Description
The Pomptinae Paludes (Pontine Marshes – Lazio, Central Italy) were long considered unsuited for systematic habitation and agricultural exploitation - until the bonifica integrale under the Italian fascist regime in the 1930’s. In this paper, we present selected results of over a decade of archaeological work in this area by the Pontine Region Project (PRP). Large-scale field surveys and geophysical prospection on selected archaeological sites were carried out between 2007-2016, and more recently through geo-archaeological and ecological approaches we focused our attention on a Roman centuriation (field system). Together these investigations provide an extremely rich image of the waxing and waning of the human exploitation of this landscape over the long term, and strongly underline the need for integrated field methodologies to fully reconstruct the complex and dynamic interactions between man and landscape in this challenging environment between prehistory and the Roman period. During this time-span human exploitation of the Pontine marshes was characterized by long-periods of small-scale, but specialized economic activities (such as fishing, hunting and pottery production), with a period of intensive – but brief – agricultural exploitation during the mid-Republican period.| Period | 6-Apr-2022 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Roman Archaeology Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Split, CroatiaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Keywords
- landscape archaeology
- Roman archaeology