Florian Seiler was Senior Researcher at the German Archaeological Institute in Rome and Berlin. His latest research focuses on urban and landscape archaeology in Pompeii and its hinterland, from the Hellenistic period to the Roman Empire. This included excavations and multidisciplinary investigations and has resulted in publications on Roman houses, town planning and studies on the cultural landscape, most recently on the infrastructure, mobility and economic network of the Sarno Valley.
ABSTRACT Bei kürzlich in Pompeji unternommenen stratigraphischen Grabungen wurde ein Komplex von ... more ABSTRACT Bei kürzlich in Pompeji unternommenen stratigraphischen Grabungen wurde ein Komplex von Wandputzfragmenten geborgen, die in der pompejanischen Malerei bisher völlig unbekannte Formen und Darstellungen aufweisen. Zum einen gehören die Fragmente zu Wandverkleidungen mit figürlichen Friesen und Zahnschnittgesimsen, deren Formen in Malerei imitiert und mit illusionistischen Effekten gesteigert wurden, zum anderen zu einer mit malerischen Mitteln täuschend echt nachgeahmten Kassettendecke aus verschiedenartigen Hölzern, verziert mit Ornamentleisten. Die in das ausgehende 3. oder beginnende 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. zu datierenden Dekorationen lassen Einflüsse hellenistisch-italischer Kunstströme, insbesondere aber Muster etruskischer Grabmalerei erkennen, die einen neuen Akzent zu der aktuellen Frage nach den Vorbildern der hellenistischen Malerei in Pompeji hinzufügen. In dem Beitrag wird das Material zum ersten Mal exemplarisch vorgestellt, werden Herkunft und kultureller Kontext dieser in Pompeji noch singulären Malereizeugnisse diskutiert.
E. Dodd – D. van Limbergen (editors), Methods in ancient wine archaeology. Scientific approaches in Roman contexts , 2024
Pompeii is one of the few places in the Roman world where excellent preservation, due to the erup... more Pompeii is one of the few places in the Roman world where excellent preservation, due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 ce , means that ancient vineyards can be studied in a highly accurate and revealing manner. Furthermore, whereas previous excavations of vineyards were always limited to the hilly region of Vesuvius, the situation on the plain was little known. Th e recent excavation of a Roman vineyard at Scafati, near the river Sarno, is the fi rst comprehensive study of viticulture on the alluvial plain. Th e multidisciplinary analysis and micro-excavations presented here have enhanced our knowledge of Pompeian viticulture and Roman agriculture more broadly. Evidence of more vineyards in the area, along with a dense network of farmsteads (villae rusticae) specialized in wine production, show that grapevines were grown on the plain on a large scale. Th is fl ourishing agricultural sector provides further support for the orientation of the Vesuvian region's economy towards viticulture in the Roman period.
The study aims at analysing human-environment interrelations using the example of the river Sarno... more The study aims at analysing human-environment interrelations using the example of the river Sarno, which drains the basin south of Mt. Somma-Vesuvius. It starts with an overview of the environmental and geomorphological transformation of its estuary from prehistoric times to the burial of the landscape by the eruption in A.D. 79. The diachronic point of view casts light on the lasting effects of the changing topography such as the progradation of both the coastline and the estuary on human activities. It is shown how far the navigable river Sarno, as interface and artery, influenced the socio-economic development of the region in all periods especially in the last centuries as Pompeii controlled the harbour at its mouth.
The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape... more The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape around Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River plain, before the AD 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius. Special attention is drawn on paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental conditions as well as on socio-economic interrelationships particularly related to the ancient rural settlements (villae rusticae) and agricultural land use as well as to the ancient building materials. To gain deeper insight into Roman agricultural practice a geoarchaeological excavation was carried out in direct vicinity to a villa rustica to uncover a pre-AD 79 Roman agricultural soil and conduct multi-disciplinary analyses.
