Menchelli, Simonetta

Pasquinucci, Marinella

Pasquinucci M.

MENCHELLI, SIMONETTA

Archivio della Ricerca - Università di Pisa

Surveying The Complexity : a Global Approach to Italian Landscapes,

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Special Volume 3 (2012), pp. 101–105Marinella Pasquinucci – Simonetta MenchelliSurveying the Complexity: A Global Approach toItalian Landscapesin Wiebke Bebermeier – Robert Hebenstreit – Elke Kaiser – Jan Krause (eds.), LandscapeArchaeology. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Berlin, 6th – 8th June 2012Edited by Gerd Graßhoff and Michael Meyer,Excellence Cluster Topoi, BerlineTopoi ISSN 2192-2608http://journal.topoi.orgExcept where otherwise noted,content is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0 License:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0Marinella Pasquinucci – Simonetta MenchelliSurveying the Complexity: A Global Approachto Italian LandscapesRomanization; economic and demographic aspects; Processual archaeology; GIS; socio-cultural identity.Methodological remarks from our survey projects in Italy (Central Liguria; NorthernCoastal Etruria; South Picenum) will be discussed. We chose these study areas becausethey are significant in exemplifying different Italian regional and geomorphological con-texts:1) Northern Coastal Etruria: Ager Pisanus and Volaterranus mostly plain and gentlyhilly territory along the Tyrrhenian coast.2) South Picenum: ager Firmanus mostly hilly territory along the Adriatic coast.Both areas present large extensions of ploughed fields and can be walked with a highdegree of visibility.3) The Polcevera Valley is a mountainous and wooded district with a very low degreeof archaeological visibility.Moreover, a strong reason for choosing these districts was that they are rich in literary,epigraphic and archaeological evidence—mostly concerning the Romanization process—which we aimed at integrating with the naturalistic research and the survey data.Our objectives are both to identify the relationships among the various landscapeswhich succeeded one another and to stress the changing elements in the ancient societies(economic, social and demographic aspects, human behaviour, etc).These survey projects have a global approach as they are diachronic (from Prehis-tory up to the Early Middle Ages) and multidisciplinary; they include geomorphology,palaeogeography, remote sensing, geophysical surveys and all available evidence (ancientand medieval archaeological, epigraphic and literary sources; toponyms; historical cartog-raphy, etc.).We apply the Processual methodology standards1 both in fieldwork and in artefactcollection and documentation, as well as in data management by means of GeographicalInformation Systems. Nevertheless, we think that geomorphologic, spatial and quanti-tative evidence is to be integrated with qualitative and symbolic data2 in order to re-construct the complexity of the anthropic activities in the studied areas throughout thecenturies.In particular we are looking for theoretical tools in order to identify, in ploughsoilassemblages, not only native or Roman sites, but also the related changes in land use,human behaviours, economic, social and demographic aspects, etc.For the following images all rights are reserved, in contrast to eTopoi’s Creative Commons licence usage:Fig. 1.1 See Bintliff 2006.2 Ashmore and Knapp 1999.102 Marinella Pasquinucci – Simonetta MenchelliFrom our point of view, a joint and flexible analysis of space and time, geomorphol-ogy and anthropic agencies can be a useful tool for outlining landscapes overlapping in alltheir complexity.Case Study (1) Northern Coastal EtruriaThe studied area in Northern Coastal Tuscany (lower Arno and Serchio, Fine and Cecinariver valleys) consists of alluvial Holocenic plains mostly formed by sand and silt depositsand bordered by mountainous/hilly ranges (Monti Pisani in the north; Colline Livornesiand Colline Metallifere in the south).Since the 1990s we have been implementing a GIS concerning the present provincesof Pisa and Leghorn (Pisae and Volaterrae territories in Roman times) as part of the CartaArcheologica della Regione Toscana Project. In this GIS we have processed data derived byour field surveys, laboratory research and integrated studies: about 600 topographic units(sites and off-sites) have been identified, dated from Paleolithic up to Late Antiquity.3 TheProcessual methodology has been