Talks by Archeologia dei Paesaggi di Ravenna - Ravenna Landscape Project
Nuove scoperte a Faenza: presentazione dei risultati della prima campagna di ricognizione archeol... more Nuove scoperte a Faenza: presentazione dei risultati della prima campagna di ricognizione archeologica del Progetto Faventia. Quest'ultimo rientra all'interno del "Progetto Archeologia dei Paesaggi di Ravenna: una capitale e il suo territorio". Presentazione tenuta a Faenza (RA) in data 26 Ottobre 2019.
Situated between the current course of the rivers Sillaro and Lamone, the Bassa Romagna is an all... more Situated between the current course of the rivers Sillaro and Lamone, the Bassa Romagna is an alluvial plain characterized, since the Roman period, by an intense history of land reclamation, due to the nature of the soils and the natural tendency of the rivers to overflow and create marshlands. The documentary record provides copious information not only about the fundi (i.e. cadastral units) and plebes (i.e. rural churches with baptismal and burial functions), but also about the presence of rivers, woodlands, marshes, types of cultivation and more. As the first step of my PhD research (2018-2022), I categorized and filed in an Access database all these information and subsequently mapped them in a GIS platform with the aim of producing thematic maps, querying the spatial data on the basis of qualitative information. Furthermore, the concepts of ‘matrices’ and ‘patches’ from the discipline of Landscape Ecology were applied to the heat maps, returning the image of a territory widely cultivated, an heterogeneous agricultural economy, with crops intermixed with forests and wetlands. The second step will involve the integration of these data with the study of macro plant-remains (seeds and charcoal) and pollen samples, coming from excavation sites and core drillings.
38th International Mediterranean Survey Workshop - Groningen Institute of Archaeology, Friday 29 ... more 38th International Mediterranean Survey Workshop - Groningen Institute of Archaeology, Friday 29 – Saturday 30 November 2019
The main aim of this paper is to present new data collected by the Ravenna Landscape Project, which was started as Decimano Project (2002-2005), to study the southern hinterland of Ravenna (Italy) using mainly artefact survey as method to document changes in settlement dynamics across time around this ancient capital. Afterwards, the Bassa Romandiola Project was started (2009-present), in the north-western part of Ravenna province. In 2019, a rebranding of the project was carried out to include two new subprojects that focus on the countryside around the cities of Cervia and Faenza. Major differences exist in this large study
area, both on the historical level and in the physical landscape, that influence the methods to use and the interpretation of the results. Briefly: 1. Bassa Romagna is a low plain where no Roman towns are known; 2. Cervia is situated along the coastline, where a city arose between the V-VIII centuries CE; 3. Faenza was a Roman municipium born along the Via Aemilia, at the edge between the Apennines and the Po plain. The results of these two new subprojects, presented here, allowed to document several sites, ranging between the Bronze Age until the Modern Age showing different local settlement dynamics.
Presentazione delle ricerche relative al sito archeologico del Castello di Zagonara effettuate ne... more Presentazione delle ricerche relative al sito archeologico del Castello di Zagonara effettuate nel corso dell'anno 2019, tra scavi e ricerche di laboratorio. Introdurranno la serata l'Assessore Anna Giulia Gallegati, Giovanni Valentinotti del Comitato per i Beni Culturali di Lugo e il Prof. Leardo Mascanzoni; interverranno gli archeologi dell'UNIBO Marco Cavalazzi, Celeste Fiorotto, Laura Nalin e Martina Vozzo.
http://www.workshop-gshdl.uni-kiel.de/wp-content/uploads/International-Workshop-Programm-2019-Par... more http://www.workshop-gshdl.uni-kiel.de/wp-content/uploads/International-Workshop-Programm-2019-Part-1.pdf
In this paper we aim to present different data collected since 2002 during several research projects carried out by the Bologna University and focused on the rural and urban landscapes of the city of Ravenna (Northern Italy), the capital of the Western Roman Empire since A.D. 402. The main purpose is to analyze the transformations of an urban/rural complex network through different kinds of data and methods. The areas investigated are the lowlands of Ravenna, in the southeastern part of the Po Valley, between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic coast; this part of the Italian Peninsula has been characterized by intense geomorphological transformations in the past. The chronological range taken into consideration is short but significant: from the Roman period to the modern era. There are four main topics selected, analyzed with different types of sources: land use and land cover, evolution of rural settlement patterns, urban identity and its significance through history and palaeoenviron- mental transformations. One of the aims of the project will be to enlighten limits and potentials of using different kind of sources in the areas of interest: - Land use and land cover from XVI to XXI centuries will be investigated using historical cartography (e.g. using Pontifical Cadaster); - The evolution of the rural settlement patterns will be discussed looking at the data collected by two landscape archaeological projects, the “Decimano project” (2002-2006) and the “Bassa Romandiola project” (2009-2018); - Urban identity is well known in historical studies based on the written sources, but a different interpretation could be reached just analyzing historical evidence in relation to a wider network, including rural landscapes, geographic context and natural environment; - The palaeoenvironmental transformations will be studied through geoarchaeological and palaeobotanical approaches (e.g. coring and macro- and microplant remains analysis). The final aim of this project is to define a comprehensive management and interpretation method for different kinds of raw data. A multiscale approach will allow the use of those information to achieve a single framework for the evolution of a complex network, namely a capital city and its hinterland during the last two millennia.
