TECHCOMPARCHLAND · FIRST MILLENNIUM AD PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC CHANGE IN TUSCANY AND SICILY (ITALY): DEVELOPING NEW RESEARCH TECHNIQUES AND COMPARING ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES

First Millennium Ad Patterns of Settlement and Economic Change in Tuscany and Sicily (Italy): Developing New Research Techniques

Project aims and objectives In light of its central position in the Mediterranean and its complex history throughout the period under consideration, Italy represents a fruitful context in which to analyse how patterns of continuity and discontinuity determined the emergence of medieval Europe. Vaccaro's project analyses long-term transformations affecting economies and settlement networks in Italy by comparing southern Tuscany and central Sicily during the 1st millennium AD. The new field research begun in the inland area of Cinigiano in June 2009, through a collaborative project with Professor Kim Bowes (Pennsylvania University, USA), aimed to excavate Roman and late antique rural sites in an inland area, adjacent to that which Vaccaro has been studying since 2000. Over a three-year period (2009-2011), this new season of intensive excavations has shed light on the material culture and lifestyle of peasant communities between the 1st century BC and 9th AD through the excavation of seven small sites. The Sicily project, co-directed by Vaccaro, focuses on the long-lasting 'town' of Philosophiana, adjacent to the monumental villa of Piazza Armerina. Despite its location at a Mediterranean trade crossroad, late antique and early medieval Sicily is largely a terra incognita. Since 2009, the combination of a wide range of research methods (infra- and extra-site surveys, geophysics, test pits and the systematic collection and study of ceramics) has produced a detailed picture of the extent and layout of the site over time and of settlement patterns in the surrounding countryside, which reveal a particular growth of satellite sites in the late Roman period when the large 'urban-style' settlement experienced its major expansion. Vaccaro's research in southern Tuscany reveals a persisting economic vitality of the countryside up until the beginning of the 6th century AD and a marked decline before the Lombard conquest in AD 590s. As regards the early medieval period, he was able to re-assess settlement typologies as more complex than traditionally hypothesised. The late 6th century rupture with the Roman settlement network did not entail a complete abandonment of the plains in favour of fortified sites on the hilltops; several settlements, both nucleated and isolated, were discovered in the plains, indicating a more widespread occupation of the countryside and exploitation of agricultural resources. On the other hand, at Philosophiana, Vaccaro found a heretofore unknown small city which, unlike the urban centres of Tuscany and the western Mediterranean generally, weathered the collapse of the empire almost uninterrupted. For the first time, his work on the ceramics from this site is documenting local production, possible export markets and the remarkable continuity of dispersed settlement from the 7th through to the 11th century, all on a scale unprecedented in other areas of the western Mediterranean. Vaccaro's comparative archaeological study has proved to be an effective and innovative approach for understanding the transformation of settlement and economic patterns in Italy and Sicily during the 'longue durée'. Vaccaro's research is completely re-thinking the interpretation of these regional economic histories which adapted to the fall of the Roman Empire and maintained different levels of complexity throughout the early medieval period. This research will have a significant impact on current debate about the transition from the Roman to medieval periods as it shows how a holistic archaeological approach making large-scale use of innovative tools and archaeological sciences can radically change the perception of a crucial turning point in Mediterranean history, such as late antiquity, often viewed as a period of economic decline, reduction of complexity and sophistication.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union