Paisajes productivos y redes comerciales en el Imperio Romano = Productive landscapes and trade networks in the Roman Empire, 2019, ISBN 978-84-9168-263-9, pág. 179, 2019
The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roma... more The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roman period in the hinterland of Pompeii has, so far, yielded a dataset of more than 650 entities. About 140 of them were assigned to Roman farms (villae rusticae) which are believed to have played an important role in ancient rural life and economy of the Sarno River plain. This involves agricultural production not only of food to supply the urban centres Pompeii, Stabiae and Nuceria but also of goods (e.g. wine) to be exported to Rome as well as to the western and eastern Mediterranean. To gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure of the Sarno River plain, this fragmentary dataset on villae rusticae was used to carry out a series of quantitative GIS-based spatial analyses. At first, spatial statistics aimed at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships of the distribution of villae rusticae to validate the first simply visual impression of a clustered organization around the urban centres Pompeii and Stabiae. Subsequently, a predictive modelling approach aimed at determining the potential area that may have been occupied by villae rusticae and agricultural production. This model incorporates paleo-environmental parameters and also tries to quantify some socio-economic parameters that may have controlled the spatial distribution of villae rusticae. For that, a recently generated, pre-AD 79 paleo-landscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized characterizing the ancient topographical conditions before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Finally, quantitative analyses and other GIS-assisted methods result in the reconstruction of the settlement structure in the hinterland of Pompeii, the ager Pompeianus.
ABSTRACT Detailed lithostratigraphic, geochemical, pedological, micromorphological and archaeolog... more ABSTRACT Detailed lithostratigraphic, geochemical, pedological, micromorphological and archaeological analyses were carried out at a stratigraphic sequence of Scafati, about 3 km east of ancient Pompeii. It comprises roughly the last 22,000 years of landscape history consisting of a multilayered succession of repeated volcanic deposition and pedogenesis. The former is caused by several phases of volcanic activity of Somma-Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Ischia, reflecting a large spectrum of eruption types including Plinian, sub-Plinian, Strombolian to Vulcanian and effusive volcanic events. The latter contains phases of volcanic quiescence leading to soil formations of different durations, intensities and soil-forming environments. Furthermore, the paleosols repeatedly reveal clear evidence of anthropogenic activity such as agriculture. Using this multiproxy approach, a holistic landscape evolution model was developed reconstructing the late Pleistocene and Holocene history of volcanic activity, soil formation and land use in the hinterland of Pompeii. This was correlated with the larger-scale climatic and human history of the Campania region.
Nuove ricerche archeologiche a Pompei ed Ercolano, 2005
II progetto dell’Istituto Archeologico Germanico relativo alla Regio VI Insula 16, iniziato nel 1... more II progetto dell’Istituto Archeologico Germanico relativo alla Regio VI Insula 16, iniziato nel 1997, nelle sue linee generali tenta di ricostruire lo sviluppo storico di un quartiere abitativo e commerciale nell'insieme dello spazio urbano e della rete viaria circondante. Tale studio urbanistico e stato avviato sulla base di un dettagliato rilievo architettonico di tutti i resti antichi ancora conservati nell 'area. La documentazione intende non da ultimo contribuire all'indispensabile adeguata edizione della citta antica di Pompei, sempre in gran parte sostanzialmente inedita e minacciata dal degrado. D'altra parte le indagini si appoggiano su saggi stratigrafici condotti allo scopo di chiarire problemi specifici in settori limitati delle case e taberne 19-27 della Regio VI Insula 16 e nell'area della Porta Vesuvio e della Via Vesuvio. L'attività di scavo si è aperta anche ad una preziosa collaborazione con altre discipline, in primo piano la paleobotanica.
Beiträge zur Geschichte der Zentrale des Deutschen Archäologischen instituts, 2019
Die wissenschaftlichen Editionen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts prägen seit fast zwei Ja... more Die wissenschaftlichen Editionen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts prägen seit fast zwei Jahrhunderten nachhaltig die Publikationslandschaft auf dem Feld der internationalen Altertumswissenschaft. Ihr hoher Qualitätsstandard ist weltweit anerkannt. Aus welchen Wurzeln ist die vielfältige Publikationstätigkeit des DAI hervorgegangen? Wie hat sich das Publikationswesens unter den wechselnden historischen, kulturellen und politischen Bedingungen von seinen Anfängen am Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica in Rom 1829 bis in die jüngste Zeit entwickelt? Wie profilieren sich die verschiedenen Editionen, die Corpora, Reihenwerke und Peridodika? Welche Erfolge, aber auch welche Schwierigkeiten begleiteten die Herausgabe der Publikationen? Welche technischen und konzeptionellen Neuerungen veränderten die traditionelle Publikationslandschaft? Welche Bedeutung kommt den Redaktionen zu? Diese hier erstmalig in einem Überblick behandelten Fragen stehen im Fokus des Beitrags von Florian Seiler aus dem Sammelband zur Geschichte der Zentrale des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts.
