The Olynthus mill in the Alps: New hypotheses from two unidentified millstones discovered in Veneto region (Italy)

The archaeological collection at the Museum of Feltre (province of Belluno, Veneto region, Italy) includes fragments of two ancient millstones of type known as “Olynthus mill” or “hopper rubber”. The first one (from San Donato, in the municipality of Lamón) is mentioned in a number of published and unpublished works; the other (generally from Feltre) is new to archaeological literature. Until now, they had never been identified as specimens of the Olynthus mill. Following a brief introduction on this type of device (its technical features, origin and geographic distribution) and the main hypotheses concerning its diffusion in the Alps, the first part of this paper describes the two stones from Feltre: their dimensions, morphological features, raw material, etc. Consequently, this article will focus on the topographical areas where the stones were found and on their importance for understanding the diffusion of the Olynthus mill model in the Alpine region characterised by Raetic culture, which is still an unresolved problem. The sites of discovery of the two Olynthus mills (along with the places of origin of the other hopper rubbers found in the Veneto region and in the eastern part of the province of Trento) could suggest new working hypotheses about the provenance of this type of millstone and its introduction into the Raetic territory between 5th and 4th century BCE. More specifically, the Olynthus mill model might have been introduced into the Alps through the Piave and Brenta valleys and not the Adige valley as previously thought; the Olynthian-type mills from the Veneto region could therefore mark the stages of this south-north path rather than being mere outlying specimens of the Raetic area, or items exported from there

The Olynthus mill in the Alps: New hypotheses from two unidentified millstones discovered in Veneto region (Italy)

The archaeological collection at the Museum of Feltre (province of Belluno, Veneto region, Italy) includes fragments of two ancient millstones of type known as “Olynthus mill” or “hopper rubber”. The first one (from San Donato, in the municipality of Lamón) is mentioned in a number of published and unpublished works; the other (generally from Feltre) is new to archaeological literature. Until now, they had never been identified as specimens of the Olynthus mill. Following a brief introduction on this type of device (its technical features, origin and geographic distribution) and the main hypotheses concerning its diffusion in the Alps, the first part of this paper describes the two stones from Feltre: their dimensions, morphological features, raw material, etc. Consequently, this article will focus on the topographical areas where the stones were found and on their importance for understanding the diffusion of the Olynthus mill model in the Alpine region characterised by Raetic culture, which is still an unresolved problem. The sites of discovery of the two Olynthus mills (along with the places of origin of the other hopper rubbers found in the Veneto region and in the eastern part of the province of Trento) could suggest new working hypotheses about the provenance of this type of millstone and its introduction into the Raetic territory between 5th and 4th century BCE. More specifically, the Olynthus mill model might have been introduced into the Alps through the Piave and Brenta valleys and not the Adige valley as previously thought; the Olynthian-type mills from the Veneto region could therefore mark the stages of this south-north path rather than being mere outlying specimens of the Raetic area, or items exported from there

Le necropoli rurali di prima e media età imperiale in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol: Le evidenze funerarie come indicatore culturale, insediativo e territoriale

The first step of this research project was the construction of a complex geo-database; all informations about cemeteries, tombs and funerary inscriptions of I-III A.D. in Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol (Italy) were stored in tables of this database. Several analyses were realized with the data stored in the database and with statistical and spatial (GIS) methods. The objects of analyses were the evolution of funerary usage in alpine context and the description of ways of territorial occupation. Funerary features were used for description of strategies of settlement displacement and for reconstruction of ancient rural country planning and of roman road network in valley context. The results were: complete database of funerary sites in this region; description of typology and evolution of alpine settlements; reconstruction of the centuriation in places where it was known and in places where it was only supposed; reconstruction of road network in a single valley (Val di Non). This work was completly produced with Free/Libre/Open Source Software: PostgreSQL – PostGIS for database; R for statistical analyses; GRASS and QGIS for spatial analysis and GIS; latex for writing this work.La presente ricerca di dottorato si è concentrata inizialmente sulla realizzazione di un articolato geo-database in cui sono state raccolte tutte le informazioni relative alle necropoli, alle tombe e alle iscrizioni funerarie di I-III secolo d.C. della regione Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol (Italia). Successivamente, sulla base dei dati raccolti e mediante elaborazioni statistiche (elementari e multivariate) e territoriali (in ambiente GIS) si sono prodotte analisi relative all'evoluzione del costume funerario in ambito alpino e relative alle modalità di occupazione del territorio. In particolare, le evidenze funerarie sono state utilizzate come indicatore delle modalità del popolamento alpino e come strumento diagnostico per l'individuazione di antichi assetti agrari del territorio e per la ricostruzione della viabilità romana minore in contesto intravallivo. I risultati possono essere sintetizzati in questi termini: realizzazione di un censimento globale di tutte le evidenze funerarie della regione; rappresentazione di un quadro complessivo delle caratteristiche e dell'evoluzione dell'insediamento alpino; definizione di alcuni reticoli centuriali sia in aree dove essi erano già noti (Basso Sarca) sia in territori dove erano soltanto ipotizzati (Oltradige); ricostruzione topografica ed evolutiva della viabilità romana minore in un singolo contesto vallivo quale quello della Val di Non. Tutto il lavoro è stato realizzato con software libero (Free/Libre/Open Source Software): dalla costruzione del database con PostgreSQL e la sua estensione spaziale PostGIS, all'analisi statistica prodotta in R, alle elaborazioni in ambiente GIS mediante GRASS e QGIS, fino alla stesura dell'elaborato finale in linguaggio Latex