Presentazione della campagna di ricerca 2019 al Castello di Zagonara, 6 aprile 2019, presso l'Aul... more Presentazione della campagna di ricerca 2019 al Castello di Zagonara, 6 aprile 2019, presso l'Aula magna dell'ex-Convento del Carmine a Lugo.
L'evento inizierà alle ore 16,00 con l'apertura straordinaria del deposito archeologico di Lugo, ingresso da via Baracca 6 (visite in piccoli gruppi di 10 persone per volta, si consiglia di prenotare via email scrivendo a: [email protected]; [email protected]); seguirà alle ore 18,00 la presentazione della prossima campagna di scavo, degli eventi connessi e delle ricerche in corso, nell'Aula magna del complesso, al primo piano.
In contemporanea mostra del fotografo Marco Babini "Memoria sepolta", foto di scavo e ricerca archeologica al Castello, e "Fornaci e Fornaciai", mostra sull'attività laterizia a Lugo dall'Antichità al XX secolo, Manica Lunga del Convento, primo piano.
Giornata a cura del Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà - Progetto "Bassa Romandiola", del Comitato per lo Studio e la Tutela dei Beni storici del Comune di Lugo e del Comune di Lugo.
Nel corso dell’ultima generazione l’archeologia si è confrontata con il progresso tecnologico e s... more Nel corso dell’ultima generazione l’archeologia si è confrontata con il progresso tecnologico e scientifico, adottando nuovi strumenti di ricerca e innovando le sue metodologie.
Nel corso della serata si cercheranno di presentare le tecniche di documentazione utilizzate nelle ricerche che hanno avuto luogo negli ultimi anni nella pianura padana, concentrandosi in particolare sulle indagini degli archeologi dell'Università di Bologna, ma non solo, e focalizzando l’attenzione su come sia stato possibile innovare gli strumenti tradizionali, pur senza stravolgerli.
A partire dal 2009, l’Università di Bologna e il Centro Studi sulla Romandiola, in collaborazione... more A partire dal 2009, l’Università di Bologna e il Centro Studi sulla Romandiola, in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza, hanno dato il via al progetto “Bassa Romandiola”, con lo scopo di ricostruire l’evoluzione storica del popolamento rurale. Ad oggi, il progetto conta la realizzazione di quattro indagini di superficie (2009- Lugo, 2011- Conselice, 2012-Bagnacavallo-Fusignano, 2016-Lugo-Bagnacavallo) e uno scavo archeologico (2017-Castello di Zagonara).
I reperti rinvenuti nel corso di queste indagini sono numericamente consistenti e presentano un arco cronologico molto ampio: da manufatti tardoantichi fino alla ceramica moderno-contemporanea.
L’obiettivo della serata è quello di presentare i reperti medievali, focalizzandosi in particolare sulla ceramica e illustrando le principali classi e tipologie rinvenute.
Papers by Archeologia dei Paesaggi di Ravenna - Ravenna Landscape Project
Juvenes - The Middle Ages seen by Young Researchers, 2022
In this paper we used archaeological and geological data and information from the written sources... more In this paper we used archaeological and geological data and information from the written sources to understand how socio-ecological systems reacted to several ecological crises that occurred after the Roman period. The region investigated is the northwest hinterland of Ravenna, a sub-region known today as Bassa Romagna. Like other parts of the Po Valley, this area was primarily characterised by the presence of wetlands and woodlands, ultimately reclaimed only in the 20th century. A multidisciplinary approach allowed us to understand better which phenomena of anthropic persistence and practices of land reclamation were put in place after ecological crises, often linked to flood events. In particular, water management processes emerge as a key element for the success of the socio-ecological systems acting in the area, starting from late Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between local systems and larger urban ones, like Ravenna and its hostile commune of Faenza, and how these directly influenced the countryside.