Productive landscapes and trade networks in the Roman Empire. (Col·lecció Instrumenta ; 65) (=TRAC 2017), 2019
The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roma... more The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roman period in the hinterland of Pompeii has, so far, yielded a dataset of more than 650 entities. About 140 of them were assigned to Roman farms (villae rusticae) which are believed to have played an important role in ancient rural life and economy of the Sarno River plain. This involves agricultural production not only of food to supply the urban centres Pompeii, Stabiae and Nuceria but also of goods (e.g. wine) to be exported to Rome as well as to the western and eastern Mediterranean. To gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure of the Sarno River plain, this fragmentary dataset on villae rusticae was used to carry out a series of quantitative GIS-based spatial analyses. At first, spatial statistics aimed at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships of the distribution of villae rusticae to validate the first simply visual impression of a clustered organization around the urban centres Pompeii and Stabiae. Subsequently, a predictive modelling approach aimed at determining the potential area that may have been occupied by villae rusticae and agricultural production. This model incorporates paleo-environmental parameters and also tries to quantify some socio-economic parameters that may have controlled the spatial distribution of villae rusticae. For that, a recently generated, pre-AD 79 paleo-landscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized characterizing the ancient topographical conditions before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Finally, quantitative analyses and other GIS-assisted methods result in the reconstruction of the settlement structure in the hinterland of Pompeii, the ager Pompeianus.
From : Nuove ricerche archeologiche nell'area vesuviana. (scavi 2003-2006)
Atti del Convegno Inte... more From : Nuove ricerche archeologiche nell'area vesuviana. (scavi 2003-2006) Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Roma 1-3 febbraio 2007. Edited by Guidobaldi Maria Paola e Guzzo Pietro Giovanni Year: 2008 Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER Series Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 25 ISBN: 978-88-913-0206-9 Pages: 586, 629 ill. B/N
Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied a... more Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, until very recently, the rural settlement in its hinterland had been largely ignored by systematic archaeological research. The ancient landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have played a vital role in ancient rural life and economy and thus represented the interactive rural–urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of published work combined with new fieldwork has yielded a data set of 140 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. Geographic information system based spatial statistics as well as predictive modeling were applied to gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure in relation to the underlying paleoenvironmental and socioeconomic conditions. A high-resolution pre-A.D. 79 paleolandscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized. The aim of this paper is to address theoretical considerations, the methodological implementation, and the archaeological discussion of the analysis of the ancient rural settlements and agriculture around Pompeii. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape... more The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape around Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River plain, before the AD 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius. Special attention is drawn on paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental conditions as well as on socio-economic interrelationships particularly related to the ancient rural settlements (villae rusticae) and agricultural land use as well as to the ancient building materials. To gain deeper insight into Roman agricultural practice a geoarchaeological excavation was carried out in direct vicinity to a villa rustica to uncover a pre-AD 79 Roman agricultural soil and conduct multi-disciplinary analyses.
Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied a... more Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, until very recently, the rural settlement in its hinterland had been largely ignored by systematic archaeological research. The ancient landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have played a vital role in ancient rural life and economy and thus represented the interactive rural–urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of published work combined with new fieldwork has yielded a data set of 140 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. Geographic information system based spatial statistics as well as predictive modeling were applied to gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure in relation to the underlying paleoenvironmental and socioeconomic conditions. A high-resolution pre-A.D. 79 paleolandscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized. The aim of this paper is to address theoretical considerations, the methodological implementation, and the archaeological discussion of the analysis of the ancient rural settlements and agriculture around Pompeii. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
CAA2011 - Revive the Past: Proceedings of the 39th Conference in Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Beijing, China, 12-16 April 2011, 2011
During the Plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 almost the entire Sarno River Plain (Campa... more During the Plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 almost the entire Sarno River Plain (Campania, Italy) was more or less instantly covered by thick volcanic deposits. This contributed to a good preservation of the palaeo-surface and the palaeo-environmental conditions before AD 79. Since the AD 79 volcanic deposits can be clearly distinguished from other stratigraphic layers they can be considered as a chronostratigraphic marker for identifying the pre-AD 79 palaeo-surface in the Sarno River Plain. The objective of this geoarchaeological study was to reconstruct the pre-AD 79 topography and selected palaeo-environmental features of the Sarno River Plain by modelling the thickness of the post-AD 79 deposits. Thus a methodology was developed that is based on an extensive dataset of stratigraphic information, a high-resolution present-day digital elevation model (DEM) and a classification and regression tree approach.
