Marketing the Etruscans—From Mystery to Modern Media

Join us as the AIA Societies Committee presents a virtual presentation and Q&A with Jessica Tilley. This presentation will also be available in American Sign Language.

Often deemed the ‘mysterious’ Etruscans, this pre-Roman civilization of early Italy has fought a hard-won battle in finding its place in the field of Classical Archaeology. Various titans of American Etruscology, including this year’s AIA Gold Medalist Nancy de Grummond, have dedicated decades of research to highlighting the value of Etruscan material in answering larger questions related to ritual practice, cross-cultural interaction, and Mediterranean trade networks. In recent years, Etruscan material has been at the foreground of widely publicized repatriation cases and cultural heritage protection conversations. This buzz culminated in the globally acclaimed 2023 film La chimera about a band of Etruscan tomb robbers. Looking ahead, Etruscology is primed for engaging in the development of current archaeological theory, with ongoing research relevant to our multi-cultural, interconnected world. In this lecture, Dr. Jessica Tilley outlines the dynamic history of the Etruscan civilization’s modern reception and highlights the ways in which it is uniquely positioned to contribute to ongoing dialogue around decolonialism, queer theory, globalization, and network theory in Mediterranean archaeology.

Dr. Jessica Tilley is currently the Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Centre College and the Assistant Director of Excavations of the Montereggi Project, an Etruscan hilltop site near Florence, Italy. Her research explores questions of postcolonialism and globalization theory in the ancient Mediterranean world through examination of cross-cultural funerary practices. She has excavated at sites across Italy, Greece, and the southeastern U.S. and is actively involved in cultural heritage public outreach.

The lecture will also be available in American Sign Language and we will also enable auto captioning on Zoom. Due to Zoom limitations on mobile devices and tablets, participants interested in accessing ASL interpretation should log in using the desktop version of Zoom.