Tagliani M., Canciani V., & Tommasi F., (eds.) HUMANITIES IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM: Approaches, Contamination, and Perspectives, 2020
In this paper, I will present an approach to create digital elevation models of the palaeolandsca... more In this paper, I will present an approach to create digital elevation models of the palaeolandscape (palaeoDEMs) for a test area within the larger Romagna plain. The many landscape transformations that occurred in the area during the last few millennia greatly limit our archaeological knowledge and historical reconstruction of the human presence, so a better understanding of how the topography changed represents a fundamental step. However, relying only on the finite archaeological data would have greatly limited the level of accuracy of the reconstructions. To try to overcome these limitations, the archaeological data have been integrated with information regarding palaeosols identified both during targeted fieldwork campaigns and in pre-existing data collected by archaeological and geological investigations. The depths of archaeological sites and geological layers have been interpolated to produce palaeoDEMs for four different chronological periods, confirming the feasibility of this approach, that could potentially be enlarged to nearby areas or applied to other regions with similar characteristics. Furthermore, through the analysis of the models created, it has been possible to elucidate the evolution of the study area, confirming several previously expressed hypotheses but also to propose a new one.
Journal of Wetland Archaeology, 2022
FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A PM HERE ON ACADEMIA OR DROP ME AN EMAIL AT [email protected] FOR A ... more FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A PM HERE ON ACADEMIA OR DROP ME AN EMAIL AT [email protected] FOR A PDF COPY OF THIS ARTICLE!
In this paper, we aim to present the results of interdisciplinary research focusing on the surroundings of Lugo, a town in the hinterland of Ravenna. The area is known for the extraordinary preservation of the centuriated field system, although its ‘Roman’ origin has been rightly questioned in the last three decades. Our data show how this seemingly homogenous area has a complex history due to intense alluvial events. If artefact surveys have been helpful in studying the main trends in the evolution of settlement patterns, only a systematic geoarchaeological investigation has allowed us to better understand the physical transformations occurring in the landscape, their potential effect on the settlement suitability of the area, and the mechanisms that led to the complete reclamation of a former wetland known as Orizzonte Veggiani. About the latter, archaeobotanical analysis of seeds, fruits, and charcoal starts to help us understand its land use/land cover.
In this paper we are presenting the preliminary results of an ar- chaeological landscape project ... more In this paper we are presenting the preliminary results of an ar- chaeological landscape project started by the University of Bologna in 2009, focusing on the north-western part of the Ravenna province, an area called Unione dei Comuni della Bassa Romagna. The main aim of the project is to investigate the medieval settlement patterns of a territory never systematically studied before, and, possibly, to relate these with the pre-existing ones of the Roman period. For this reason, artefact survey was carried out on a sample area, selected on the basis of the existing archaeological and geomorphological knowl- edge. During the first 4 campaigns, 62 sq. km were investigated, out of a total of 150 of the sample. Thanks to the collected results, it is now possible to question the previous hypotheses, that used to see this territory as “static”, considering both the settlement patterns and the socio-economic structures. Indeed, the survey allowed us
to identify rural nucleated settlements from the IX-X centuries, and then, a selection of these sites during the XIII century, when many were abandoned in favour of larger villages. This process was due to the intervention of the major powers of the time, like counts, bishops and communes, powerful enough to modify the pre-existing settlement patterns.
Keywords: landscape archaeology, scattered settlements pattern, medieval villages, incastellamento, Romagna.
Riassunto
Nel contributo verranno presentati i risultati preliminari di un progetto di archeologia dei paesaggi avviato nel 2009 dal Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà dell’Università di Bologna nel territorio dell’U- nione dei Comuni della Bassa Romagna, la parte nord-occidentale della provincia di Ravenna. L’obiettivo dello studio era quello di valutare le forme del popolamento di Età medievale di un territorio fina a ora non indagato in modo estensivo e, se possibile, di individuarne il rap- porto con le forme del paesaggio antico. La metodologia ha previsto la ricognizione sistematica di una campionatura ragionata del territorio; finora sono state svolte 4 campagne di indagine, investigando 62 km2 dei 150 totali previsti. Lo studio ha permesso di mettere in discussione la visione storiografica tradizionale, secondo la quale il territorio roma- gnolo sarebbe stato caratterizzato da una semplice sopravvivenza delle forme del popolamento antico di tipo sparso, staticità interpretata anche come indice di scarsa vitalità socio-economica. Infatti nel corso del progetto è stato possibile documentare sia la comparsa di insediamenti rurali nucleati già dal IX-X secolo, sia una selezione dei siti nel corso del XIII secolo, in parte abbandonati a favore dei villaggi più grandi, sorti presso i castelli; quest’ultimo processo fu dovuto all’intervento dei principali poteri territoriali del tempo, come le dinastie comitali, i vescovi e i comuni cittadini, in grado di modificare le forme del popolamento rurale preesistenti.
