Ostrogothic Italy: questioning the archaeologies of settlement

The OstrogothicKingdom in Italy was a relatively short-lived political entity and while textual survivals enable fair reconstructions of the workings, politics, religion, relations and society (both ‘Gothic’ and ‘Italian’) of the Kingdom, the archaeological support for these is not substantial. While we can now trace more of the urban investment strategy of the rulers, we struggle to find much in the way of Ostrogothic ‘signatures’ in the wider settlement landscape. Is this an issue? Does it denote efforts to not be so different from the ‘native’ populations? Where ‘signatures’ are recognised, what might these tell us of the Ostrogoths and their policies in Italy? Can we assign to the Ostrogothic regime any lasting impact or change in town, country or defence? This paper reviews the current (and older) evidence –primarily for northern Italy, the Gothic heartland in Italy –and points to some arenas where recent archaeology is adding much needed new data.