While economic approaches are becoming generally more important and even
mainstream topics, this is not necessarily the case for research into Pre-Roman
Italy, defined as the area of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia during the
Iron Age. Until recently, there was almost no research into Pre-Roman Italy focused
on economic studies, and the existing research has been mostly dedicated to very
specific contexts: (1) specialization of crafts and production in the context of
urbanization processes; (2) specific production areas, such as agriculture, metal
processing, and salt production; (3) studies focusing on Greek Colonies and Greek
Colonial encounters with indigenous populations; (4) analyses of consumption
patterns, mainly in the case of Greek pottery consumption. Recent excavations and
investigations devoted to the study of workshop structures, such as those at Gabii,
Pithekoussai, Kroton, Lokroi Epizephyrioi, Naxos, Selinunt and Kyme / Cumae, have
provided a range of new data that is stimulating a valuable and highly constructive
discussion on the organization of production and crafts in Pre-Roman Italy. Against
this background, four members of the study group ¿Etruscans and Italic Cultures¿
from the ¿German Association of Archaeologists¿ (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Etrusker und
Italiker des DArV e.V.) formed a panel to discuss the economic aspects of Pre-Roman
Italy on the basis of their ongoing research projects: all of these focus on the
field of production and crafts. The aim is to contribute to an intensified debate on
geographical, chronological and functional patterns in the organization of crafts
and productions by discussing current case studies and methods. DE