Parole chiave: archeologia dei paesaggi, popolamento sparso, villaggi, incastellamento, Romagna.
II ICYRMA, International Congress for young researchers in Middle Ages. Evora, Portugal. Theme : Spaces, 2019
In this paper, we want to tackle some questions regarding the rural socio-ecological systems exis... more In this paper, we want to tackle some questions regarding the rural socio-ecological systems existing in the north-west countryside of Ravenna, in the period following the post-Roman crisis that affected the area: how these systems reacted to this ecological crisis in term of resilience mechanisms; how they managed their “hostile” and rapidly changing landscape. From an historical point of view, the study area gains its importance being part of the hinterland of the city of Ravenna, which was appointed by Augustus as seat of one of the two Roman imperial fleets. Later, it became capital of the Western Roman Empire since AD 402, capital of the Exarchate after its end and finally seat of one of the most powerful Archbishops in medieval Italy. From a geographical point of view, the area is an alluvial plain, part of the Po Valley, created by the deposition of sediments over a long period of time. Therefore, flooding events have always characterized this territory, but both human activities and natural phenomena have played a role influencing their frequency, intensity and duration, including factors like deforestation, artificial regimentation of river networks or the alternation of climatic periods. This is also true for the extension of marshlands, features of the landscape that are now almost completely reclaimed, but that had a crucial economic and ecological role in the past.
The focus will be on the changes that the landscape has faced after the Roman period, but especially on how humans reacted to these, whether if we consider catastrophic events or slower processes. For this purpose, we will introduce different methods and data that are currently being used to study an historical area known nowadays as “Bassa Romagna”. A first focus will be on the geomorphological setting, which is currently under investigation by a recently started PhD project (Ghent University/University of Verona), which aims to reconstruct how the landscape looked like in medieval times, integrating morphological analysis of digital elevation models, study of aerial and satellite images and geoarchaeological fieldwork. A second focus will be on archaeological data (post-doctoral research), mainly collected by the ongoing “Bassa Romandiola” project, that was started in 2009, to specifically study the settlement patterns during the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and how these related with the ones existing before. After five campaigns, some differences in the rural settlement patterns have been identified, both geographically and chronologically. Lastly, the analysis of the written sources available, started in 2015, that ensures information about past land use, but also about political powers and major landowners were active in the area.
The combination of these will allow us to discuss themes like anthropic persistence and land reclamation practices after ecological crises, with a focus on the managing of the water drainage systems from Late Antiquity to Middle Ages. The relation between these phenomena will be investigated considering also social factors, like the direct influence on the countryside of a powerful city like Ravenna and the rise of hostile Communes during the Middle Ages.
Medieval Settlement Research, 2018
The Bassa Romandiola project was started in 2009 by the University of Bologna, directed by Profes... more The Bassa Romandiola project was started in 2009 by the University of Bologna, directed by Professor Andrea Augenti and coordinated in the field by Professor Marco Cavalazzi. Its aim was to study a sub-region located west of the city of Ravenna called Bassa Romagna in northeast Italy (Fig. 1). Four survey campaigns have been completed, with a total of 62km 2 investigated. Among the discovery of about 51 new sites, the project brought to light archaeological evidence of a rural settlement, totally unknown before, dated to the early and high Middle Ages. The archaeological assemblage collected during the fieldwork mainly consists of courseware pottery and soapstone, suggesting that the site was probably comprised of rural houses and/or huts, made of perishable materials. During August 2017, the project team furthermore started the excavation of the so-called castle of Zagonara (Lugo, Ravenna), one of the sites first recognised in 2009.
Groma. Documenting Archaeology, 2017
The paper presented here is an extraction of my MA dissertation and falls within the landscape pr... more The paper presented here is an extraction of my MA dissertation and falls within the landscape project Bassa Romandiola. Considering the biases present in the dataset at disposal, predictive modelling has been chosen as a methodology potentially useful to gain more information about the medieval settlement patterns of the area. Both environmental and “socio-cultural” variables have been considered, to make the most of the data available. A first predictive map has been created using the Dempster-Shafer theory and possible future directions highlighted to improve the result obtained.
Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio Bologna, 14-16 gennaio 2010 a cura di PAOLA GALETTI FO... more Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio Bologna, 14-16 gennaio 2010 a cura di PAOLA GALETTI FONDAZIONE CENTR O ITALIANO DI STUDI SULL'ALTO MEDIOE VO SPOLETO 2012 TOMO SECONDO MARCO CAVALAZZI PROGETTO "BASSA ROMANDIOLA". LA CAMPAGNA DI RICOGNIZIONE NEL TERRITORIO DI LUGO DI ROMAGNA (RA) La zona interessata dall'indagine 1 corrisponde ad una parte della pianura padana a Nord della via Emilia, nel comune di Lugo di Romagna (Ra), ed è compresa tra il fiume Santerno (il romano Vatrenus 2 ) e il fiume Senio (il Sinnus della Tabula Peuntigeriana).
