JR Patterson, Landscapes and Cities Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006 0198149886 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Broken Pots and Meaningless Dots? Surveying the Rural Landscapes of Roman Italy
Witcher, R.E. (2006). Broken Pots and Meaningless Dots? Surveying the Rural Landscapes of Roman Italy. Papers of the British School at Rome 74: 39-72. This article questions why the popularity of field survey as a method for the study of rural Roman Italy, and its rapid methodological development, have not been accompanied by parallel developments in theoretical and interpretative frameworks. Field survey remains wedded to a limited range of historical and ‘processual’ questions and isolated from wider archaeological developments in relation to the interpretation of material culture and, in particular, theories of landscape. It is argued that the current attention towards methodology has allowed theory and interpretation to be ignored for too long. The suggestion that survey is incapable of responding to such issues as social identity is dismissed through a deconstruction of how archaeological knowledge is constructed on a hypothetical survey. A variety of assumptions are exposed and critiqued in the light of the wider archaeological literature, and alternative avenues of research suggested. The overall aim is not to lay down a series of prescriptive steps for all future research, but to present a broad agenda for the reintegration of such work with the wider discipline and an appeal for greater diversity in theoretical and interpretative approaches to the archaeology of Roman rural Italy. In questo articolo mi domando come mai il rapido sviluppo metodologico delle indagini di superficie come tecnica per lo studio dell'Italia romana rurale non e stato accompagnato da sviluppi paralleli nelle branche teoretiche e interpretative. L'indagine di superficie rimane legata ad un limitato range di domande guidate da testi e domande 'processuali', ed e isolata da un piu ampio pensiero archeologico circa la cultura materiale e il paesaggio. In forte contrasto con altre regioni e periodi, lo studio del paesaggio romano d'Italia continua a focalizzarsi sui siti, sulla ceramica e sui processi, piuttosto che sui luoghi, la gente e le idee. lo auspico un cambiamento epistemologico per portare gli studi verso un dialogo con la piu ampia disciplina. A questo scopo vengono sottoposte a critica pratiche teoretiche e metodologiche. La convinzione che la ricognizione e incapace di rispondere a questioni come l'identita sociale viene abbandonata attraverso una 'decostruzione' di come la conoscenza archeo-logica viene costruita. Una serie di potenziali soggetti di ricerca vengono discusse al fine di delineare una nuova agenda per le ricognizioni in Italia. II fine e quello di stimolare una diversificazione degli approcci che realizzino pienamente il potenziale informativo della ricognizione come contributo alia studio dei paesaggi romani.
Archaeological field survey is a research method which involves mapping archaeological remains that have been ploughed up in agricultural fields. For this thesis field surveys have been conducted in three landscapes in the Pontine region (central Italy) in a very detailed way, but within restricted areas. An analysis and comparison of the data shows that this intensive approach, unlike critics have argued, yields new insights in the function and status of rural settlements and that it is useful to study agricultural strategies. These intensive field surveys concern parts of the region that were colonized in the late 6th to 4th centuries BC and they have identified remains from this period. In combination with recent excavations they show that the nature and impact of early Roman colonization was different than is assumed on the basis of historical sources. Archaeological remains indicate that early colonies were occupied strategic locations and housed temples, but they were probably not cities. Furthermore, the field surveys show that there are few changes in rural settlement around colonies: the numbers of farms that have been mapped decreases in the period of colonization, while it is often assumed that large numbers of colonist farms were established. In one part of the region, the Pontine marshes, new farms dating to the 4th century have been found. The research shows that this marsh was reclaimed, parcelled out and opened through an important road. Therefore, in the (late) 4th century Roman colonization did have major impact on the landscape.
