork in Sardinia. I am the co-director of the Sinis Archaeological Project with Jessica Nowlin (UT San Antonio). Our regional survey in west-central Sardinia explores the diverse social and environmental factors impacting resource extraction, settlement patterns, and colonial interactions in the 1st millennium BCE through the Roman period. In Sardinia, I have also worked with the Progetto S’Urachi since 2013, co-leading a site-based survey that investigates settlement patterns and landscape use around the nuraghe S’Urachi from the Iron Age to the present.
Supervisors: John Bodel, Peter van Dommelen, and Susan Alcock
My current book project examines the social, economic, and environmental impacts of Roman conquest and colonization in and around imperial mining districts in the Iberian Peninsula, investigating diachronic changes and continuities in landscape use, daily life, technological practice, labor organization, and economic interactions at these locales. This book is based on my PhD dissertation, Mining Matters: Rural Communities and Industrial Landscapes in Roman Iberia (3rd c. BCE – 2nd. CE), completed at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University in 2016.
Aside from my research in Spain and Portugal, I conduct fieldwork in Sardinia. I am the co-director of the Sinis Archaeological Project with Jessica Nowlin (UT San Antonio). Our regional survey in west-central Sardinia explores the diverse social and environmental factors impacting resource extraction, settlement patterns, and colonial interactions in the 1st millennium BCE through the Roman period. In Sardinia, I have also worked with the Progetto S’Urachi since 2013, co-leading a site-based survey that investigates settlement patterns and landscape use around the nuraghe S’Urachi from the Iron Age to the present.
Supervisors: John Bodel, Peter van Dommelen, and Susan Alcock
less
InterestsView All (137)
Uploads
Books by Linda Gosner
Local Experiences of Connectivity and Mobility in the Ancient West-Central Mediterranean brings together a series of papers that explore theoretical and material approaches to connectivity and mobility in the ancient Central and Western Mediterranean. The diverse contributions span the period of the Late Bronze Age through the Late Roman period and focus on locales across the central-western Mediterranean region, specifically Iberia, Southern France, North Africa, Italy, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Corsica. Case studies are grouped around the themes of people, things, and landscapes. Focusing on the small-scale picture, they illuminate local experiences of connectivity and mobility that run “against the grain” of more usual large-scale narratives of Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman contact and colonization in the west. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate the value of dialogue across regional and national divides that have traditionally fragmented research in these regions. Further, they bring out the common themes that emerge when approaching connectivity and mobility from a broad diachronic perspective when not confined by traditional divisions between prehistory and the classical period. The book highlights the work of emerging scholars, framed by discussions by prominent scholars in the field, combining deep expertise with fresh perspectives and new approaches to connectivity and mobility in the ancient world.
Journal Articles by Linda Gosner
Las imágenes de satélite han sido reconocidas como herramientas adecuadas de las prospecciones arqueológicas para ayudar a contestar preguntas regionales y ecológicas. Un aspecto poco explorado de este tipo de datos es su resolución temporal. Hoy en día es posible recopilar imágenes de diferentes áreas diariamente y esta resolución ofrece nuevas oportunidades para estudiar el paisaje a través de sensores remotos junto con prospecciones pedestres. Este artículo explora las aplicaciones de estos datos para evaluar su visibilidad y la detección del cambio de la cubierta terrestre en el contexto del Sinis Archaeological Project, una prospección arqueológica regional del centro-oeste de Cerdeña. Se utilizaron imágenes proporcionadas por Planet, con una resolución espacial de 3 m, en cuatro bandas espectrales y recolectadas diariamente. Utilizando valores del Índice de Vegetación de Diferencia Normalizada (NDVI, por sus siglas en inglés) calculados para cada unidad de prospección, se encontró que hay una relación entre los valores de NDVI y la visibilidad del campo reportada en general. Sin embargo, la fuerza de esta correlación difiere de acuerdo con las clases de cobertura de suelo. Asimismo, se encontró que los datos fueron efectivos para rastrear los cambios a corto plazo en las condiciones del suelo que permitieron diferenciar campos con cubierta de suelo y visibilidad similar. Se consideran las limitaciones y potenciales de estos datos y se promueve futuros desarrollos y experimentaciones.