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Talks by Archeologia dei Paesaggi di Ravenna - Ravenna Landscape Project
The main aim of this paper is to present new data collected by the Ravenna Landscape Project, which was started as Decimano Project (2002-2005), to study the southern hinterland of Ravenna (Italy) using mainly artefact survey as method to document changes in settlement dynamics across time around this ancient capital. Afterwards, the Bassa Romandiola Project was started (2009-present), in the north-western part of Ravenna province. In 2019, a rebranding of the project was carried out to include two new subprojects that focus on the countryside around the cities of Cervia and Faenza. Major differences exist in this large study
area, both on the historical level and in the physical landscape, that influence the methods to use and the interpretation of the results. Briefly: 1. Bassa Romagna is a low plain where no Roman towns are known; 2. Cervia is situated along the coastline, where a city arose between the V-VIII centuries CE; 3. Faenza was a Roman municipium born along the Via Aemilia, at the edge between the Apennines and the Po plain. The results of these two new subprojects, presented here, allowed to document several sites, ranging between the Bronze Age until the Modern Age showing different local settlement dynamics.
In this paper we aim to present different data collected since 2002 during several research projects carried out by the Bologna University and focused on the rural and urban landscapes of the city of Ravenna (Northern Italy), the capital of the Western Roman Empire since A.D. 402. The main purpose is to analyze the transformations of an urban/rural complex network through different kinds of data and methods. The areas investigated are the lowlands of Ravenna, in the southeastern part of the Po Valley, between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic coast; this part of the Italian Peninsula has been characterized by intense geomorphological transformations in the past. The chronological range taken into consideration is short but significant: from the Roman period to the modern era. There are four main topics selected, analyzed with different types of sources: land use and land cover, evolution of rural settlement patterns, urban identity and its significance through history and palaeoenviron- mental transformations. One of the aims of the project will be to enlighten limits and potentials of using different kind of sources in the areas of interest: - Land use and land cover from XVI to XXI centuries will be investigated using historical cartography (e.g. using Pontifical Cadaster); - The evolution of the rural settlement patterns will be discussed looking at the data collected by two landscape archaeological projects, the “Decimano project” (2002-2006) and the “Bassa Romandiola project” (2009-2018); - Urban identity is well known in historical studies based on the written sources, but a different interpretation could be reached just analyzing historical evidence in relation to a wider network, including rural landscapes, geographic context and natural environment; - The palaeoenvironmental transformations will be studied through geoarchaeological and palaeobotanical approaches (e.g. coring and macro- and microplant remains analysis). The final aim of this project is to define a comprehensive management and interpretation method for different kinds of raw data. A multiscale approach will allow the use of those information to achieve a single framework for the evolution of a complex network, namely a capital city and its hinterland during the last two millennia.
L'evento inizierà alle ore 16,00 con l'apertura straordinaria del deposito archeologico di Lugo, ingresso da via Baracca 6 (visite in piccoli gruppi di 10 persone per volta, si consiglia di prenotare via email scrivendo a: [email protected]; [email protected]); seguirà alle ore 18,00 la presentazione della prossima campagna di scavo, degli eventi connessi e delle ricerche in corso, nell'Aula magna del complesso, al primo piano.
In contemporanea mostra del fotografo Marco Babini "Memoria sepolta", foto di scavo e ricerca archeologica al Castello, e "Fornaci e Fornaciai", mostra sull'attività laterizia a Lugo dall'Antichità al XX secolo, Manica Lunga del Convento, primo piano.
Giornata a cura del Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà - Progetto "Bassa Romandiola", del Comitato per lo Studio e la Tutela dei Beni storici del Comune di Lugo e del Comune di Lugo.
Nel corso della serata si cercheranno di presentare le tecniche di documentazione utilizzate nelle ricerche che hanno avuto luogo negli ultimi anni nella pianura padana, concentrandosi in particolare sulle indagini degli archeologi dell'Università di Bologna, ma non solo, e focalizzando l’attenzione su come sia stato possibile innovare gli strumenti tradizionali, pur senza stravolgerli.
I reperti rinvenuti nel corso di queste indagini sono numericamente consistenti e presentano un arco cronologico molto ampio: da manufatti tardoantichi fino alla ceramica moderno-contemporanea.
