Luni sul Mignone och dess kringland. En diakronisk studie av ett mellanitaliskt landskap och dess arkeologi

Sammanfattning: This thesis is an archaeological study of a small region in northern Latium and the diachronical relationship between a nucleated settlement and its rural landscape. The work has a twofold basis: a review of earlier research concerning the settlement Luni sul Mignone in the light of more recent research, and a survey conducted by the present author of the territory of Luni. This survey and its results are the major new scientific contribution on the part of the author. I. An introduction to the background, the issues and the previous research, including neighbouring regions. The characteristics of the landscape and its geology are presented as well as the flora and fauna during various periods. II. The excavations of the early 1960s at Luni sul Mignone, c. 65 km NW of Rome, are discussed in the light of more recent research. This leads, for example, to some new interpretations of the chronology of the three Bronze Age houses in relation to each other. Unpublished finds from the southern house, in addition to the Bronze Age material, suggest a habitation there from the 5th to the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. Excavations by this author close to the fortification walls showed signs of several alterations. However, there was no evidence that the walls belonged to the Etruscan period. They are most likely medieval even if it is possible that parts of them are older. III. The extent of the surrounding territory and the various different types of countryside are defined. Methods and results are discussed. Following this, 81 find spots from the survey are reviewed: some of these were excavated. IV. Various aspects and results from chapters II and III are discussed in a wider perspective. For example, during the Bronze Age, demographic changes are seen both in the territory and the neighbouring areas while Luni itself seems to have had more stable conditions. Judging from architecture and other finds, however, it seems that the settlement intensity increased during the Final Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. The Etruscan rural landscape is discussed. Peripheral chamber tombs are used for indicating farmsteads. These seem to belong primarily to the 6th century B.C. During the 5th and 4th century B.C., the number of presumed farmsteads in the rural landscape decreases. Evidence of settlement on the Luni plateau itself, on the other hand, appears to have increased. During the 2nd century B.C. a “Roman” rural landscape develops while the nucleated settlement seems to diminish. The number of farmsteads was greatest during the last part of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire. A decrease occurs already from the end of the 1st century A.D. If this was due to a decrease in population or a change in ownership patterns is an open question. From the 8th century A.D. a nucleated settlement is once again found on the Luni plateau, defended by fortification walls and two moats. Thus it appears that there was a development towards the medieval incastellamento system with its small, fortified societies. It is probable that the rest of the countryside lay more or less abandoned.