Book Chapters by Linda Gosner
Ce chapitre examine les sources archéologiques funéraires associés aux
mines romaines de la « Ceinture de pyrite » ibérique, au sud-ouest de l’Ibérie,
en s’intéressant particulièrement aux nécropoles de Riotinto et d’Aljustrel
datant du ier et du iie siècle de n. è. Le mobilier funéraire, les modalités
de déposition et l’emplacement des nécropoles fournissent des données
relatives aux réseaux commerciaux, aux influences culturelles étrangères
et aux pratiques religieuses privées entourant le traitement des défunts. Les
épitaphes témoignent de la composition des communautés (formées par
des hommes, des femmes, des enfants, des esclaves, des affranchis et des
immigrés) qui ont habité et travaillé aux environs des mines. La documentation est située dans le contexte plus large des vestiges non funéraires de la vie religieuse des mêmes sites. Finalement, l’article brosse un tableau de la configuration démographique des colonies minières romaines du sudouest de l’Ibérie et montre comment les pratiques funéraires ont permis aux membres de ces communautés de commémorer leurs défunts et d’affirmer certains aspects de leurs identités personnelles et collectives.
Local Experiences of Connectivity and Mobility in the Ancient West-Central Mediterranean brings together a series of papers that explore theoretical and material approaches to connectivity and mobility in the ancient Central and Western Mediterranean. The diverse contributions span the period of the Late Bronze Age through the Late Roman period and focus on locales across the central-western Mediterranean region, specifically Iberia, Southern France, North Africa, Italy, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Corsica. Case studies are grouped around the themes of people, things, and landscapes. Focusing on the small-scale picture, they illuminate local experiences of connectivity and mobility that run “against the grain” of more usual large-scale narratives of Greek, Phoenician, Carthaginian, and Roman contact and colonization in the west. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate the value of dialogue across regional and national divides that have traditionally fragmented research in these regions. Further, they bring out the common themes that emerge when approaching connectivity and mobility from a broad diachronic perspective when not confined by traditional divisions between prehistory and the classical period. The book highlights the work of emerging scholars, framed by discussions by prominent scholars in the field, combining deep expertise with fresh perspectives and new approaches to connectivity and mobility in the ancient world.
Las imágenes de satélite han sido reconocidas como herramientas adecuadas de las prospecciones arqueológicas para ayudar a contestar preguntas regionales y ecológicas. Un aspecto poco explorado de este tipo de datos es su resolución temporal. Hoy en día es posible recopilar imágenes de diferentes áreas diariamente y esta resolución ofrece nuevas oportunidades para estudiar el paisaje a través de sensores remotos junto con prospecciones pedestres. Este artículo explora las aplicaciones de estos datos para evaluar su visibilidad y la detección del cambio de la cubierta terrestre en el contexto del Sinis Archaeological Project, una prospección arqueológica regional del centro-oeste de Cerdeña. Se utilizaron imágenes proporcionadas por Planet, con una resolución espacial de 3 m, en cuatro bandas espectrales y recolectadas diariamente. Utilizando valores del Índice de Vegetación de Diferencia Normalizada (NDVI, por sus siglas en inglés) calculados para cada unidad de prospección, se encontró que hay una relación entre los valores de NDVI y la visibilidad del campo reportada en general. Sin embargo, la fuerza de esta correlación difiere de acuerdo con las clases de cobertura de suelo. Asimismo, se encontró que los datos fueron efectivos para rastrear los cambios a corto plazo en las condiciones del suelo que permitieron diferenciar campos con cubierta de suelo y visibilidad similar. Se consideran las limitaciones y potenciales de estos datos y se promueve futuros desarrollos y experimentaciones.
