N-LINK · Normannitas: Landscape, Identity and Norman Kingdoms.""

Normannitas: Landscape, Identity and Norman Kingdoms.

SUMMARY Introduction: According to the ELC (2000) Landscape is ‘…an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors’. Landscape must therefore also be seen as the result of an historical process of transformation, in a variously extended space during a variable length of time. Particular features in the current landscape can be linked to past phases of landscape modification. A comparative method such as the one proposed in this project can help substantially in understanding similar dynamics in different contexts and in investigating how people perceived the landscape where they lived. For the Italian part of the project, this was a new concept. The objectives of the project were: 1. to address historical and archaeological questions related to the impact of the Norman Conquest on the English and Italian landscapes; 2. to implement and extend the use of historical documents in archaeological practice; 3. to test and develop a new method in the Italian archaeological context, which can support the study and the analysis of European landscapes by developing a new GIS tool, called Historic Landscape Characterization. Methodology: In pursuing these objectives, we considered: a - current landscapes as the starting point in archaeological research; b - understanding of the different perceptions of the same landscape across the centuries; c - reconstruction of political and historical events fundamental in shaping landscapes by influencing local communities, finally determining the creation of Norman kingdoms in UK and Italy; d - recognition of a specific Norman identity that could have characterized the Viking diaspora in European territories; e - comparative analysis carried out on selected cases studies; f - exploitation of documentary, literary and epigraphic sources for reconstructing medieval landscapes. Achievements: N-LINK achieved its aims with the following results: 1 – The project built a bridge between two different traditions of studies, focusing its research to create a useful tool for Italian Archeologia dei Paesaggi and ancient topography and to spread a new awareness on the value of the analysis of the current landscape as first step in Italian archaeological research. 2 - It explored and exploited the potential of GIS/HLC at a new level, testing its capacity in order to enhance its scientific value and to develop a more competitive tool in landscape management, which was a necessity felt by the specialists (Turner, 2010). 3 – It reconstructed medieval landscapes with related features and temporal dynamics in County Durham and Northumberland, in UK, and Southern Lazio and Campania, in Italy (case-studies). CONTEXT The N-LINK project focussed on the historical landscapes of a specific time, but to do so it has had to consider all the transformations that have changed its earlier state. The project analysed to what extent political change and Norman migration led to similarities and differences between two conquered territories, Southern Italy and England, by applying new interdisciplinary landscape-focused methods and tools. The research questions were whether, how and why the Normans had changed the settlement patterns within their Kingdoms. This was the first project that aimed to tie together British and Italian landscapes, sharing methodologies and historiographical issues in order to develop a new method of research on historic landscapes. N-LINK has successfully promoted the possibility of recognising a precise ‘Norman Identity’ and its contribution to the living medieval and present day landscape. Landscape: Archaeology and landscapes are directly connected. It is impossible to imagine an archaeological site without archaeological stratification, and in an analogous way it is unrealistic to think about landscape without a global historical, geographical and stratigraphic vision. This research has attempted to integrate the study of epigraphy, literary texts and documents more effectively with archaeology. Medieval and modern documents are often misunderstood tools, which need to be systematically integrated in landscape studies: all such sources can provide important data for landscape study, but it is a truly challenging process. Thanks to the analysis and studies of the current landscape, linked to data collected from various modern documents and verified by field surveys, during the implementation of the N-LINK project the appropriate interpretation of different categories of documents has further enhanced current knowledge of the missing parts of the landscape, little considered in previous research. Identity: N-LINK’s aim was to examine whether a specific Norman Identity (‘Normannitas’) was expressed in the ‘building’ of conquered landscapes. European historians have been attempting to prove the persisting existence of a ‘Norman Identity’ in medieval society in occupied England and southern Italy (Drell 1999): they preferred to underline differences between the two kinds of conquest and great attention has always been reserved for people or for historical sources or for the most evident traces of the Norman presence, like the major architectural monuments (Fernie 2002). SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS N-LINK has not only been able to create new knowledge about past landscapes, but also to show how historical scholarship can respond to the social necessity of strengthening awareness of the value of local territories in areas that suffer high levels of socio-economic deprivation in their national context, Northumberland, County Durham, the provinces of Frosinone and of Caserta. Collaboration with local, national and international associations (for example the Associazione S. C. Monti Ausoni) will disseminate this new awareness at the local level. The results of the project can contribute to regional strategies for managing the historic landscape in UK and Italy. To achieve this, the Fellow is sharing the final results of N-LINK with the appropriate public bodies in each country: in Italy with the “Soprintendenze”, and other regional services of MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and Research); in England through contacts with each county Historic Environment Record (HER) and English Heritage’s National Monument Register (a national database of historic assets). Developing new ideas at the European level in the Humanities is crucial to increasing the attractiveness of Europe for researchers, proving that the EU is a real laboratory with shared awareness and care for its own history. If we can accept that all the physical elements of a landscape can be appreciated as material objects with a range of different but possible values for people in the past and present – whether they are buildings, ruins, earthworks, trees, rivers, hedges, plants, etc, then an ‘archaeological’ approach like the one operationalized here can give us a good framework for facilitating debate about the landscape and its value today. This project has continued the development of a new method applicable in Europe or indeed in other parts of the world which need to protect their landscape and develop environmental policies for effective sustainable growth.

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