L’obiettivo della serata è quello di presentare i reperti medievali, focalizzandosi in particolare sulla ceramica e illustrando le principali classi e tipologie rinvenute.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1960105847539154/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22messaging%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22attachment%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A%7B%7D%7D]%22%7D
Papers by Archeologia dei Paesaggi di Ravenna - Ravenna Landscape Project
In this paper, we aim to present the results of interdisciplinary research focusing on the surroundings of Lugo, a town in the hinterland of Ravenna. The area is known for the extraordinary preservation of the centuriated field system, although its ‘Roman’ origin has been rightly questioned in the last three decades. Our data show how this seemingly homogenous area has a complex history due to intense alluvial events. If artefact surveys have been helpful in studying the main trends in the evolution of settlement patterns, only a systematic geoarchaeological investigation has allowed us to better understand the physical transformations occurring in the landscape, their potential effect on the settlement suitability of the area, and the mechanisms that led to the complete reclamation of a former wetland known as Orizzonte Veggiani. About the latter, archaeobotanical analysis of seeds, fruits, and charcoal starts to help us understand its land use/land cover.
to identify rural nucleated settlements from the IX-X centuries, and then, a selection of these sites during the XIII century, when many were abandoned in favour of larger villages. This process was due to the intervention of the major powers of the time, like counts, bishops and communes, powerful enough to modify the pre-existing settlement patterns.
Keywords: landscape archaeology, scattered settlements pattern, medieval villages, incastellamento, Romagna.
Riassunto
Nel contributo verranno presentati i risultati preliminari di un progetto di archeologia dei paesaggi avviato nel 2009 dal Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà dell’Università di Bologna nel territorio dell’U- nione dei Comuni della Bassa Romagna, la parte nord-occidentale della provincia di Ravenna. L’obiettivo dello studio era quello di valutare le forme del popolamento di Età medievale di un territorio fina a ora non indagato in modo estensivo e, se possibile, di individuarne il rap- porto con le forme del paesaggio antico. La metodologia ha previsto la ricognizione sistematica di una campionatura ragionata del territorio; finora sono state svolte 4 campagne di indagine, investigando 62 km2 dei 150 totali previsti. Lo studio ha permesso di mettere in discussione la visione storiografica tradizionale, secondo la quale il territorio roma- gnolo sarebbe stato caratterizzato da una semplice sopravvivenza delle forme del popolamento antico di tipo sparso, staticità interpretata anche come indice di scarsa vitalità socio-economica. Infatti nel corso del progetto è stato possibile documentare sia la comparsa di insediamenti rurali nucleati già dal IX-X secolo, sia una selezione dei siti nel corso del XIII secolo, in parte abbandonati a favore dei villaggi più grandi, sorti presso i castelli; quest’ultimo processo fu dovuto all’intervento dei principali poteri territoriali del tempo, come le dinastie comitali, i vescovi e i comuni cittadini, in grado di modificare le forme del popolamento rurale preesistenti.
Parole chiave: archeologia dei paesaggi, popolamento sparso, villaggi, incastellamento, Romagna.
The focus will be on the changes that the landscape has faced after the Roman period, but especially on how humans reacted to these, whether if we consider catastrophic events or slower processes. For this purpose, we will introduce different methods and data that are currently being used to study an historical area known nowadays as “Bassa Romagna”. A first focus will be on the geomorphological setting, which is currently under investigation by a recently started PhD project (Ghent University/University of Verona), which aims to reconstruct how the landscape looked like in medieval times, integrating morphological analysis of digital elevation models, study of aerial and satellite images and geoarchaeological fieldwork. A second focus will be on archaeological data (post-doctoral research), mainly collected by the ongoing “Bassa Romandiola” project, that was started in 2009, to specifically study the settlement patterns during the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and how these related with the ones existing before. After five campaigns, some differences in the rural settlement patterns have been identified, both geographically and chronologically. Lastly, the analysis of the written sources available, started in 2015, that ensures information about past land use, but also about political powers and major landowners were active in the area.
The combination of these will allow us to discuss themes like anthropic persistence and land reclamation practices after ecological crises, with a focus on the managing of the water drainage systems from Late Antiquity to Middle Ages. The relation between these phenomena will be investigated considering also social factors, like the direct influence on the countryside of a powerful city like Ravenna and the rise of hostile Communes during the Middle Ages.
