Picenum and the Ager Gallicus at the Dawn of the Roman Conquest

Picenum and the Ager Gallicus at the Dawn of the Roman Conquest: Landscape Archaeology and Material Culture is a coherent collection of papers presented at an International Workshop held in Ravenna (Italy) on 13-14 May 2019. The event, organized by the Universities of Bologna and Ghent and Arcadria, focussed on the transition between Italic culture and Romanised society in the central Adriatic area – the regions ager Gallicus and Picenum under Roman dominance – from the fourth to the second centuries BCE. By bringing together the experience of international research on this topic, the volume highlights a period that marks a profound transformation in the whole of central Italy by analysing the relationships between the central settlements and their territories and, more generally, by measuring the impact of early Romanization on the territorial structure, social organization and cultural substrata of populations living here. The volume also discusses methodological aspects regarding best practices in fieldwork, landscape investigation and study of material culture, identifying research lines and perspectives for the future deepening of knowledge in this crucial period of central Adriatic archaeology.

Table of Contents:
Introduction – F. Boschi, E. Giorgi, F. Vermeulen ; Data integration and comparison in landscape archaeology: towards analysis beyond sites and valleys – P. Attema ; Romanization dynamics through the material culture analysis in the Ager Gallicus et Picenum – A. Gamberini, P. Cossentino, S. Morsiani ; Forum Sempronii and the Romanization of the Metauro Valley – O. Mei, L. Cariddi ; Methodological approaches to the study of the Cesano and Misa River Valleys (2010-2020). New data: some thoughts and perspectives – F. Boschi ; The Cesano Valley at the outset of the Roman conquest and the genesis of Suasa – E. Giorgi ; Sena Gallica: a stronghold for the Roman conquest of the ager Gallicus – M. Silani ; Perspectives on the analysis of the settlement system in medio-Adriatic Italy between the late sixth-fifth and fourth centuries BC: the case study of the Cesano and Misa river valleys – A. Gaucci ; News from Ancona and Numana – V. Baldoni, S. Finocchi, M. R. Ciuccarelli ; Settlement dynamics from the fourth to the second century BC in the Potenza – river valley (Marche): landscape approaches and some methodological issues – F. Vermeulen ; A crossroads in the central Potenza Valley: non-invasive research into settlement (dis-) continuity at Monte Franco (Pollenza, Marche, Italy) – W. De Neef, ; Pollentia-Urbs Salvia during the Republican period – R. Perna ; The sanctuary of Jupiter at Monte Rinaldo: a sacred landscape in the heart of Picenum – E. Giorgi, F. Pizzimenti, S. Kay ; The Urban Archaeology Project in Ausculum. From civitas caput gentis to civitas foederata – F. Boschi, E. Giorgi, T. Casci Ceccacci, F. Demma ; Continuity and discontinuity in the archaeological record south of the Tronto river – V. d’Ercole, M.G. Di Antonio ; Conclusions – F. Boschi, E. Giorgi, F. Vermeulen ; Bibliography

About the Author :
Federica Boschi is senior researcher in Methods of Archaeological Research at the University of Bologna. She specialises in non-destructive methods of investigation, in particular geophysics and aerial photography for archaeology. ; Enrico Giorgi is Associate Professor of Methodology and Landscape Archaeology at the University of Bologna. He is the director of the journal ‘Groma: Documenting Archaeology’ and directs research on Adriatic archaeology. ; Frank Vermeulen has been Professor of Roman Archaeology and Archaeological Methodology at Ghent University since 1999 and directed its Department of Archaeology from 2015-2018.