The title, subtitle, and chronological span of the series require a few words of explanation. In the first place, the title 'Limina/ Limites' echoes the clear assonances between the root of two Latin words that respectively indicate 'thresholds' and 'boundaries' (and thus 'frontiers'), as well as that of the Greek word for 'harbour' (λιμήν), which, for an island-and, more broadly speaking, for any coastal city-is both a point of connectivity and a boundary of isolation. Islands and boundaries/borders are two of the many possible keys through which we can study the post-Classical Mediterranean. Ever since the Mediterranean ceased to be a great Roman 'lake', that same Sea became an oftenuncrossable boundary that both separated and protected the many worlds that developed in different ways and at a different pace along its extensive coast. At the same time, however, the Mediterranean continued to be a unifying element: it provided a shared identity to communities that were culturally and geographically distant; and it could still be crossed to reach other frontiers, and even beyond. From this point of view, islands and borders, forming connecting lines and lines of separation, and offering unified identities but also socio-cultural diversities, can become spaces for reflection. As such, they are ideal for disciplines that seek to understand the past but also aim to make much more widely available the tools with which to interpret some of the basic needs of the contemporary world. The subtitle-with all nouns in the plural-alludes to the need for a multiplicity of different approaches. Today, history and archaeology-especially in the Mediterranean-are understood as multiple disciplines-disciplines that search not so much for an a priori monolithic, specific definition, but rather for an exploration of the limits that must be overcome and the intersection points that need to be exploited. The chronological span, 365-1556, providing a long-term vision, is essential for exploring in timedepth the multiple themes of study. AD 365, or, more precisely, the 21st of July 365, the day of the most violent tsunami documented in the literary sources, marks the moment at which, in the midst of transformation of the ancient world, the Mediterranean seems to reclaim its physical centrality. This was due to the devastating effects of this natural disaster and, above all, to its global visibility, as is evident from the many different witnesses describing the event, from both the eastern and the western shores of the Mediterranean. At the other end of the chronological span, January 16th, 1556, the day of the coronation of Philip II of Spain, symbolically marks the date on which the Mediterranean enters contemporary historiography, as understood through the vision of the historian Fernand Braudel and his rewriting of the rules of historiographical analysis, pursuing directions that often cross paths with archaeology. The Management Structure Series Editors, who have conceived the series and who have the task of overseeing the production of the volumes, through mediation, selection and peer reviewing. Their interests and expertise span Late Antique to Medieval settlement, urbanism, trade, religion, economics, and society:
Hatra. Il territorio e l'urbanistica - Italian text; Introduction and chapter summaries in English
Archeopress, 2018
The ancient city of Hatra is located 80 km southwest of the modern city of Mosul. The site reached its apogee during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, arriving at the striking dimensions of c. 300 hectares and into a new role as the capital of a significant buffer state between the Parthian and Roman empires. This volume is devoted to the study of the landscape surrounding Hatra and of the development of this important city, drawing on published information gathered by Iraqi and foreign expeditions, as well as unpublished data garnered from over fifteen years of fieldwork at the site by the Italian Archaeological Expedition. The study of the landscape comprehends the morphology, hydrology and geology of the region and offers new proposals regarding the exploitation of natural resources and the development of regional and local routes through the territory under Hatra’s political and military control during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The analysis of Hatra as an urban centre consists of a detailed study of the city’s hydrology, street network and urban areas, with the purpose of detecting the principles behind the planning and development of the city. The main elements of the urban space are treated in this book: the Temenos area and the Small Shrines, the Necropoles, the Fortifications, the Houses, and the Palaces. Due to the cross-referencing of archaeological, historical and epigraphic data, new ideas have been proposed regarding the chronological phases of urbanism at Hatra, from its foundation up to the destruction of the city by the Sasanian army in AD 241. Questo volume è dedicato allo studio del territorio e dell’urbanistica di questo importante sito antico, impiegando contestualmente informazioni edite, raccolte dalle varie missioni irachene e straniere che si sono avvicendate sul terreno, e inedite, provenienti dal vasto Archivio della Missione Archeologica Italiana a Hatra in più di quindici anni di ricerche sul campo. Lo studio del territorio definisce un quadro dettagliato della morfologia, idrologia e geologia della regione e dell’area prossima al centro, oltre a proporre alcune nuove ipotesi interpretative sullo sfruttamento delle risorse ambientali, sull’articolazione della rete viaria periurbana e regionale e sull’estensione del territorio sottoposto al controllo politico e militare della città durante il II e III sec. d.C. L’analisi urbanistica comprende uno studio approfondito dell’idrologia cittadina, della rete stradale e delle aree urbane, allo scopo di individuarne le principali caratteristiche ed eventuali regole nella pianificazione e nello sviluppo della città. Nel libro sono inoltre analizzati i principali elementi che compongono il tessuto urbano: il Temenos e i templi minori, le necropoli, le difese cittadine, le case e i palazzi. Grazie all’utilizzo contestuale del dato archeologico, storico ed epigrafico, è stato inoltre possibile formulare nuove ipotesi sulle fasi urbanistiche e sulla cronologia di Hatra dalla fondazione alla sua distruzione, avvenuta per mano sasanide nel 241 d.C.
2017
The paper documents the results of a research on archival sources of the Kingdom of Naples in the modern age “appraisals” and shows how such sources are necessary for historical and geographical studies. The appraisals established the economic value of a feud. They were a tool routinely used by the Royal Authority in the XV-XVIII centuries. By analyzing the documents of a sample area, some important historical and geographical aspects are emphasized: a) the location where every feud was inserted, b) the socio-demographic data extracted by “appraisals”, c) the rural landscape d) the administrative organization. The research highlights how such themes can be considered useful indicators in order to analyze the South of Italy in the modern age and, otherwise, identify elusive and little-known dynamics.
2011
Before the reader sets out to work his way through the two volumes that lie before him, a few remarks should be made to help him. This study deals with archaeological data and historical processes on different scales. It first analyses and compares field survey data in the light of settlement and land use on a sub-regional scale. It subsequently incorporates such data in a study of Roman colonization on a sub-regional and regional scale and concludes with a discussion of the supra-regional context and relevance of both lines of ...