Short abstract
Pompeii is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, its... more Short abstract Pompeii is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, its hinterland, which was densely populated by rural settlements, is a widely uncharted region. Roman farms (villae rusticae) are representative of rural settlement and agricultural production in Roman and pre-Roman times. From the literature and own field work we have generated a dataset of a total of about 150 villae rusticae. Their geographical location was digitised and georeferenced using geographic information systems (GIS). First insights on the organization of villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain are to be revealed by spatial analysis based on GIS and spatial statistics.
Extended abstract Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 and excavated for more than 260 years, is one of the most studied and best known ancient cities in the Roman world. Until today the archaeological research activity in that area has been particularly focused on the urban settlements like Pompeii or Stabiae. However, the cities cannot be considered to be in total isolation from their hinterland in which they were geographically, politically and culturally embedded and from which they were economically dependent. The rural landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have been of vital importance for agricultural production and food supply to the cities and thus represented the interactive rural-urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of the bibliographical references and own field work yielded a dataset of about 150 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. The findings were localised and geo-referenced using geographic information systems (GIS). From the current perspective it can be observed that the villae rusticae were not distributed equally across the entire plain, but clustered in the surroundings of Pompeii and Stabiae whereas other parts show no or only sporadic findings of villae. The principal question arises if this unequal distribution of the villae results (i) from random findings of the more or less intensive archaeological activity or (ii) from the ancient rural settlement pattern which may have favoured the establishment of villae rusticae in the vicinity of the urban centres. To approach this question, quantitative methods of spatial analysis using GIS and spatial statistics will be applied on the dataset of villae rusticae. They aim at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships by measuring characteristics of the distribution of villae rusticae and assessing their statistical significance. This is to validate the first simply visual impression of the clustered organization of villae rusticae. Furthermore, the comparison of the location of villae rusticae with a pre-AD 79 landscape model of the Sarno River plain allows for an identification of paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental factors that may have controlled this spatial distribution.
ABSTRACT Bei kürzlich in Pompeji unternommenen stratigraphischen Grabungen wurde ein Komplex von ... more ABSTRACT Bei kürzlich in Pompeji unternommenen stratigraphischen Grabungen wurde ein Komplex von Wandputzfragmenten geborgen, die in der pompejanischen Malerei bisher völlig unbekannte Formen und Darstellungen aufweisen. Zum einen gehören die Fragmente zu Wandverkleidungen mit figürlichen Friesen und Zahnschnittgesimsen, deren Formen in Malerei imitiert und mit illusionistischen Effekten gesteigert wurden, zum anderen zu einer mit malerischen Mitteln täuschend echt nachgeahmten Kassettendecke aus verschiedenartigen Hölzern, verziert mit Ornamentleisten. Die in das ausgehende 3. oder beginnende 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. zu datierenden Dekorationen lassen Einflüsse hellenistisch-italischer Kunstströme, insbesondere aber Muster etruskischer Grabmalerei erkennen, die einen neuen Akzent zu der aktuellen Frage nach den Vorbildern der hellenistischen Malerei in Pompeji hinzufügen. In dem Beitrag wird das Material zum ersten Mal exemplarisch vorgestellt, werden Herkunft und kultureller Kontext dieser in Pompeji noch singulären Malereizeugnisse diskutiert.
E. Dodd – D. van Limbergen (editors), Methods in ancient wine archaeology. Scientific approaches in Roman contexts , 2024
Pompeii is one of the few places in the Roman world where excellent preservation, due to the erup... more Pompeii is one of the few places in the Roman world where excellent preservation, due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 ce , means that ancient vineyards can be studied in a highly accurate and revealing manner. Furthermore, whereas previous excavations of vineyards were always limited to the hilly region of Vesuvius, the situation on the plain was little known. Th e recent excavation of a Roman vineyard at Scafati, near the river Sarno, is the fi rst comprehensive study of viticulture on the alluvial plain. Th e multidisciplinary analysis and micro-excavations presented here have enhanced our knowledge of Pompeian viticulture and Roman agriculture more broadly. Evidence of more vineyards in the area, along with a dense network of farmsteads (villae rusticae) specialized in wine production, show that grapevines were grown on the plain on a large scale. Th is fl ourishing agricultural sector provides further support for the orientation of the Vesuvian region's economy towards viticulture in the Roman period.
