Regional Pathways to Complexity

Abstract

1.1 Background 1.2 Approaches 1.3 Issues in regional landscape archaeology Box 1.1 Case study: fabric analysis in southern Lazio Box 1.2 Case study: visibility and other bias factors in the surface archaeological record of the Sibaritide Box 1.3 Modelling settlement hierarchy and territoriesThis volume synthesizes the results of a Dutch landscape-archaeological project in central and southern Italy, called Regional Pathways to Complexity (RPC). Although the project itself started in 1997 and formally ended in 2001, it is correctly viewed as only the latest in a long series of archaeological research projects by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA) and the Archaeological Centre of the Free University of Amsterdam (ACVU) in Italy. Accordingly, this volume synthesizes studies undertaken since the early 1980s as well as others conducted in the years since the RPC project ended. 1 A study of central and southern Italy between the end of the Bronze Age and the end of the Roman Republican period presents several major challenges: the size of the region, the length of the period under investigation, and especially the difficulty to investigate effectively the long-term processes operating at this time in this area, processes that involved the growing complexity of indigenous societies, and the transformation of traditional rural and pastoral ways of life into urbanism during the period of 'external' Greek and Roman colonization.Our purpose was not only to synthesize the results of the fieldwork, but also to present interpretations of and reflections on these processes, the approaches we used to investigate them, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the theoretical models applied by ourselves and others to explain our findings. This is why the introductory and concluding chapters contain extensive discussions of methodology. It is hoped that the RPC experience, once published, will be of interest to others pursuing similar studies.

Roman Republican Villas: Architecture, Context and Ideology (Book Review)

“…(Slofstra 2002, 17). We must note here that studying such trends for the early phases of Roman expansion is especially hard (however, see Attema & Van Leusen 2004a).…”

“…For the Agro Pontino Survey project, seeVoorrips et al 1991 andHolstrom et al 2004; for the results of the PRP up to 1991, seeAttema 1993. 20 Attema & Van Leusen 2004b; forthcoming.21 Attema et al 1999;Attema & Delvigne 2000. 22 Saggi 1977 For the site, see Attema 1993.…”

Reconstructing production technology and distribution, using thin section petrography: A pilot study of Roman pottery production in the Pontine region, Central Italy

“…1). Since the 1980's, the GIA extended its research with field surveys, site mappings and geo-archaeological examinations within the context of the Pontine Region Project (Attema, 1993;Attema et al, 2010;Attema et al, 2011). Ceramic analysis played an important role from the start.…”