The main aim of this paper is to present new data collected by the Ravenna Landscape Project, which was started as Decimano Project (2002-2005), to study the southern hinterland of Ravenna (Italy) using mainly artefact survey as method to document changes in settlement dynamics across time around this ancient capital. Afterwards, the Bassa Romandiola Project was started (2009-present), in the north-western part of Ravenna province. In 2019, a rebranding of the project was carried out to include two new subprojects that focus on the countryside around the cities of Cervia and Faenza. Major differences exist in this large study
area, both on the historical level and in the physical landscape, that influence the methods to use and the interpretation of the results. Briefly: 1. Bassa Romagna is a low plain where no Roman towns are known; 2. Cervia is situated along the coastline, where a city arose between the V-VIII centuries CE; 3. Faenza was a Roman municipium born along the Via Aemilia, at the edge between the Apennines and the Po plain. The results of these two new subprojects, presented here, allowed to document several sites, ranging between the Bronze Age until the Modern Age showing different local settlement dynamics.
In this paper we aim to present different data collected since 2002 during several research projects carried out by the Bologna University and focused on the rural and urban landscapes of the city of Ravenna (Northern Italy), the capital of the Western Roman Empire since A.D. 402. The main purpose is to analyze the transformations of an urban/rural complex network through different kinds of data and methods. The areas investigated are the lowlands of Ravenna, in the southeastern part of the Po Valley, between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic coast; this part of the Italian Peninsula has been characterized by intense geomorphological transformations in the past. The chronological range taken into consideration is short but significant: from the Roman period to the modern era. There are four main topics selected, analyzed with different types of sources: land use and land cover, evolution of rural settlement patterns, urban identity and its significance through history and palaeoenviron- mental transformations. One of the aims of the project will be to enlighten limits and potentials of using different kind of sources in the areas of interest: - Land use and land cover from XVI to XXI centuries will be investigated using historical cartography (e.g. using Pontifical Cadaster); - The evolution of the rural settlement patterns will be discussed looking at the data collected by two landscape archaeological projects, the “Decimano project” (2002-2006) and the “Bassa Romandiola project” (2009-2018); - Urban identity is well known in historical studies based on the written sources, but a different interpretation could be reached just analyzing historical evidence in relation to a wider network, including rural landscapes, geographic context and natural environment; - The palaeoenvironmental transformations will be studied through geoarchaeological and palaeobotanical approaches (e.g. coring and macro- and microplant remains analysis). The final aim of this project is to define a comprehensive management and interpretation method for different kinds of raw data. A multiscale approach will allow the use of those information to achieve a single framework for the evolution of a complex network, namely a capital city and its hinterland during the last two millennia.
L'evento inizierà alle ore 16,00 con l'apertura straordinaria del deposito archeologico di Lugo, ingresso da via Baracca 6 (visite in piccoli gruppi di 10 persone per volta, si consiglia di prenotare via email scrivendo a: [email protected]; [email protected]); seguirà alle ore 18,00 la presentazione della prossima campagna di scavo, degli eventi connessi e delle ricerche in corso, nell'Aula magna del complesso, al primo piano.
In contemporanea mostra del fotografo Marco Babini "Memoria sepolta", foto di scavo e ricerca archeologica al Castello, e "Fornaci e Fornaciai", mostra sull'attività laterizia a Lugo dall'Antichità al XX secolo, Manica Lunga del Convento, primo piano.
Giornata a cura del Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà - Progetto "Bassa Romandiola", del Comitato per lo Studio e la Tutela dei Beni storici del Comune di Lugo e del Comune di Lugo.
Nel corso della serata si cercheranno di presentare le tecniche di documentazione utilizzate nelle ricerche che hanno avuto luogo negli ultimi anni nella pianura padana, concentrandosi in particolare sulle indagini degli archeologi dell'Università di Bologna, ma non solo, e focalizzando l’attenzione su come sia stato possibile innovare gli strumenti tradizionali, pur senza stravolgerli.
I reperti rinvenuti nel corso di queste indagini sono numericamente consistenti e presentano un arco cronologico molto ampio: da manufatti tardoantichi fino alla ceramica moderno-contemporanea.
L’obiettivo della serata è quello di presentare i reperti medievali, focalizzandosi in particolare sulla ceramica e illustrando le principali classi e tipologie rinvenute.
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In this paper, we aim to present the results of interdisciplinary research focusing on the surroundings of Lugo, a town in the hinterland of Ravenna. The area is known for the extraordinary preservation of the centuriated field system, although its ‘Roman’ origin has been rightly questioned in the last three decades. Our data show how this seemingly homogenous area has a complex history due to intense alluvial events. If artefact surveys have been helpful in studying the main trends in the evolution of settlement patterns, only a systematic geoarchaeological investigation has allowed us to better understand the physical transformations occurring in the landscape, their potential effect on the settlement suitability of the area, and the mechanisms that led to the complete reclamation of a former wetland known as Orizzonte Veggiani. About the latter, archaeobotanical analysis of seeds, fruits, and charcoal starts to help us understand its land use/land cover.
to identify rural nucleated settlements from the IX-X centuries, and then, a selection of these sites during the XIII century, when many were abandoned in favour of larger villages. This process was due to the intervention of the major powers of the time, like counts, bishops and communes, powerful enough to modify the pre-existing settlement patterns.