The study aims at analysing human-environment interrelations using the example of the river Sarno... more The study aims at analysing human-environment interrelations using the example of the river Sarno, which drains the basin south of Mt. Somma-Vesuvius. It starts with an overview of the environmental and geomorphological transformation of its estuary from prehistoric times to the burial of the landscape by the eruption in A.D. 79. The diachronic point of view casts light on the lasting effects of the changing topography such as the progradation of both the coastline and the estuary on human activities. It is shown how far the navigable river Sarno, as interface and artery, influenced the socio-economic development of the region in all periods especially in the last centuries as Pompeii controlled the harbour at its mouth.
The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape... more The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape around Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River plain, before the AD 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius. Special attention is drawn on paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental conditions as well as on socio-economic interrelationships particularly related to the ancient rural settlements (villae rusticae) and agricultural land use as well as to the ancient building materials. To gain deeper insight into Roman agricultural practice a geoarchaeological excavation was carried out in direct vicinity to a villa rustica to uncover a pre-AD 79 Roman agricultural soil and conduct multi-disciplinary analyses.
Paisajes productivos y redes comerciales en el Imperio Romano = Productive landscapes and trade networks in the Roman Empire, 2019, ISBN 978-84-9168-263-9, pág. 179, 2019
The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roma... more The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roman period in the hinterland of Pompeii has, so far, yielded a dataset of more than 650 entities. About 140 of them were assigned to Roman farms (villae rusticae) which are believed to have played an important role in ancient rural life and economy of the Sarno River plain. This involves agricultural production not only of food to supply the urban centres Pompeii, Stabiae and Nuceria but also of goods (e.g. wine) to be exported to Rome as well as to the western and eastern Mediterranean. To gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure of the Sarno River plain, this fragmentary dataset on villae rusticae was used to carry out a series of quantitative GIS-based spatial analyses. At first, spatial statistics aimed at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships of the distribution of villae rusticae to validate the first simply visual impression of a clustered organization around the urban centres Pompeii and Stabiae. Subsequently, a predictive modelling approach aimed at determining the potential area that may have been occupied by villae rusticae and agricultural production. This model incorporates paleo-environmental parameters and also tries to quantify some socio-economic parameters that may have controlled the spatial distribution of villae rusticae. For that, a recently generated, pre-AD 79 paleo-landscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized characterizing the ancient topographical conditions before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Finally, quantitative analyses and other GIS-assisted methods result in the reconstruction of the settlement structure in the hinterland of Pompeii, the ager Pompeianus.
ABSTRACT Detailed lithostratigraphic, geochemical, pedological, micromorphological and archaeolog... more ABSTRACT Detailed lithostratigraphic, geochemical, pedological, micromorphological and archaeological analyses were carried out at a stratigraphic sequence of Scafati, about 3 km east of ancient Pompeii. It comprises roughly the last 22,000 years of landscape history consisting of a multilayered succession of repeated volcanic deposition and pedogenesis. The former is caused by several phases of volcanic activity of Somma-Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Ischia, reflecting a large spectrum of eruption types including Plinian, sub-Plinian, Strombolian to Vulcanian and effusive volcanic events. The latter contains phases of volcanic quiescence leading to soil formations of different durations, intensities and soil-forming environments. Furthermore, the paleosols repeatedly reveal clear evidence of anthropogenic activity such as agriculture. Using this multiproxy approach, a holistic landscape evolution model was developed reconstructing the late Pleistocene and Holocene history of volcanic activity, soil formation and land use in the hinterland of Pompeii. This was correlated with the larger-scale climatic and human history of the Campania region.
Nuove ricerche archeologiche a Pompei ed Ercolano, 2005
II progetto dell’Istituto Archeologico Germanico relativo alla Regio VI Insula 16, iniziato nel 1... more II progetto dell’Istituto Archeologico Germanico relativo alla Regio VI Insula 16, iniziato nel 1997, nelle sue linee generali tenta di ricostruire lo sviluppo storico di un quartiere abitativo e commerciale nell'insieme dello spazio urbano e della rete viaria circondante. Tale studio urbanistico e stato avviato sulla base di un dettagliato rilievo architettonico di tutti i resti antichi ancora conservati nell 'area. La documentazione intende non da ultimo contribuire all'indispensabile adeguata edizione della citta antica di Pompei, sempre in gran parte sostanzialmente inedita e minacciata dal degrado. D'altra parte le indagini si appoggiano su saggi stratigrafici condotti allo scopo di chiarire problemi specifici in settori limitati delle case e taberne 19-27 della Regio VI Insula 16 e nell'area della Porta Vesuvio e della Via Vesuvio. L'attività di scavo si è aperta anche ad una preziosa collaborazione con altre discipline, in primo piano la paleobotanica.