Ce chapitre examine les sources archéologiques funéraires associés aux
mines romaines de la « Ceinture de pyrite » ibérique, au sud-ouest de l’Ibérie,
en s’intéressant particulièrement aux nécropoles de Riotinto et d’Aljustrel
datant du ier et du iie siècle de n. è. Le mobilier funéraire, les modalités
de déposition et l’emplacement des nécropoles fournissent des données
relatives aux réseaux commerciaux, aux influences culturelles étrangères
et aux pratiques religieuses privées entourant le traitement des défunts. Les
épitaphes témoignent de la composition des communautés (formées par
des hommes, des femmes, des enfants, des esclaves, des affranchis et des
immigrés) qui ont habité et travaillé aux environs des mines. La documentation est située dans le contexte plus large des vestiges non funéraires de la vie religieuse des mêmes sites. Finalement, l’article brosse un tableau de la configuration démographique des colonies minières romaines du sudouest de l’Ibérie et montre comment les pratiques funéraires ont permis aux membres de ces communautés de commémorer leurs défunts et d’affirmer certains aspects de leurs identités personnelles et collectives.
(email for full text: lgosner@ttu.edu)
Event Website: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mediterranean-connectivities/
Since 2018, SAP used multi-scalar survey to investigate the area immediately surrounding the Bronze Age site of S’Urachi (Zone A), a low-lying plain used for agriculture, the first of four planned zones of intensive survey in the wider region. These methods included pedestrian fieldwalking and features recording, complemented by the use of satellite-based Normalized Differential Vegetation Indices (NDVI), drone-based landscape imagery, and photogrammetry. Our survey as provided a wealth of high-resolution data that clarify the diachronic occupation of the landscape around S’Urachi and its use for agrarian purposes. This poster presents the preliminary results of survey in Zone A and plans for expanding SAP in 2020 to Zone B, located in the northwestern coast of the Sinis Peninsula.
This paper investigates the formation of community and occupational identities among laborers in the mines of Hispania, with a primary focus on the large-scale copper and silver mines of southern Lusitania and western Baetica in the early imperial period. I provide an overview of the few visual representations of miners that have been preserved, including the tombstone of Quintus Artulus himself and a fragmentary relief depicting a group of miners from Palazuelos, Jaén. I then discuss other material and epigraphic evidence from mining landscapes that can help us learn about who lived and worked in these areas, such as the mines themselves, settlements and houses, and cemeteries at sites such as Aljustrel and Rio Tinto. A close look at this evidence shows that diverse groups of people (including women, children, slaves, and immigrants) were incorporated into mining communities and interacted with one another on a daily basis. Ultimately, I argue, these interactions across varied groups cemented both individual and communal identities associated with the profession of mining.
While mining in Iberia is often cited among the primary reasons for Roman conquest of Iberia in the first place, any detailed examination of the rich archaeological record of mining is largely absent from Anglophone scholarship. My primary aim in this paper, then, is to show how the rich archaeological record of mining in Spain and Portugal can contribute to wider debates in Roman archaeology about the local impacts of Roman imperialism, the development of the Roman economy, and—most specifically--mobility and connectivity in the provinces. In short, if mining was so central to the conquest of Iberia, then understanding the social and economic impacts it had provides an important window into provincial life in this territory.
In keeping with the wider aims of the session, this paper also conveys the challenges and rewards of research and collaboration in Spain and Portugal from my perspective, first as an American student and now as a professor in the US. I emphasize how this particular project has benefitted from the use of legacy data and grey literature as well as active time in the field. I also stress the ways that theoretically-informed research that crosses modern (and ancient) political boundaries can address both global and local questions in Roman archaeology.
I take as a case study the rural landscapes surrounding Carthago Nova (mod. Cartagena) in the Roman province of Hispania. This corner of southeastern Spain was famously rich in argentiferous galena—mined for silver and lead in antiquity, and it also boasted fertile agricultural land and a multitude of marine resources. These natural resources were exploited by indigenous communities from early on and they drew Phoenician and Carthaginian merchants to trade and eventually settle on the Mediterranean coast over the course of the first millennium B.C.E. When the Romans conquered Carthago Nova in 209 B.C.E., they inherited not only this important port city of Carthaginian foundation but also its surrounding rural territory. Mining intensified across the rural landscape, as silver was extracted for Roman coinage and lead ingots were shipped for use in Roman urban infrastructure across the western Mediterranean.
