Liminal Landscapes and Religious Identities: what a space for women in Antiquity?

Limina, Valentina [UCL]

‘Liminal Landscapes’ intended as boundary space between communities, but also as peripheral areas or sacred zones because of the presence of environmental features such as hot springs, forests, mountains etc., were meeting areas where the exchange of ideas, rituals, technologies, as well as the negotiation of identities took place. The paper analyzes the case study of Northern Tuscany between the centuries 3rd BC- 6th AD integrating literary sources, toponyms, epigraphy, and archaeological materials. The aim is to examine women’s crucial role in these areas to suggest new perspectives on religious identities related to elite family strategies in connection with human-environmental interaction.