Although both the urban and rural landscapes of Roman Italy have received due attention in current debates on the Roman economy, this is less true for the highly variable group of intermediate sites, here conveniently labelled as 'minor centres', and their role within economic networks. This contribution focuses attention on two such sites, Forum Appii and Ad Medias, situated in the Pontine plain (Lazio, central Italy) along the Via Appia. After addressing issues of definition and the current state of research, we shall approach the potential functions of such sites through geographic models. Next, we discuss the results of a programme of geophysical surveys and field walking on both casestudy sites. The results obtained suggest that, although far from being a uniform settlement class, minor centres could perform crucial functions within local and regional economies. Based on the present data, Forum Appii developed into a centre of craft production and, with its river port, also became a trade hub of regional importance. Ad Medias functioned primarily as a small centre provisioning and servicing travellers and the local rural population. To conclude the article, we consider the implications of the results obtained in terms of future research strategies.Mentre sia i paesaggi urbani sia quelli rurali dell'Italia romana hanno ricevuto una doverosa attenzione nel corrente dibattito sull'economia romana, lo stesso non si può dire per il gruppo di siti di tipo intermedio e il ruolo da loro giocato all'interno dei network economici. Essi sono enormemente variabili e in questo lavoro opportunamente etichettati come 'centri minori'. Il presente contributo focalizza l'attenzione su due siti di questo tipo: Forum Appii e Ad Medias nella Pianura Pontina (Lazio, Italia centrale), lungo la via Appia. Vengono trattate in prima istanza questioni relative alla definizione e allo stato attuale della ricerca, per poi affrontare tramite modelli geografici le potenziali funzioni di questo tipo di siti. Il contributo discute poi i risultati di un programma di indagini geofisiche e di ricognizioni topografiche nei due casi studio presi in considerazione. I risultati ottenuti suggeriscono come, sebbene lontani dal costituire una classe di insediamento omogenea, i centri minori potessero svolgere funzioni cruciali all'interno degli assetti economici locali e regionali. Stando ai dati oggi a disposizione, Forum Appii si sviluppò in un centro di manifattura artigianale e, con il suo porto fluviale, divenne anche un centro commerciale di importanza regionale. Ad Medias svolse in primo luogo il ruolo di un piccolo centro di approvvigionamento e di servizio per i viaggiatori e per la locale popolazione rurale. Per concludere, l'articolo prende in considerazione le implicazioni dei risultati ottenuti in relazione alle future strategie di ricerca.

article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Groningen Institute of Archaeology, Groningen, the Netherlands ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of an in-depth multidisciplinary restudy of small Metal Age surface scatters recorded in earlier fieldwalking surveys in northern Calabria (Italy). Guided by a stratified sampling approach based on site types and topographic positions, high-resolution surface collections at the selected sites were combined with geophysical surveys, test pits, and soil studies to investigate both archaeological deposits and the site formation processes that have an effect on their detectability. This approach is shown to result in a better definition of archaeological 'sites', and to help fill in details of regional exploitation and settlement dynamics at the landscape scale. At this broader scale we are also able to model post-depositional processes and slope dynamics affecting the preservation of the archaeological record. With regard to methodology, our study has enabled the evaluation of diverse archaeological detection methods and the fine-tuning of field strategies for the study of Metal Age remains.

Archaeological sites can be discovered and recorded in a high-resolution and non-invasive manner using geophysical methods. These measure the spatial variation of a range of physical properties of the soil which may be representative proxies of the subsurface archaeology. Less-invasive and cost-effective field procedures have become top-priority to mitigate the destructive effects on our cultural heritage from intensified land use, climate change and the current conflict panorama. At a time when many organisations are investing in advanced geophysical equipment, a major problem is that our ability to fully interpret the information available from geophysical datasets is still very limited. This deficiency prevents geophysical survey moving beyond basic prospection and becoming a significant tool for answering nuanced questions about archaeology and their host landscapes. This limitation arises from an incomplete understanding of the relationship between soil properties and geophysical measurements. Bridging this gap requires multi-disciplinary teams, testing novel methods, plus scholarly discussion to collate the outcomes of projects on this topic. Overcoming these challenges is a prerequisite for maximising the costeffectiveness of geophysical methods, realising the expected benefits of technological investment and allowing broader utility of geophysical methods in the cultural heritage sector. SAGA will build an international network of geophysicists, archaeologists, soil scientists and other experts to develop our capability to interpret geophysical data and promote research collaborations. Our vision is that after four years, SAGA will have created an environment within which emerging field procedures, enhanced data interpretation and a broader understanding of integrated geophysical methods can flourish.

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In order to systematically investigate the potential of conventional near surface geophysical techniques to locate waterlogged archaeological targets in peatlands, the authors applied four conventional geophysical methodsearth resistance, groundpenetrating radar (GPR), magnetic gradiometry and frequency domain electromagnetics (FDEM)to four lowland peat archaeological test sites in Great Britain. In this article we demonstrate that a Neolithic trackway was identified in the GPR data in Somerset, with likely 'proxy' detections of chemical changes showing up in both electrical and magnetic surveys. This was determined by a coring programme and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) multi-element analysis of peat samples to determine the relative concentrations of geophysically relevant chemical elements. Though no Bronze Age timbers were detected at Flag Fen, a post-Bronze Age agricultural landscape was identified in both the GPR and gradiometer surveys. We conclude that GPR has the greatest potential for archaeological geophysical prospection in peatland environments, but that electrical and magnetic methods can usefully be employed as secondary sources of information and should not be discounted from future research. Further, this article argues that better understandings must be developed of the impacts of geochemistry on geophysical data if we are going to realistically pursue 'whole landscape' surveys.