Beiträge zur Geschichte der Zentrale des Deutschen Archäologischen instituts, 2019
Die wissenschaftlichen Editionen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts prägen seit fast zwei Ja... more Die wissenschaftlichen Editionen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts prägen seit fast zwei Jahrhunderten nachhaltig die Publikationslandschaft auf dem Feld der internationalen Altertumswissenschaft. Ihr hoher Qualitätsstandard ist weltweit anerkannt. Aus welchen Wurzeln ist die vielfältige Publikationstätigkeit des DAI hervorgegangen? Wie hat sich das Publikationswesens unter den wechselnden historischen, kulturellen und politischen Bedingungen von seinen Anfängen am Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica in Rom 1829 bis in die jüngste Zeit entwickelt? Wie profilieren sich die verschiedenen Editionen, die Corpora, Reihenwerke und Peridodika? Welche Erfolge, aber auch welche Schwierigkeiten begleiteten die Herausgabe der Publikationen? Welche technischen und konzeptionellen Neuerungen veränderten die traditionelle Publikationslandschaft? Welche Bedeutung kommt den Redaktionen zu? Diese hier erstmalig in einem Überblick behandelten Fragen stehen im Fokus des Beitrags von Florian Seiler aus dem Sammelband zur Geschichte der Zentrale des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts.
Productive landscapes and trade networks in the Roman Empire. (Col·lecció Instrumenta ; 65) (=TRAC 2017), 2019
The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roma... more The build-up of a comprehensive GIS database of archaeological evidence of the pre-Roman and Roman period in the hinterland of Pompeii has, so far, yielded a dataset of more than 650 entities. About 140 of them were assigned to Roman farms (villae rusticae) which are believed to have played an important role in ancient rural life and economy of the Sarno River plain. This involves agricultural production not only of food to supply the urban centres Pompeii, Stabiae and Nuceria but also of goods (e.g. wine) to be exported to Rome as well as to the western and eastern Mediterranean. To gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure of the Sarno River plain, this fragmentary dataset on villae rusticae was used to carry out a series of quantitative GIS-based spatial analyses. At first, spatial statistics aimed at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships of the distribution of villae rusticae to validate the first simply visual impression of a clustered organization around the urban centres Pompeii and Stabiae. Subsequently, a predictive modelling approach aimed at determining the potential area that may have been occupied by villae rusticae and agricultural production. This model incorporates paleo-environmental parameters and also tries to quantify some socio-economic parameters that may have controlled the spatial distribution of villae rusticae. For that, a recently generated, pre-AD 79 paleo-landscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized characterizing the ancient topographical conditions before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Finally, quantitative analyses and other GIS-assisted methods result in the reconstruction of the settlement structure in the hinterland of Pompeii, the ager Pompeianus.
From : Nuove ricerche archeologiche nell'area vesuviana. (scavi 2003-2006)
Atti del Convegno Inte... more From : Nuove ricerche archeologiche nell'area vesuviana. (scavi 2003-2006) Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Roma 1-3 febbraio 2007. Edited by Guidobaldi Maria Paola e Guzzo Pietro Giovanni Year: 2008 Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER Series Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 25 ISBN: 978-88-913-0206-9 Pages: 586, 629 ill. B/N
Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied a... more Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, until very recently, the rural settlement in its hinterland had been largely ignored by systematic archaeological research. The ancient landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have played a vital role in ancient rural life and economy and thus represented the interactive rural–urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of published work combined with new fieldwork has yielded a data set of 140 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. Geographic information system based spatial statistics as well as predictive modeling were applied to gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure in relation to the underlying paleoenvironmental and socioeconomic conditions. A high-resolution pre-A.D. 79 paleolandscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized. The aim of this paper is to address theoretical considerations, the methodological implementation, and the archaeological discussion of the analysis of the ancient rural settlements and agriculture around Pompeii. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape... more The SALVE-research project (www.salve-research.org) aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape around Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River plain, before the AD 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius. Special attention is drawn on paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental conditions as well as on socio-economic interrelationships particularly related to the ancient rural settlements (villae rusticae) and agricultural land use as well as to the ancient building materials. To gain deeper insight into Roman agricultural practice a geoarchaeological excavation was carried out in direct vicinity to a villa rustica to uncover a pre-AD 79 Roman agricultural soil and conduct multi-disciplinary analyses.
Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied a... more Pompeii, buried by the explosive A.D. 79 eruption of Somma-Vesuvius, is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, until very recently, the rural settlement in its hinterland had been largely ignored by systematic archaeological research. The ancient landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have played a vital role in ancient rural life and economy and thus represented the interactive rural–urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of published work combined with new fieldwork has yielded a data set of 140 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. Geographic information system based spatial statistics as well as predictive modeling were applied to gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement structure in relation to the underlying paleoenvironmental and socioeconomic conditions. A high-resolution pre-A.D. 79 paleolandscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized. The aim of this paper is to address theoretical considerations, the methodological implementation, and the archaeological discussion of the analysis of the ancient rural settlements and agriculture around Pompeii. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
CAA2011 - Revive the Past: Proceedings of the 39th Conference in Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Beijing, China, 12-16 April 2011, 2011
During the Plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 almost the entire Sarno River Plain (Campa... more During the Plinian eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 almost the entire Sarno River Plain (Campania, Italy) was more or less instantly covered by thick volcanic deposits. This contributed to a good preservation of the palaeo-surface and the palaeo-environmental conditions before AD 79. Since the AD 79 volcanic deposits can be clearly distinguished from other stratigraphic layers they can be considered as a chronostratigraphic marker for identifying the pre-AD 79 palaeo-surface in the Sarno River Plain. The objective of this geoarchaeological study was to reconstruct the pre-AD 79 topography and selected palaeo-environmental features of the Sarno River Plain by modelling the thickness of the post-AD 79 deposits. Thus a methodology was developed that is based on an extensive dataset of stratigraphic information, a high-resolution present-day digital elevation model (DEM) and a classification and regression tree approach.
Short abstract
Pompeii is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, its... more Short abstract Pompeii is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, its hinterland, which was densely populated by rural settlements, is a widely uncharted region. Roman farms (villae rusticae) are representative of rural settlement and agricultural production in Roman and pre-Roman times. From the literature and own field work we have generated a dataset of a total of about 150 villae rusticae. Their geographical location was digitised and georeferenced using geographic information systems (GIS). First insights on the organization of villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain are to be revealed by spatial analysis based on GIS and spatial statistics.
Extended abstract Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 and excavated for more than 260 years, is one of the most studied and best known ancient cities in the Roman world. Until today the archaeological research activity in that area has been particularly focused on the urban settlements like Pompeii or Stabiae. However, the cities cannot be considered to be in total isolation from their hinterland in which they were geographically, politically and culturally embedded and from which they were economically dependent. The rural landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have been of vital importance for agricultural production and food supply to the cities and thus represented the interactive rural-urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of the bibliographical references and own field work yielded a dataset of about 150 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. The findings were localised and geo-referenced using geographic information systems (GIS). From the current perspective it can be observed that the villae rusticae were not distributed equally across the entire plain, but clustered in the surroundings of Pompeii and Stabiae whereas other parts show no or only sporadic findings of villae. The principal question arises if this unequal distribution of the villae results (i) from random findings of the more or less intensive archaeological activity or (ii) from the ancient rural settlement pattern which may have favoured the establishment of villae rusticae in the vicinity of the urban centres. To approach this question, quantitative methods of spatial analysis using GIS and spatial statistics will be applied on the dataset of villae rusticae. They aim at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships by measuring characteristics of the distribution of villae rusticae and assessing their statistical significance. This is to validate the first simply visual impression of the clustered organization of villae rusticae. Furthermore, the comparison of the location of villae rusticae with a pre-AD 79 landscape model of the Sarno River plain allows for an identification of paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental factors that may have controlled this spatial distribution.
Progettato e organizzato dal Parco Archeologico di Pompei, con la collaborazione dell'Università ... more Progettato e organizzato dal Parco Archeologico di Pompei, con la collaborazione dell'Università di Bologna, l'incontro intende contribuire alla migliore conoscenza e alla valorizzazione delle forme e dei modi d'uso del territorio in un ampio areale esteso dalle falde del Vesuvio alla piana del Sarno e alla penisola sorrentina. Articolato in più sessioni, che vedranno la partecipazione di studiosi italiani e stranieri, il con-vegno proporrà una rilettura critica dello stato delle conoscenze, alla luce di dati inediti e sulla base di un riesame contestuale di complessi già noti, ma tuttora in attesa di analisi sistematiche. Per informazioni: extramoenia2017@gmail.com This conference has been conceived and organized by Parco Archeologico Pompei, in collaboration with the University of Bologna. It aims at improving the understanding and appreciation of the different ways in which the territory of a large area—extending from the slopes of Vesuvius to the Sarno Plain and the Sorrento Peninsula—was used and settled. The conference, with its various sessions featuring Italian and foreign scholars, will present a critical assessment of the state of our knowledge in the light of unpublished data and of a contex-tual reexamination of sites which, although already known, are still awaiting a systematic study. in collaborazione con
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Papers by Florian Seiler
Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Roma 1-3 febbraio 2007.