adopted in surveying and processing data but withoutdeterministic approaches. In particular flexible standards have been applied in quantita-tive and qualitative analyses concerning the ploughsoil assemblages, e.g. a very accuratestudy of sherds can identify diagnostic items for defining site typology, chronology and,in general, economic and social changes.We chose for its representative value the hinterland of Vada Volaterrana harbour asa sample area. Here rural settlement strongly increased in the 2nd century BC. Latialand Campanian Graeco-italic amphoras, cooking wares and black glazed vessels are thediagnostic tools for dating the sites and reconstructing the Romanization process in thisdistrict. Besides the economic aspects, the social importance of these imported goods hasbeen stressed as they provided evidence of cooking and symposium praxis according tothe Roman fashion.Other kinds of finds (painted plasters, mosaics, marble slab pavements, bathing ele-ments) have been used to distinguish the most remarkable units (villae) from the simplerrural sites (farmsteads, in Latin villae, villulae, casae, tuguria4). In our DataBase vocabu-lary we do not adopt a rigid classification: when survey data are not sufficiently specificwe use intermediate terms such as “villa or farmstead;” “farmstead or small rural building”(either for independent habitation or as part of larger estates).We think this is a usefulstrategy to avoid interpretative bias when the archaeological visibility is not good enough,due to natural or anthropic agencies.Case Study (2) Southern Picenum (Ager Firmanus)Our Pisa South Picenum Survey Project (Marche Region) concerns the territory of theLatin colony Firmum Picenum (264 BC) which extended between the Tenna and Aso rivervalleys. This territory is characterized, west to east, by a mountainous area (650m a.s.l.average) which slopes down in a Plio-Pleistocenic hilly sector (400–200m a.s.l.) reachingthe Adriatic littoral. The narrow and low coastal strip is mostly gravelly and sandy.5The methodology applied in surveying, managing and processing data is the sameas reported above. In this area we identified 780 topographic units, dated from LowerPaleolithic up to Late Antiquity.3 Francovich, Pasquinucci, and Pellicanò 2001.4 Di Giuseppe 2005.5 Pasquinucci and Menchelli 2004.Surveying the Complexity: A Global Approach to Italian Landscapes 103Fig. 1 | Field scatters in theager Firmanus.Comparing the results of the Tuscany and Marche surveys, we note different interpre-tative conditions in these two areas. While the Tuscan plain or gently hilly territory wasgenerally walked with good archaeological visibility, in the latter area steep slopes andhuman agencies affected the ancient landscapes and their archaeological documentationmore strongly. The ratio between sites and off-sites is clear evidence of this regionaldifference: in the ager Firmanus the off-sites reached 58%, as 330 sites and 450 off-siteshave been identified, while in the coastal ager Volaterranus the off-sites are about 11% ofthe total topographic units.We analyzed these 450 field scatters very carefully, in order to define their origin.For example, most of them have been interpreted as site-derived sherds: that is the lastresidue of missing sites, almost completely destroyed or concealed by anthropic/naturalpost-depositional processes, while the other scattered sherds derived from various humanactivities across the countryside.6 As well known, specific off-site analysis can providehighly informative data for landscape archaeology.7In this territory 108 sites have been interpreted as farmsteads connected with theFirmum triumviral centuriatio quoted by several literary sources and epigraphic evidence.The global approach is particularly necessary in this case, including the integrated studyof all kinds of sources for reconstructing a more complete framework of the local socialand economic history.Case Study (3) Valpolcevera (Genua-Liguria)The study area is the mountainous district of the Valpolcevera (Polcevera Valley), inCentral Liguria, between the port city Genua and the Apennine passes leading to thePo Plain.The Valley is characterized by steep slopes and dense vegetation cover while ploughedfields are very small and rare. Moreover, the archaeological evidence is very scanty. In factit is very difficult to identify the Ligurian sites by survey, as they generally consist ofsmall huts made of perishable materials.The local ancient landscape and its economic and social structures are described in aremarkable epigraphic source, the Sententia Minuciorum (117 BC), which also providesinformation concerning the first segment of the via Postumia (148 BC). This was themajor Roman road connecting Genoa and Aquileia through the Polcevera Valley and was6 Menchelli 2008.7 Bintliff and Snodgrass 1988.104 Marinella Pasquinucci – Simonetta MenchelliFig. 