Rural Sites and Agriculture: A comparative study on the distribution of Roman rural sites in the Biferno Valley and the Metaponto region

Survey archaeology has often been used to study processes of urbanization and centralization in Roman Italy. Yet, most of the research on this topic has focussed on regional patterns, without comparing data from multiple survey projects. In this thesis, I present my research in which I look into survey data from two Italian regions: the Biferno Valley and the Metaponto region. With the help of Tymon de Haas’ Access database on survey projects in Italy, I mapped out rural settlements in order to gain understanding in their distribution patterns in Roman Imperial times and why they occurred. Through spatial analyses, such as the distance to nearest hub and cluster analysis, in combination with statistical tests, like the Monte-Carlo simulation and chi-square test, I was able to find spatial patterns in the distribution of rural settlements in the two research areas. I found that rural sites in the Biferno Valley clustered closely around roads and cities. In the Metaponto region, rural...Show moreSurvey archaeology has often been used to study processes of urbanization and centralization in Roman Italy. Yet, most of the research on this topic has focussed on regional patterns, without comparing data from multiple survey projects. In this thesis, I present my research in which I look into survey data from two Italian regions: the Biferno Valley and the Metaponto region. With the help of Tymon de Haas’ Access database on survey projects in Italy, I mapped out rural settlements in order to gain understanding in their distribution patterns in Roman Imperial times and why they occurred. Through spatial analyses, such as the distance to nearest hub and cluster analysis, in combination with statistical tests, like the Monte-Carlo simulation and chi-square test, I was able to find spatial patterns in the distribution of rural settlements in the two research areas. I found that rural sites in the Biferno Valley clustered closely around roads and cities. In the Metaponto region, rural sites were also nearby major roads, but showed no attraction to urban centres. I argue that this difference is a result of various local circumstances. Socio-political processes in the past, terrain and agricultural strategies all influenced where rural sites continued to be occupied. These results show that the Roman agricultural economy was a patchwork of regions with their own approach to agriculture. In doing so, this research stresses how beneficial comparative studies are for our understanding of the Roman agricultural economy.Show less

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Rural Sites and Agriculture: A comparative study on the distribution of Roman rural sites in the Biferno Valley and the Metaponto region