Upper Agri Valley (Basilicata) between Geomorphology and Ancient Settlements

In this paper we present the geoarchaeological and landscape project on the Upper Agri Valley (Basilicata). Between 2012 and 2015 we coordinated multidisciplinary research with the purpose of reconstructing the history and evolution of the territory, analysing the relationships between man and landscape from the Prehistory to the Middle Age. The studied area, an inland mountain valley situated in the ancient Lucania, is very important, because it is a fundamental route between the two coasts of Magna Graecia and because during the Roman period this valley was the territory in which Grumentum was born, one of the most important towns of Roman Southern Italy. Thanks to the dialogue between different competences, this project aims at understanding the settlements dynamics and the mutual influences between man and environment: indeed, we conducted geophysics and geoarchaeological investigations, archaeological surveys, cartographic and aerial photos studies, written sources analysis: in this way, different data are used to understand the landscape from a global point of view

Alcune riflessioni sul rapporto tra geomorfologia e popolamento in alta Val d'Agri tra la romanizzazione e l'alto Medioevo

This article deals with the close connection between landscape and ancient populations, and proposes to delineate the man – environment relationship in diachronic form. The choice of a settlement always responds to the exploitation that man intends in the area in question. The history of morphology of the upper Agri Valley is briefly presented, as well as its formation and the nature of its fluvial geomorphic units. The settlement choices of the Lucanians are then illustrated: they were scattered areas of population, with some controlling centres (fortified hill sites and shrines). Major changes were implemented by the Romans, who exploited the Romano – Lucanian city of Grumentum as a polarizing centre of population on a terrace above the valley bottom. They created a centuriated area closely connected to the morphology of the territory, in order to improve an extensive agricultural exploitation of the valley. Finally, the paper describes the processes which took place between Late An

The upper Agri valley (in Basilicata): Geoarchaeology and Ancient Topography of an inland mountain landscape

Historically, the upper Agri valley is one of the most important connecting routes between the Ionian coast, the interior, and the Tyrrhenian coast. One of the aims of this project is to study the context extensively, in particular the landscape produced by a series of historical events. In addition we will aim to identify the reciprocal influences between geomorphology and ancient settlements, and to reconstruct the historical evolution of the landscape. Finally, we intend to create a ‘Map of Archaeological Potential’, which can be interpreted as an “Archaeological Risk Map”. This reconstruction has demonstrated that in the Lucanian period the distribution of settlements was very dense. A similar network of settlements was present during the Roman Republican period in relation to the establishment of Grumentum followed by the Gracchan centuriation. Finally, after the process of “Romanization” was complete, the modes of land use changed again

Ipotesi sulle suddivisioni agrarie nell'agro grumentino in età romana

The paper deals with the possible agricultural assignings of ager Grumentinus during the Roman Age. Grumentum is a Roman-Lucan town, placed in Agri valley, in the centre of Basilicata. According to Gromatici Veteres’ text (in particular Liber Coloniarum), centurial persistences on cartography and on aerial photos, and archeological data (Roman farms and settlements in the valley), I suggest a possible Gracchan centuriation with two centurial plans differently orientated because tightly connected to physical geography and geomorphology of the studied area