A Python Script for Geometric Interval Classification in QGIS: A Useful Tool for Archaeologists

Graduated colour maps, created through the mathematical classification of quantitative variables, are frequently used in archaeology. A Python script for implementing a classification method based on geometric intervals in QGIS is presented here. This method is more suitable than the standard methods in case the quantitative attribute to be classified follows a right-skewed distribution, which is common among archaeological data. After an overview of the main classification methods, this paper focuses on the benefits of the geometric interval subdivision scheme, describes the technical features of the script and demonstrates how it works. A final thought on the advantages of using FLOSS is proposed

Vias sternere con Open Street Map. L'idea di Roman Street Map (RSM): ipotesi preliminari

Open Street Map is a widely known project intended to create collaborative maps and to freely share a modern road cartography. The idea we present in this contribution consists in a project, called Roman Street Map (RSM), that repeats \u2013 with some modifications \u2013 the methods, structures and software of OSM in order to map roman roads in a collaborative and open way. Like in OSM, users can insert new tracks reconstructed according to archaeological data and topographical studies or mapped during survey with GPS. Some markers will sign validation points, i.e. those elements that justify the road reconstruction (toponyms, segments of roman street, milestones, etc.). The proposals of path will be evaluated by automatic systems and by scientific regional commissions, in order to class the paths in different levels according to historical reliability criteria. At last, all tracks will be available at RSM url (http://www.romanstreetmap.org) and downloadable in .gpx or .osm forma

Multivariate statistics applied to spinning and weaving instruments from Roman Venetia (Italy): some preliminary results

Statistical analysis is a useful research tool for the analysis of instruments related to textile activities, especially spindle whorls and loom weights. Scholars almost exclusively use the most basic statistical techniques, namely the univariate or bivariate methods, while the use of the multivariate analysis is rare. Yet, multivariate techniques are well suited for exploring the numerous variables of textile tools, as these methods take into account two or more variables simultaneously, allowing for synthesising, distinguishing and classifying the various components of such a complex dataset. The aim of this short contribution is to apply some of the most common multivariate techniques to specific samples of instruments used for spinning and weaving. These data have been collected within the scope of the project Pondera, carried out by the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padua. After a brief introduction, the methods and outcomes of Principal Component Analysis, Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis are discussed. The preliminary results partially confirm what previous works on the same data have already highlighted, but also provide new ideas concerning the correlations among textile tools from Roman Venetia which had not been fully explored thus far

Defunti e Dèi. Preesistenze di Età Romana presso la Chiesa di S. Stefano di Revò

Il contributo intende ricostruire, attraverso le scarne e talvolta contraddittorie testimonianze archeologiche edite, le preesistenze di età romana presso il sito della pieve di S. Stefano di Revò (TN). Mediante la revisione critica dei dati relativi all'epigrafe funeraria di L. Scantius Crescens, ai ritrovamenti sepolcrali del passato e alla presenza nelle collezioni museali del Castello del Buonconsiglio di Trento di un bronzetto della dea Diana proveniente dal sito in oggetto, si è tentato di proporre alcune ipotesi verosimili su che cosa poteva esistere presso la chiesa di S. Stefano prima della fondazione della pieve. Conclude il contributo, una breve appendice relativa al campanile della chiesa di S.Stefano, per capire se e quanto possa essere veritiera la tradizione che gli attribuisce un’origine romana o addirittura precedente

Un possibile rilievo funerario romano da Denno in Val di Non (TN)

Oggetto di questo breve contributo \ue8 un frammento di rilievo raffigurante un Erote alato con fiaccola conservato a Denno in Val di Non (Trentino \u2013 Alto Adige, Italia). Dopo una sintetica descrizione del pezzo, saranno analizzati i motivi di una sua possibile datazione ad epoca romana; infatti, nonostante alcuni dettagli che contrastano con l\u2019iconografia tradizionale, l\u2019attribuzione del reperto all\u2019et\ue0 imperiale (I-III d.C.) appare molto probabile in ragione di alcuni confronti con soggetti simili e per il contesto geografico in cui si colloca. Il rilievo era probabilmente parte di un monumento funerario romano (un altare o un cippo angolare) e testimonia, oltre all\u2019elevato livello socio-economico del committente, la piena partecipazione di quest\u2019ultimo ai costumi e, forse, alle credenze della cultura funeraria romana