| Paper 526-b | Patterns and Forms of Rural Settlement in the Orcia Valley from the 4th Century to the 12th Century
(Language: English)
Stefano Campana, Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti, Università degli studi di Siena
Cristina Felici, Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti, Università degli studi di Siena
Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Geography and Settlement Studies |
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| Abstract | Abstract -a:
The paper represents a preliminary synthesis on the settlement patterns from late Roman period through to the Early Middle Ages of a coastal stretch of Southern Tuscany, in today’s Grosseto province. In the light of very recent and in-progress field surveys and excavations undertaken by the University of Siena, many archaeological data are now available to reconstruct settlement trends over a wide area taking up an overall surface of about 846 Km2. The main aim is to define how the rural settlements patterns of this area evolved in the long transition between late Roman and medieval periods.
Abstract -b:
The Orcia Valley (about 650 Km²), located in the southern part of the province of Siena, is the subject of a long term landscape research project, started in 1996. The research is directed towards establishing a diachronic understanding of cultural, social, economical and physical landscape transformation whilst at the same time establishing base data designed to improve landscape conservation and planning. This paper is mainly concerned with the transformation of the settlement patterns from late Roman period through to the beginning of the Early Middle Ages. The research approach includes the survey of the documentary evidence, ancient literature, place names, local knowledge, multi-stage remote sensing and open area excavations, underpinned by an extensive and detailed field walking survey.
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