Rural Life in Protohistoric Italy

From 2000 to 2010, archaeologists at the Department of Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Groningen conducted a total of 6 months’ worth of field walking surveys in the watershed area of the Raganello river in northern Calabria. In that time, some 13 sq. kms of the landscape were systematically and intensively investigated, and this has resulted (among others) in the discovery of about 170 archaeological sites dating to the protohistoric period. Many of these can be dated more closely, to the Final Bronze Age (1200 – 1000 BC). However, mapping and dating such sites should only be the first stage in any landscape archaeological study – our goal now is to understand how society functioned at that time.

Typically, protohistoric sites are represented on the surface by just a few handfuls of ploughed-up, worn and undiagnostic pottery sherds (sometimes including fragments of hut loam), scattered over an area no more than 5 to 20 meters across. They therefore offer little prospect for interpretation; hence, the new research programme ‘Rural Life in Protohistoric Italy’ focuses on the in-depth study of these sites through geophysical survey, coring and excavation. Our strategy is based on the likelihood that the majority of the protohistoric rural sites that once existed must represent only a limited number of different activities or functions; for this we will develop a typology, which will be field tested by investigating representative examples of each site type. Once confirmed, it can be used for the assessment of protohistoric surface scatters in other regions. 

The programme also has a strong methodological focus, investigating the modern (post-war) history of tillage, terracing and other alterations that so clearly affect the preservation and detection of archaeological remains in the Mediterranean. Our aim is to understand how sites of each type end up being represented by surface artefact scatters, so that heritage managers can make more effective decisions about the allocation of public funds for the preservation of the rural archaeological heritage.
 

The research naturally splits into two subprojects. A PhD student in Archaeology, Wieke de Neef will review and collate the archaeological, historical and ethnographical literature to develop a better understanding of the pre-modern rural activities that might have generated each of these site types. She will also develop the site typology and conduct excavations at selected sites to substantiate this.

An experienced (post-doctoral) geoarchaeologist will be hired to study the processes – both natural and anthropogenic – that affect the visibility and preservation of small rural protohistoric sites, and on refining their detection and study through non-invasive techniques. The main goal of this subproject is to develop and publish a cost-effective methodology for the non-invasive detection and study of small archaeological sites.

The research programme ‘Rural Life in Protohistoric Italy’ is directed by Dr Martijn van Leusen. A more extensive description of the research plan is available here [PDF].