1,720,973 research outputs found
Nuovi approcci allo studio del paesaggio storico: il progetto ERC nEUMed e le indagini multidisciplinari condotte nella bassa Val di Cornia
No full textBetween 2017 and 2018 the lower Val di Cornia was involved in systematic multidisciplinary (archaeological, topographical and geochemical) investigations aimed at reconstructing the historical landscape. The surveys are part of the Erc-Advanced project: Origins of a new economic union (7th-12th centuries): resources, landscapes and political strategies in a Mediterranean region (nEU-Med), coordinated by the University of Siena (p.i. Prof. Richard Hodges, team co-ordinator Prof. Giovanna Bianchi). The study area includes the inland plains of Piombino and Scarlino, currently two intensely cultivated areas, and extends to the heights of the Colline Metallifere.
The consistent previous archaeological indications have allowed a targeted selection of areas to investigate through new surveys. The combined use of several techniques (in particular archaeological fieldworking and geochemical analyses carried out with the use of portable XRF instrument) has produced a multidisciplinary mapping of the area of great impact (to date over 8300 measurements have been acquired). From the overlapping of geochemical, geoarchaeological and archaeological data, significant elements have emerged to support the geomorphological, environmental and anthropic characterization of this portion of territory and new operational protocols have been defined to test the reliability of XRF diagnostic techniques in archaeology, with particular reference to the reconstruction of the historical landscape
Recenti indagini sui contesti minerari delle Colline Metallifere (Toscana, Italia). Metodologie, fonti, protocolli operativi e risultati/Recent investigations on the mining contexts of the Colline Metallifere (Tuscany, Italy). Methodologies, sources, operational protocols and results
No full textIn 2021 and 2022, the LTTM Lab (Laboratory of the Topography of Mining Territories), operating at the Department of Historical Sciences and Cultural Heritage, University of Siena, promoted two new multidisciplinary territorial survey campaigns on areas of high archaeo-mining informative potential in the Colline Metallifere district (Grosseto province). The survey protocol adopted was based on multiple sources (archaeological,
geological, cartographic, documentary and photographic), and on a research strategy highly integrated between different skills. Remote sensing tools (LiDAR DTM), and geochemical analyses (pXRF) were used extensively. Statistical processing for the classification and interpretation of the evidence identified produced a significant qualitative increase in information and an improved characterization of the production landscape.
Thanks to the use of new survey tools, the research achieved a significant numerical increase in the archaeological data, which now counts more than 800 reports, and an expansion of the investigated areas. In this paper, three case studies are presented in order to highlight the potential of new multidisciplinary operational protocols for the study of mining shafts, metallurgical processing areas and «cave-mining» contexts
Tracing natural and anthropic dynamics in alluvial and coastal plain through multidisciplinary sources: A new protocol for the study of historical landscapes in Val di Cornia (southern Tuscany, Italy)
No full textThe reconstruction of historical landscapes in alluvial and coastal plains is challenging due to the intense transformations of the territory caused by fluvial and coastal dynamics, as well as anthropogenic influences such as modern agricultural practices and land reclamation activities. Therefore, multidisciplinary studies and the use of a wide range of environmental proxies have become fundamental to evaluating the entangled interconnections between human activities and natural environmental processes within the context of landscape evolution. This study explores the long-term interplay between humans and the environment in the lower Val di Cornia, an alluvial and coastal plain in central Italy (southern Tuscany) along the Tyrrhenian coast. Drawing on recent geomorphological analysis, the archaeological record has been reinterpreted within an updated environmental framework, further enriched by newly conducted geochemical and cartographic analysis. Spanning from the 7th century BC to the 11th century AD, this research aims to reconstruct both natural characteristics and the transformative role of human agency. New data revealed that specific locations corresponding to elevated depositional fluvial features were particularly attractive for settlement due to their reduced hydraulic hazards and the coarse-grained soils resistant to water stagnation. However, settlement patterns were shaped not only by geomorphology but also by cultural and economic factors, including proximity to resources, access to road networks, and evolving land-use strategies. While this is particularly evident for the period between the 4th century BC to the 2nd century AD, when the archaeological record is more solid, a combination of variables has also been identified for describing Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Through the integration of diverse data sources, this study overcomes the chronological limitations inherent in individual records—archaeological, historical, or cartographic—enabling a broader understanding of landscape transformation
Paesaggio naturale ed antropico nell’area costiera della Toscana meridionale (Val di Cornia): sistemi di fonti, strumenti e metodi di studio per una nuova lettura storico-archeologica dell’ambiente e delle sue trasformazioni