Keywords: landscape archaeology, scattered settlements pattern, medieval villages, incastellamento, Romagna.
Riassunto
Nel contributo verranno presentati i risultati preliminari di un progetto di archeologia dei paesaggi avviato nel 2009 dal Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà dell’Università di Bologna nel territorio dell’U- nione dei Comuni della Bassa Romagna, la parte nord-occidentale della provincia di Ravenna. L’obiettivo dello studio era quello di valutare le forme del popolamento di Età medievale di un territorio fina a ora non indagato in modo estensivo e, se possibile, di individuarne il rap- porto con le forme del paesaggio antico. La metodologia ha previsto la ricognizione sistematica di una campionatura ragionata del territorio; finora sono state svolte 4 campagne di indagine, investigando 62 km2 dei 150 totali previsti. Lo studio ha permesso di mettere in discussione la visione storiografica tradizionale, secondo la quale il territorio roma- gnolo sarebbe stato caratterizzato da una semplice sopravvivenza delle forme del popolamento antico di tipo sparso, staticità interpretata anche come indice di scarsa vitalità socio-economica. Infatti nel corso del progetto è stato possibile documentare sia la comparsa di insediamenti rurali nucleati già dal IX-X secolo, sia una selezione dei siti nel corso del XIII secolo, in parte abbandonati a favore dei villaggi più grandi, sorti presso i castelli; quest’ultimo processo fu dovuto all’intervento dei principali poteri territoriali del tempo, come le dinastie comitali, i vescovi e i comuni cittadini, in grado di modificare le forme del popolamento rurale preesistenti.
Parole chiave: archeologia dei paesaggi, popolamento sparso, villaggi, incastellamento, Romagna.
The focus will be on the changes that the landscape has faced after the Roman period, but especially on how humans reacted to these, whether if we consider catastrophic events or slower processes. For this purpose, we will introduce different methods and data that are currently being used to study an historical area known nowadays as “Bassa Romagna”. A first focus will be on the geomorphological setting, which is currently under investigation by a recently started PhD project (Ghent University/University of Verona), which aims to reconstruct how the landscape looked like in medieval times, integrating morphological analysis of digital elevation models, study of aerial and satellite images and geoarchaeological fieldwork. A second focus will be on archaeological data (post-doctoral research), mainly collected by the ongoing “Bassa Romandiola” project, that was started in 2009, to specifically study the settlement patterns during the Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and how these related with the ones existing before. After five campaigns, some differences in the rural settlement patterns have been identified, both geographically and chronologically. Lastly, the analysis of the written sources available, started in 2015, that ensures information about past land use, but also about political powers and major landowners were active in the area.
The combination of these will allow us to discuss themes like anthropic persistence and land reclamation practices after ecological crises, with a focus on the managing of the water drainage systems from Late Antiquity to Middle Ages. The relation between these phenomena will be investigated considering also social factors, like the direct influence on the countryside of a powerful city like Ravenna and the rise of hostile Communes during the Middle Ages.
Per lungo tempo l’analisi geomorfologica si è basata sull’utilizzo di punti quotati, registrati manualmente da operatori sul territorio, interpolati tra loro per creare un modello digitale del terreno da cui poter estrarre delle curve di livello, dalle quali infine poter individuare le varie aree morfologicamente più elevate o più depresse. Nonostante questo rimanga un metodo ancora valido e molto usato per la redazione delle carte geomorfologiche dei piani paesaggisti locali, l’enorme disponibilità di dati satellitari disponibili oggigiorno per la creazione di DEM apre nuove prospettive.
In questo lavoro vogliamo presentare un confronto tra i metodi che prevedono l’applicazione di tools morfometrici e idrologici implementati in SAGA GIS con l’algoritmo Multi-Scale Relief Model (o MSRM, Orengo & Petrie 2018) con l’obiettivo di rendere più veloce e automatizzata la procedura di analisi della micromorfologia di un territorio alluvionale e il riconoscimento di eventuali landforms.
La zona prescelta come caso di studio è la pianura romagnola, un’area pianeggiante con quote comprese tra i 50 e - 5 m s.l.m., dove piccole variazioni altimetriche sono solitamente dovute ai corsi dei fiumi appenninci o ai cordoni litoranei, sia attuali che fossili. L’area è da anni oggetto di studio di vari progetti, archeologici e non, dell’Università di Bologna.
Il modello utilizzato come dato di partenza è l’SRTM DEM con risoluzione 30 m.