The architecture of function : Understanding House K at San Giovenale

Sammanfattning: Between 1961 and 1963 a large terraced Etruscan building on the southside of the Acropolis at the archaeological site of San Giovenale in Italy was excavated. The building, named House K, remained largely unpublished and unstudied throughout the years, leaving our picture of the ancient settlement at San Giovenale incomplete. This thesis aims to get a better understanding of the Etruscan architecture, settlement, culture, and society at San Giovenale, by doing an architectural analysis of the building of House K, using unpublished field journals, drawings, and photographs. By comparing the architecture of House K and any structural elements immediately connected with the building, to other structures at San Giovenale, as well as other Etruscan sites, this thesis set out to learn: what kind of structure House K is; what function it had; what its relative dating is; what role it played in the settlement at San Giovenale; and what it can tell us regarding the society and culture at San Giovenale. Using environment-behaviour relations and building archaeology, the study first examined the structural elements of House K, before comparing House K to other structures at San Giovenale built 700–400 BCE. Thereafter, the study looked at parallels outside of San Giovenale, looking at the sites of Acquarossa, Luni sul Mignone, Poggio Civitate, Cerveteri, Pyrgi, Montetosto, Vulci, and Narce. Finally, a discussion was had regarding the character and function of House K, whether it was public, private, sacred, or profane. In the course of the study, an architectural chronology of San Giovenale was established, which dated the construction date of House K to between c. 565 BCE and the late 6th century BCE. The interpretation of the function of House K that seems most probable is that it was a monumental building complex of administrative, political and/or religious significance, which probably also acted as a residence for the ruling elite at San Giovenale – in other words: a palazzo. House K being a palazzo would mean that there was a centralised authority at San Giovenale, suggesting that there was some sort of ruler or leader at the top of the social hierarchy, splitting the social division at San Giovenale further than it was previously believed to have been.