Get PDFThe coastal area of the Val di Cornia (southern Tuscany, Italy) has been for many years the focus of historical-archaeological studies that have reconstructed its settlement patterns through the centuries. Thanks to a strongly multidisciplinary research approach, supported by the ERC project nEU-Med (https://www.neu-med.unisi.it), new investigations enabled to connect the historical settlement patterns with a more defined environmental context, characterised by a great variety of ecosystems and a considerable wealth of available assets, above all fish farming and salt production. The presence of vast lagoons and a highly widespread river system certainly constituted an attractive element for human settlement. To reconstruct the diachronic evolution of the context, the research project developed new operative protocols and promoted the use of integrated survey methodologies, combining archaeology, geology, geochemistry, archaeobotany, and geophysics, together with the archaeological excavation of a medieval salt work. Remote sensing instruments were also widely used (high resolution LiDAR and photogrammetry), as well as geoarchaeological analyses. Through the combination of different source, “multi-scalar” approach, archaeological excavations and historical-documentary analyses, the research has collected a considerable amount of new data that contributed to unfold the evolution of the coastal plain landscape, defining the extent of the wetlands, the main features of the forest landscape, for a better understanding of settlement dynamics and economic productions
Liminal historical landscapes in southern Tuscany: a multidisciplinary approach for a new narrative
No full textThe archaeological reconstruction of alluvial and coastal plains presents challenges due to the profound transformations caused by the evolution of unstable fluvial and coastal environments and the anthropic modifications conducted in modern times to reclaim territories for agricultural purposes. To enhance the existing narrative for the lower Val di Cornia in central Italy, recent analyses undertaken by the ERC nEU-Med project have significantly strengthened environmental studies, providing a solid foundation for archaeological research that has been ongoing since the 1980s. This contribution presents the results of a newly revisited landscape reconstruction with a diachronic perspective aimed at unravelling the complex relationships between humans and the environment over time. The multidisciplinary approach, combined with integrating various proxies alongside traditional archaeological sources like surveys, historical documents and maps, significantly enriches the interpretation of data. This approach enables a more comprehensive evaluation of the human role in responding to environmental variability, mainly depending on fluctuations in lagoonal extension and the diversion of the fluvial system. The findings reveal that a liminal territory such as the lower Val di Cornia was indeed central from both social and economic perspectives for local communities, which exploited the natural resources of this distinctive environment, overcoming challenges associated with its dynamic nature
Mining under the canopy: Unveiling the archaeo-mining record in the Colline Metallifere with LiDAR analysis and multidisciplinary studies
No full textThe study of ancient disused mining contexts in the Mediterranean region is particularly challenging due to the impact of modern reclamation works and the presence of dense vegetation, which impede the application of conventional archaeological research methods. Pivoting on the multidisciplinary approach driven by the ERC nEU-Med project to the study of historical landscapes, and thanks to a new LiDAR survey promoted by the project in 2019, new investigations were carried out in ancient and modern mining contexts in the territory of Colline Metallifere (southern Tuscany, Italy). The district is renowned for its important metal deposits characterized by copper, lead, zinc and silver vein bodies that have been mined since the Bronze Age, with a particularly intense phase of exploitation during the Medieval period. The primary objective of the LiDAR DTM analysis was to map features and delineate the characteristics of the archaeo-mining landscape in five densely vegetated contexts. The analysis revealed numerous novel evidence related to mining activities (574 within the five territorial samples analyzed in this contribution), of which 72% were also inspected through fieldwalking surveys. These features have been interpreted by means of archaeological surveys, documentary research and statistical and spatial analysis. A particular focus was placed on the
study of the most prevalent type of feature, which is the mining shaft. The development of reliable parameters of interpretation, including the dimensional aspects of each individual mining shaft (area, diameter and depth of the basin), the distances between shafts, and presence or absence of dumps, played a crucial role in disentangling the complex topography of the mining sites. The favourable results achieved through this study will enable the application of the method on a larger scale to other nearby mining contexts, overcoming the constraints of accessibility and visibility that have so far significantly influenced the analysis of mining territories
Il rame e l'argento delle Colline Metallifere (alta val di Pecora) nel XIII secolo: metodologie multidisciplinari per lo studio dei bacini di approvvigionamento e del ciclo di produzione dei solfuri misti.