In this paper, I discuss the archaeological and epigraphic evidence for labor in mining and related industries during the period of intensive exploitation of the region from the second century B.C.E. through the mid-first century C.E. This evidence suggests that a mixed labor force of indigenous communities and new immigrants to the region contributed skills that enabled the industry to be successful under Roman rule. In particular, I discuss aspects of pre-Roman mining practice that were adapted to large-scale Roman mining, as well as the contributions of laborers in other local industries (especially agriculture for food and esparto grass) in the rural landscape that served to feed, clothe, and equip miners with appropriate tools. Finally, I discuss how these activities cemented economic and social ties between the rural landscapes and urban center at Carthago Nova and the wider Roman world.
In summer 2018, we held our inaugural season, focusing on the agricultural zone (Zone A). In this poster, we discuss our integration of traditional Mediterranean pedestrian survey suitable for agricultural landscapes with multi-scalar remote sensing. Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), we documented structures that were otherwise difficult to access or measure due to terrain and vegetation. This allowed us not only to document the location of these features within the landscape but also record multi-component sites whose interrelated, but dispersed features are critical to understanding their function and spatial connections. Additionally, the utilization of both true color and infrared sensors allowed us to explore spectral properties of the vegetation that may be indicative of buried subsurface features, which were then compared to the results of pedestrian survey. Integrating daily UAV operations was helpful for understanding microtopography and spatial distribution of features both within the intensive survey units and in the broader extensive survey zone.
In order to achieve a broader perspective on the landscape of Zone A, we employed high spatial and temporal resolution satellite remote sensing. This allowed us to evaluate differences in visibility resulting from variance in the agricultural cycle, prioritizing areas where intensive pedestrian survey would be most effective. Following the season, we compared vegetation indices derived from satellite imagery to self-reported visibility and finds counts of the walkers. Through this analysis, we evaluate the effectiveness of our survey strategies and reported results.
Ultimately the integration of these various methods provides a more comprehensive view of diverse landscapes and their histories in Sardinia. Further, this strategy can improve and enhance survey work in the Mediterranean more broadly.
Session Abstract: From the Romans to the Inca, empires have conquered regional ethnic groups to gain access to territory and resources. While past research has focused on the role of intruding colonizers and assumes a passive response from smaller ethnic groups, this session takes a bottom-up approach and explores how processes of colonialism, defined as practices of control between two asymmetrical powers, are reacted to by subordinate groups and how local active agency transforms their own identities through alterations in their daily aspects of life. Were foreign practices resisted, adopted, or combined and hybridized with current practices? Did different social groups respond differently to the foreign group? This session takes a multi-component focus in examining both cultural (ex. architecture, ceramics) and biological data in order to understand the many facets in how societies respond to conquest. Additionally, this session examines both old and new world examples in order to compare and contrast differencing experiences of colonialism. Overall, this session adds to our current understanding of how local communities resist and conform during times of conquest and serves as an analogy for modern interactions between dominant and subordinate ethnic groups.
Our investigation consisted of microtopographical, geophysical, and an intensive pedestrian survey. During the past two years, we excavated a series of four test trenches to ground truth the results of these various survey methods. The combined results of these interventions have pinpointed the area north of the nuraghe as the location of the earliest settlement at S’Urachi, dating at least to the Late Bronze Age. We also uncovered evidence of later occupation of the site and new domestic architectural construction in the Punic and Roman periods. In this poster, we present the new evidence of settlement at S’Urachi and outline some of the later processes—from garbage deposition to flooding—that have impacted the wider landscape. We also detail our methodology, highlighting the utility of integrating both survey and excavation at the site level.
