Collana: Papers of the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, 75
Isbn: 978-88-5491-744-6
Issn: 3103-1595
Materie: Archeologia
Formato: 21x28
Pagine: 384
For centuries, the mountain regions of central Italy have occupied a marginal place in historical narratives of pre-Roman Italy, often portrayed as peripheral, isolated, or resistant to change. This volume challenges that view through a comprehensive archaeological reconstruction of the inner Sabina, the upland territory mostly straddling the modern regions of Lazio and Umbria, geographically framed by the river Nera, the Sibillini mountains, the Velino valley, and the Reatini range, and centred in the Roman period on the town of Nursia (modern Norcia).
Focusing on the first millennium BC up to the Roman conquest traditionally associated with the campaign of Manius Curius Dentatus in 290 BC, the book explores how local communities structured their territories, organised mobility, exploited resources, and negotiated social relationships across a demanding mountain environment. Combining landscape archaeology, settlement analysis, and GIS-based spatial modelling, it reconstructs patterns of settlement, connectivity, and land use in order to offer a fundamentally new picture of this region.
Rather than a marginal or static world, the inner Sabina emerges as a dynamic landscape shaped by communities capable of developing complex territorial strategies and forms of social organisation. By situating this case study within wider debates on ancient landscapes and human–environment relationships, the volume offers a broader contribution to the archaeology of mountain societies and pre-Roman Italy.
Sommario:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Theoretical Premise
The Category of SEF and Archaeological Reconstruction: History, Applications and Possible New Path
Chapter 2: The Geomorphological Context
The Mountains
The Apennines
The Case Study Area
Geomorphology
Geology
Hydrography
The Paleoclimate
Chapter 3: The Historical Context
The Sabines
History of the Studies
The Ancient Literary Sources
The Epigraphic Sources
The Archaeological Sources
The case study area
Modern Conceptualisations on the Apennines Italic Societies
Chapter 4: Methodology
The Cascia Survey: Campaigns 2016-2022
Chapter 5: The Archaeological Analysis
The Archaeological Evidence From the Case Study Territory
The Cemetery of Opaco, Caseificio Grifolatte. Elements for a Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
Chapter 6: The Economy
Agriculture
Animal Husbandry and Salt Commerce
Forests, Wildlands, and Other Resources
Long-Term Trajectories of Landscape Exploitation: Preliminary Notes
Chapter 7: The Settlement Patterns
Developments After the Roman Conquest: Preliminary Observations
Chapter 8: The Communities of Inner Sabina: A Mountain Society
Conclusions
Annexes
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