No full textIl contributo illustra un esempio di metodologia di analisi multidisciplinare applicata a due importanti contesti produttivi legati al trattamento dei solfuri misti di epoca medievale (XIII secolo), ubicati nel cuore delle Colline Metallifere (Toscana meridionale). La fase di lavoro ha combinato survey archeologico, analisi geochimiche (pXRF) on site ed analisi archeometriche (OM, XRD, SEM-EDS).
L’area è da molti anni al centro di progetti di ricerca coordinati dall’Università di Siena, nei quali archeologia, geologia, geochimica ed archeometria si confrontano dialetticamente per mettere a punto comuni percorsi metodologici orientati all’individuazione dei bacini di approvvigionamento, dei cicli metallurgici e, più in generale, del paesaggio minerario
La lavorazione del ferro nella Toscana meridionale: nuove indagini sulle scorie siderurgiche del sito in località Torre di Donoratico (Castagneto Carducci, Livorno), IX-XI secolo
No full textIl contributo presenta i risultati dello studio archeometrico di un consistente campione di indicatori di produzione siderurgici rinvenuti nel corso delle indagini di scavo condotte sul sito della Torre di Donoratico (Castagneto Carducci, LI). I risultati ottenuti hanno fornito dati utili per comprendere meglio alcuni aspetti, prima meno noti, delle attività siderurgiche attestate sul territorio tra IX e XI secolo. L’analisi dei reperti ha inoltre permesso di ricostruire il livello tecnico del ciclo metallurgico con un buon dettaglio, ridefinendo il ruolo del sito nella sua fase di trasformazione edilizia a cavallo fra X e XI secolo, ed aprendo nuovi importanti squarci anche per precedenti periodi di vita, nei quali esso si distinse per la presenza di significative attività produttive, in particolare relative alla produzione siderurgica ed alla contestuale produzione di ceramica a vetrina sparsa
Archaeological and physicochemical approaches to the territory: on-site analysis and multidisciplinary databases for the reconstruction of historical landscapes
No full textThe 'Colline Metallifere', a wide territory located in the south-west of Tuscany, has been characterized by a great development of mining activity over the centuries; this is due to the presence of a large mineral deposit, mainly constituted by mixed sulfide ores, that were exploited since Eneolithic age for the extraction of copper, silver, lead and iron. The territory has extreme relevance for the study of pre-industrial mining and smelting processed. Here, archeological research has been developed since '80 through archaeological digs and surveys. The project and the results we are going to briefly present are the result of an established collaboration between archaeologists and chemists of the University of Siena. It implies the comprehensive study of ancient mining sites, combining classic historical and archaeological observations with physical-chemical measurements and statistical methods, as well as the development of a multidisciplinary-relational database. © Archaeopress and the individual authors 2016. All rights reserved
- …