Finally, this poster will introduce our plans for a large-scale regional survey in west-central Sardinia, encompassing both coastal and inland areas around the Sinis Peninsula. The survey will investigate four primary nodes in the landscape: the agricultural plains in which S’Urachi is located; the coastal region with its seasonal lakes and salt flats; the metal-rich Monte Ferru mountains; and the hill crests that separate the coast and inland plains. These various locations were all inhabited and exploited during the 1st millennium BCE through the Late Roman period and beyond. Our intensive survey of these diverse landscapes will begin in summer 2018 with the goal of illuminating the social and environmental factors that influenced colonial and local settlement patterns in west-central Sardinia in antiquity. The regional investigation will also situate our small-scale S’Urachi site survey in its wider geographic context, demonstrating the benefits of combining survey and excavation at different scales of analysis.
As part of the research program, during the past two seasons we carried out an intensive pedestrian survey and excavated a series of targeted test trenches. Our aim was to investigate long-term trends in the occupation and use of the wider archaeological site, and to contextualize the findings of the excavations in the landscape. The unplowed land and heavy vegetation at S’Urachi required an innovative, more intrusive survey approach than is traditionally used in Mediterranean survey: a series of shallow circles excavated on a 20x20m grid. This pedestrian survey conducted in 2015 yielded ceramic and other evidence of habitation that established potential areas of interest, which were further investigated through the excavation of three test trenches during the 2016 season. Our findings illuminated trends in occupation and culture contact from the late Iron Age, Punic and early Roman periods as well as patterns of garbage deposition from the Early Modern period to the present. This paper presents our preliminary results, highlighting the methodology we developed for coping with the various environmental challenges and our future plans for survey both at the site and in the wider landscape of west-central Sardinia.
Despite these recent scholarly advances, the local social impacts of this increased scale of production, including necessary shifts in the organization of production and the composition of the labor force, are understudied. While the Iberian Pyrite Belt is a unified geological zone, it spans an area divided from the time of Augustus between the Roman provinces of Baetica and Lusitania, and today between Spain and Portugal—divisions that have resulted in somewhat fragmented scholarly traditions. In this paper, I bridge these divides to discuss the impacts that increased mining activity had on local communities and the landscapes. Using archaeological and epigraphic data from both Spain and Portugal, I discuss the distribution of mines and mining settlements from the late 1st century BCE through the 2nd century CE and their role in wider social and economic networks. I then look closely at three case studies including Vipasca (Aljustrel, Portugal), Cerro del Moro (Nerva, Spain), and Cortalago (Riotinto, Spain) to investigate the local efforts as well as imperial directives that shaped mining communities during these centuries. Burial, household, and epigraphic evidence demonstrates the mixed labor force in such communities, including women, children, slaves, contract laborers, and army personnel. Examining the logistics of life and labor at these productive communities, so often marginalized in scholarship, provides a better understanding of Roman imperialism and its localized effects.
This paper investigates the local social consequences of these large-scale political, environmental, and economic shifts on the communities who lived and labored in mining landscapes in southwest Iberia. I attack the issue form multiple temporal and spatial scales, examining archaeological and epigraphic evidence from the 2nd century BCE through the 2nd century CE. I first investigate diachronic changes in regional settlement patterns in southwest Iberia that coincide with the expansion of the mining industry. I then draw from site-level evidence from mines and their accompanying settlements at Vipasca (Aljustrel, Portugal) and Riotinto (Spain) to investigate changes in daily life, labor organization, and technological practice. Together, this evidence highlights how local efforts as well as imperial directives shaped mining communities and industrial landscapes in southwest Iberia. Ultimately, my attention to small-scale shifts brought about by large-scale political and economic changes sheds light on the complex relationship of imperialism, resource extraction, and the formation of communities.
In this presentation, I investigate the local social and economic impacts of Roman conquest on those who lived and labored in these gold mining landscapes. I ask how their experience of empire and participation in the imperial economy transformed their everyday lives. Using evidence from Las Médulas and other lesser-known gold mining sites, I examine archaeological evidence for changes—and continuities—in technological practice, patterns of production and consumption, domestic construction, and settlement patterns. This evidence shows that mining under imperial rule transformed peoples’ lives in ways they could not control and exposed them to horrific dangers and constant health hazards. Yet, participation in the quotidian practices surrounding mining also stimulated a sense of community among local populations, one that was vastly different from that of communities prior to Roman conquest. Ultimately, this paper explores the complex relationship between mining, empire, and the transformation of communities in this far corner of the Roman world.
