Beyond the Monuments

Classical archaeology has traditionally focused on the big finds—monumental buildings, temples, statuary, and villas. These finds are dramatic and have created some of the most famous elements of the landscape of classical Greece and Rome. But they also give a skewed vision of the ancient world because the big finds only represent a small sliver of ancient life—that of the elite populations and oftentimes those who have colonized regions distant from their own. Peter van Dommelen, professor of archaeology at Brown University, has spent his career searching for evidence of the rest of the population. By focusing on rural life and agricultural practices, he has begun to uncover the other side of ancient societies, the colonized rather than the colonizers. By focusing on the majority, non-elite, and rural populations, Prof. Dommelen has been able to ...