Salt Production in Central Italy and Social Network Analysis Centrality Measures: An Exploratory Approach

In this work, we study salt-production settlement in central Italy with an exploratory application of centrality indexes, common in social network analysis: betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and degree centrality. These methods are not new, but they have never been applied to this type of site and the results are innovative and illuminating. In fact, the closeness and degree centrality do not yield particularly interesting results. However, the betweenness centrality, which indicates the most commonly used routes in a given region, provide powerful insights. By indicating shifting most common routes through time, from the terrestrial and sea route along the coast in the Bronze and Iron Age, to the use of the Tiber River and Tiber valley as route, in the Orientalizing and Archaic Period, they allow us to advance hypotheses about the shift between two different productions. The briquetage salt production technique was used in the Bronze and Iron Age on the costal sites, which was also the most common route used in the region. While the proper marine production at the mouth of the Tiber, both on the Etruscan and Latin side, might develop during the Orientalizing and Archaic Age, together with an intensified use of the Via Salaria, running from the coast to the mountains of Latium, along the Tiber River. It would be interesting to confirm these hypotheses with further analyses and also targeted excavations

Modelling terrestrial route networks to understand inter-polity interactions (southern Etruria, 950-500 BC)

Ancient regional routes were vital for interactions between settlements and deeply influenced the development of past societies and their "complexification". At the same time, since any transportation infrastructure needs some level of inter-settlement cooperation to be established, they can also be regarded as an epiphenomenon of social interactions at the regional scale. Here, we propose to analyze ancient pathway networks to understand the organization of cities and villages located in a certain territory, attempting to clarify whether such organization existed and if so, how it functioned. To address such a question, we chose a quantitative approach. Adopting network science as a general framework, by means of formal models, we try to identify how the collective effort that produced the terrestrial infrastructure was directed and organized. We selected a paradigmatic case study: Iron Age southern Etruria, a very well-studied context, with detailed archaeological information about settlement patterns and an established tradition of studies on terrestrial transportation routes, perfectly suitable for testing new techniques. The results of the modelling suggest that a balanced coordinated decision-making process was shaping the route network in Etruria, a scenario which correlates well with the picture elaborated by different scholars using a more traditional technique.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures. This version: extends and corrects text, adds 1 explanatory figure, develops conclusion

Salt Production in Central Italy and Social Network Analysis Centrality Measures:An Exploratory Approach

In this work, we study salt-production settlement in central Italy with an exploratory application of centrality indexes, common in social network analysis: betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and degree centrality. These methods are not new, but they have never been applied to this type of site and the results are innovative and illuminating. In fact, the closeness and degree centrality do not yield particularly interesting results. However, the betweenness centrality, which indicates the most commonly used routes in a given region, provide powerful insights. By indicating shifting most common routes through time, from the terrestrial and sea route along the coast in the Bronze and Iron Age, to the use of the Tiber River and Tiber valley as route, in the Orientalizing and Archaic Period, they allow us to advance hypotheses about the shift between two different productions. The briquetage salt production technique was used in the Bronze and Iron Age on the costal sites, which was also the most common route used in the region. While the proper marine production at the mouth of the Tiber, both on the Etruscan and Latin side, might develop during the Orientalizing and Archaic Age, together with an intensified use of the Via Salaria, running from the coast to the mountains of Latium, along the Tiber River. It would be interesting to confirm these hypotheses with further analyses and also targeted excavations.</p

Social network analysis and the emergence of Central Places: A case study from central Italy (Latium Vetus)

The last decade has witnessed a growing interest in the network model, both as a metaphor and as an analytical tool, within a wide range of disciplines, and recently archaeology. This article aims to assess the potential of the social network analysis model for the study of emergent complex polities, using a case study from central Italy (Latium vetus). In particular the emergence of known proto-urban and urban centres in this area, from the Final Bronze Age (1175/1150-950/925 BC ca), during the Early Iron Age (950/925-750 BC ca) up to the Orientalizing Age (750-580 BC ca) and Archaic Age (580-509 BC ca), will be examined by using social network analysis (SNA) centrality indexes and tools. Thus, the potential of this approach will be assessed, and its associated theoretical and methodological issues discussed