2 | Polcevera Valley’slandscape. The remarkablemid-slope stone may beinterpreted as terminus (seeSiculus Flaccus, De condicionibusagrorum, 139 L; 142, L).constructed during the Romanization process of Northern Italy. The Sententia providesfundamental information about the Valley’s administrative-juridical organization and theborders of ager privatus and ager publicus, which were marked by 21 termini (boundarystones). These were the object of specific research.8Due to the peculiar archaeological evidence in the Valley, a specific strategy has beenapplied including thorough consideration of various interpretative categories (religious,symbolic, ideological aspects). In this perspective the Polcevera Valley appears to keep itsmarginalization and its social-cultural identity due to a strong bond between people, theirplaces and their collective memory.In conclusion, in spite of the stochastic nature of survey evidence, we think that byapplying a global approach—including quantitative and qualitative analyses, technologicalsystems applications and place perception—we have a higher probability of understandingthe ancient landscapes’ complexity.8 Pasquinucci and Launaro 2009.Surveying the Complexity: A Global Approach to Italian Landscapes 105BibliographyAshmore and Knapp 1999W. Ashmore and A.B. Knapp, eds. Archaeologies of Landscape. Contemporary Perspec-tives. Malden: Blackwell, 1999.Bintliff 2006J. Bintliff, ed. A Companion to Archaeology. Malden, Oxford, Carlton: Blackwell,2006.Bintliff and Snodgrass 1988J. Bintliff and A. Snodgrass. “Off-site Pottery Distributions. A Regional and Interre-gional Perspective”. Current Anthropology 29.3 (1988), 506–513.Di Giuseppe 2005H. Di Giuseppe. “Villae, villulae e fattorie nella Media valle del Tevere”. In RomanVillas Around the Urbs. Interaction with Landscape and Environment. Proceedings of aConference at the Swedish Institute in Rome, September 17-18, 2004. Ed. by B. SantilloFrizell and A. Klynne. Roma: Swedish Institute in Rome, 2005, 2–19.Francovich, Pasquinucci, and Pellicanò 2001R. Francovich, M. Pasquinucci, and A. Pellicanò. La Carta Archeologica fra ricerca epianificazione territoriale. Atti del seminario di studi. Biblioteca del Dipartimento diArcheologia e Storia delle Arti, Sezione Archeologica, Università di Siena 4. Firenze:All’Insegna del Giglio, 2001.Menchelli 2008S. Menchelli. “Surface Material, Sites and Landscapes in South Picenum (Marche,Italy)”. In Thinking about Space. The Potential of Surface Survey and Contextual Anal-ysis in the Definition of Space in Roman Times. Ed. by R. Brulet, J. Poblome, and H.Vanhaverbeke. Studies in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology 8. Turnhout: Brepols,2008, 31–43.Pasquinucci and Launaro 2009M. Pasquinucci and A. Launaro. “Researching ‘on the Margins’. Landscape Archaeol-ogy in the Polcevera Valley”. In Liminal Landscapes. Beyond the Concepts of ‘Marginal-ity’ and ‘Periphery’. Ed. by I. Holm and K. Stene. Oslo Archaeological Series 11. Oslo:Unipub : Institutt for arkeologi, konservering og historiske studier, Universitetet iOslo, 2009, 183–201.Pasquinucci and Menchelli 2004M. Pasquinucci and S. Menchelli. “Landscape Archaeology in South Picenum. TheTenna, Ete and Aso River Valleys”. In The Geoarchaeology of River Valleys. Ed. byH. Dobrzanska, Jerem. E., and T. Kalicki. Budapest: Archaeolingua, 2004, 28–48.Marinella Pasquinucci, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche del Mondo Antico-Universityof Pisa, via Galvani 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy, pasquinucci@sta.unipi.itSimonetta Menchelli (corresponding author), Dipartimento di Scienze Storichedel Mondo Antico-University of Pisa, via Galvani 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy,s.menchelli@sta.unipi.it

Surveying the Complexity: A Global Approach to Italian Landscapes

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Surveying the Complexity: A Global Approach to Italian Landscapes

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