Our aim is to become a free, open-access, global forum for the exchange of excellent student scholarship in a context of constructive dialogue and inclusiveness, where students interested in improving our social reality, coming from different backgrounds, can share their ideas and discuss solutions to the challenges facing our discipline.
This Journal seeks to enhance the academic experience of students worldwide by publishing their quality research, review articles, perspectives about the state of the field and any additional material useful for students and anyone interested in any aspect of archaeology.
We are run by students on a voluntary, not-for-profit basis.
We believe that getting involved in the publication process, both in its author and editor aspects, is a great opportunity for university students to develop their writing, reviewing and publishing skills.
Our Journal values and encourages diversity. It aims to foster global participation and to attract the submission of the best student research in archaeology, regardless of academic institution, nationality, gender, ethnicity or religion, in order to enhance international cooperation and mutual understanding.
To download the higher resolution file, please follow the associated link
We welcome papers addressing any topic and temporal sequence of archaeological interest, based in any geographical area, and engaging with any methodological and/or theoretical framework. IJSRA encourages submissions of papers such as:
• Research articles (up to 6,500 words).
• Literature reviews and academic essays (up to 5,000 words).
• ‘Debate’ articles based on unpublished or published evidence and that may challenge traditional, long-established academic perspectives (up to 6,000 words).
• Condensed field reports or monographs (up to 4,000 words).
• Reviews of Books relevant to the discipline, or Reviews of archaeological conferences, focusing particularly on the role and participation of students.
The International Journal of Student Research in Archaeology does not charge any submission or publication fees. Authors must confirm that the content of their original research papers has not been published or accepted for publication elsewhere (although previous presentation in poster format and at conferences is accepted).
All submissions should be full papers written in English or another field-relevant language. If the paper is submitted in a language other than English, an extended summary in English must be provided. Assistance with academic English of publishable articles will be provided if required.
The recommended deadline for submissions for our next issue is 15th March 2017. Please note that we are also accepting submissions on a rolling basis throughout the year.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail us at: editor.ijsra@gmail.com
One unintended consequence of this work, however, has been the reification of scalar categories as a hierarchy of development. Thus, in many studies, production activities at either end of the scale are not subject to the same types of analysis as workshop production—domestic production is assumed to make very little impact on the larger economy while, conversely, major industrial works are often subsumed within the study of empire and political economy, obscuring the complicated reality of how very large scale industrial ventures worked on a human level. Following a recent call for more rigorous integration of data at different scales of analysis by Dietler, among others, we propose in this session to investigate ancient production that took place at different scales alongside one another to examine the role(s) of production in larger social and economic processes and questions in the ancient Mediterranean world. We will take an intentionally broad definition of the word production, encompassing both craft production (ceramic, glass, metal, leather, etc.), major industrial production (mining and quarrying), as well food production (olive oil, fish salting, etc.). Examining labor organization and the role of production in wider communities and landscapes can illuminate commonalities and differences in production at the household-, neighborhood-, workshop-, industrial- levels, especially when considered in comparative perspective.
We invite papers that consider social or economic aspects of production at any scale from Greek, Roman, or other Mediterranean contexts, with the aim of forming a colloquium in which we can discuss production from a multi-scalar perspective. Topics may include new or innovative archaeological work at a site of production; labor organization in houses, workshops, or industrial communities; the social role of production in wider communities; production in urban or rural settings; and the wider economic impacts of production. Additionally, we especially welcome papers that consider the issue of scale in analysis, from archaeometric analysis of industrial debris to landscape/GIS models of ancient productive activity.
Please send titles and abstracts of 400 words or less to linda_gosner@brown.edu by March 18 for consideration in this colloquium, which we intend to submit as a session for the Archaeological Institute of American Annual Meeting in San Francisco on January 6-9, 2016.