work has been guided by political ideology has perhaps been overstated and in any case has declined in recent years. Anglophone theoretical archaeology cannot yet be said to have made a decisive impact. Some rather turgid theoretical works on Italian archaeology have appeared in English, at times accompanied by a disregard for the facts, which allows the doubters to feel their prejudices confirmed. However, foreign field methods have made quite an impact, their introduction into Italy sped by a number of foreign projects. In this context mention should be made of a series of surveys undertaken since the 1960s: by the British in the Tiber Valley (Ward-Perkins, Potter, and others) and the Marche (Barker), the Americans in Calabria (Ammerman) and Basilicata (Carter), and the Dutch in Puglia (Yntema and Burgers). Openness and generosity toward foreign teams has always characterized Italian archaeology, with notable benefits for all parties. A number of Italian universities have enthusiastically adopted information technology applications in archaeology, often backed by substantial grants from the European Union. Indeed, the economic and social benefits of a well-managed cultural heritage have become widely recognized recently in Europe in general and Italy in particular. A number of universities now offer programs in Beni Culturali (Cultural Heritage), with many students graduating to commercial cooperatives (often subsidized by the state in their early stages) that conduct excavations, organize museum displays, and develop cultural tourism. With a swelling corps of professionally trained archaeologists, able to apply their talents in universities, superintendencies, and private commercial enterprises, the future of Italian archaeology appears very bright.

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Paolo Zancani Montuoro and Umberto Zanotti Bianco recover votive offerings from a sacred well in the Sanctuary of Hera at the mouth of the Sele River (6 kilometers north of Paestum), 1936.

(Archivi Electa Milan)

Ted Robinson

See also

Britain, Classical Archaeology; German Classical Archaeology; French Archaeology in the Classical World

References

Barbanera, M. 1998. L’archeologia dei Italiani: Storia, metodo e orientamenti dell’archeologia classica in Italia. Rome: Editori riuniti.

D’Agostino, B. 1991. “The Italian Perspective on Theoretical Archaeology.” In Archaeological Theory in Europe: the Last Three Decades, 52–64. Ed. I. Hodder. London: Routledge.

de Grummond, N. T., ed. 1996. An Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Haskell, F., and N. Penny. 1982. Taste and the Antique: the Lure of Classical Sculpture, 1500–1900. New Haven: Yale University Press.