Papers address a major challenge in archaeology: non-intrusive research in pursuit of a deeper understanding of urban areas can be richly informative and cost-effective. Geophysical surveys, UAVs, exposed historic structures and the exhaustive examination of archival records can all play a vital role and their implementation is considered here.
This study presents new evidence for the development of commerce and inter-regional trade through survey and analysis of urban layout and architecture. The study of Roman urbanism – especially its early (Republican) phases – is extensively rooted in the evidence provided by a series of key sites, several of them located in Italy. Some of these Italian towns (e.g. Fregellae, Alba Fucens, Cosa) have received a great deal of scholarly attention in the past and they are routinely referenced as textbook examples, framing much of our understanding of the broad phenomenon of Roman urbanism. However, discussions of these sites tend to fall back on well-established interpretations, with relatively little or no awareness of more recent developments. This is remarkable, since our understanding of these sites has since evolved thanks to new archaeological fieldwork, often characterised by the pursuit of new questions and the application of new approaches. Similarly, new evidence from other sites has since prompted a reconsideration of time-honoured views about the nature, role and long-term trajectory of Roman towns in Italy. Tracing its origins in the Laurence Seminar on Roman Urbanism in Italy: recent discoveries and new directions, which took place at the Faculty of Classics of the University of Cambridge (27–28 May 2022), this volume brings together scholars whose recent work at key sites is contributing to expand, change or challenge our current knowledge and understanding of Roman urbanism in Italy. The individual chapters showcase some of the most recent methods and approaches applied to the study of Roman towns, discussing the broader implications of fresh archaeological discoveries from both well known and less widely known sites, from the Po Plain to Southern Italy, from the Republican to the Late Antique period (and beyond).
7 Tinkering with Urban Survey Data: How Many Sagalassos-es do we Have?8 Amara West: Remote Ssensing at a Pharaonic Town in Northern Sudan; 9 Long-term Integrated Archaeological Prospection at the Roman Town of Carnuntum/Austria; 10 Integrating Aerial Photography, Historical Cartography, Archaeological Excavations and Geophysical Survey on the Roman Colony of Mariana (Corsica, France); 11 Fluxgate Gradiometer and GPR Survey to Locate and Characterize the Perimeter, Early Imperial Centre and Street Network of the Roman Town Mariana (Corsica); 12 Surveying the Townscape of Roman Trea (Picenum)
This volume debuts the new scope of Remote Sensing, which was first defined as the analysis of data collected by sensors that were not in physical contact with the objects under investigation (using cameras, scanners, and radar systems operating from spaceborne or airborne platforms). A wider characterization is now possible: Remote Sensing can be any non-destructive approach to viewing the buried and nominally invisible evidence of past activity. Spaceborne and airborne sensors, now supplemented by laser scanning, are united using ground-based geophysical instruments and undersea remote sensing, as well as other non-invasive techniques such as surface collection or field-walking survey. Now, any method that enables observation of evidence on or beneath the surface of the earth, without impact on the surviving stratigraphy, is legitimately within the realm of Remote Sensing. The new interfaces and senses engaged in Remote Sensing appear throughout the book. On a philosophical level, this is about the landscapes and built environments that reveal history through place and time. It is about new perspectives—the views of history possible with Remote Sensing and fostered in part by immersive, interactive 3D and 4D environments discussed in this volume. These perspectives are both the result and the implementation of technological, cultural, and epistemological advances in record keeping, interpretation, and conceptualization. Methodology presented here builds on the current ease and speed in collecting data sets on the scale of the object, site, locality, and landscape. As this volume shows, many disciplines surrounding archaeology and related cultural studies are currently involved in Remote Sensing, and its relevance will only increase as the methodology expands.
The spatial turn has brought forward new analytical imperatives about the importance of space in the relationship between physical and social networks of meaning. This volume explores this in relation to approaches and methodologies in the study of urban space in Roman Italy. As a consequence of these new imperatives, sociological studies on ancient Roman cities are flourishing, demonstrating a new set of approaches that have developed separately from "traditional" historical and topographical analyses. Rethinking the Roman City represents a convergence of these different approaches to propose a new interpretive model, looking at the Roman city and one of its key elements: the forum. After an introductory discussion of methodological issues, internationally-know specialists consider three key sites of the Roman world – Rome, Ostia and Pompeii. Chapters focus on physical space and/or the use of those spaces to inter-relate these different approaches. The focus then moves to the Forum Romanum, considering the possible analytical trajectories available (historical, topographical, literary, comparative and sociological), and the diversity of possible perspectives within each of these, moving towards an innovative understanding of the role of the forum within the Roman city. This volume will be of great value to scholars of ancient cities across the Roman world, well as historians of urban society and development throughout the ancient world.
A detailed analysis of the archaeological and historical evidence for the trade and consumption of Mediterranean pottery in the households of southern England between 1200 and 1700. Following a discussion of methodologies, Gutierrez considers Mediterranean centres of production for imported pottery, notably in Spain, Portugal and Italy, followed by a discussion of the archaeological evidence for contact between Wessex and the Mediterranean. A wide range of sites are examined, including fortified and religious buildings, urban and rural settlements and palaces. The study finally examines the types of Mediterranean assemblages found and their social and religious context.