Edited by Guidobaldi Maria Paola e Guzzo Pietro Giovanni
Year: 2008
Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Series
Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 25
ISBN: 978-88-913-0206-9
Pages: 586, 629 ill. B/N
(C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
systematic investigation of published work combined with new fieldwork has yielded a data set of 140 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. Geographic information system based spatial statistics as well as predictive modeling were applied to gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement
structure in relation to the underlying paleoenvironmental and socioeconomic conditions. A high-resolution pre-A.D. 79 paleolandscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized. The aim of this paper is to address theoretical considerations,
the methodological implementation, and the archaeological discussion of the analysis of the ancient rural settlements and agriculture around Pompeii.
(C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Pompeii is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, its hinterland, which was densely populated by rural settlements, is a widely uncharted region. Roman farms (villae rusticae) are representative of rural settlement and agricultural production in Roman and pre-Roman times. From the literature and own field work we have generated a dataset of a total of about 150 villae rusticae. Their geographical location was digitised and georeferenced using geographic information systems (GIS). First insights on the organization of villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain are to be revealed by spatial analysis based on GIS and spatial statistics.
Extended abstract
Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 and excavated for more than 260 years, is one of the most studied and best known ancient cities in the Roman world. Until today the archaeological research activity in that area has been particularly focused on the urban settlements like Pompeii or Stabiae. However, the cities cannot be considered to be in total isolation from their hinterland in which they were geographically, politically and culturally embedded and from which they were economically dependent. The rural landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have been of vital importance for agricultural production and food supply to the cities and thus represented the interactive rural-urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of the bibliographical references and own field work yielded a dataset of about 150 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. The findings were localised and geo-referenced using geographic information systems (GIS). From the current perspective it can be observed that the villae rusticae were not distributed equally across the entire plain, but clustered in the surroundings of Pompeii and Stabiae whereas other parts show no or only sporadic findings of villae. The principal question arises if this unequal distribution of the villae results (i) from random findings of the more or less intensive archaeological activity or (ii) from the ancient rural settlement pattern which may have favoured the establishment of villae rusticae in the vicinity of the urban centres. To approach this question, quantitative methods of spatial analysis using GIS and spatial statistics will be applied on the dataset of villae rusticae. They aim at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships by measuring characteristics of the distribution of villae rusticae and assessing their statistical significance. This is to validate the first simply visual impression of the clustered organization of villae rusticae. Furthermore, the comparison of the location of villae rusticae with a pre-AD 79 landscape model of the Sarno River plain allows for an identification of paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental factors that may have controlled this spatial distribution.
Atti del Convegno Internazionale, Roma 1-3 febbraio 2007.
Edited by Guidobaldi Maria Paola e Guzzo Pietro Giovanni
Year: 2008
Edizione: L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER
Series
Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 25
ISBN: 978-88-913-0206-9
Pages: 586, 629 ill. B/N
(C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
systematic investigation of published work combined with new fieldwork has yielded a data set of 140 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. Geographic information system based spatial statistics as well as predictive modeling were applied to gain a more detailed understanding of the ancient rural settlement
structure in relation to the underlying paleoenvironmental and socioeconomic conditions. A high-resolution pre-A.D. 79 paleolandscape model of the Sarno River plain was utilized. The aim of this paper is to address theoretical considerations,
the methodological implementation, and the archaeological discussion of the analysis of the ancient rural settlements and agriculture around Pompeii.
(C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Pompeii is one of the most studied ancient cities in the Roman world. However, its hinterland, which was densely populated by rural settlements, is a widely uncharted region. Roman farms (villae rusticae) are representative of rural settlement and agricultural production in Roman and pre-Roman times. From the literature and own field work we have generated a dataset of a total of about 150 villae rusticae. Their geographical location was digitised and georeferenced using geographic information systems (GIS). First insights on the organization of villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain are to be revealed by spatial analysis based on GIS and spatial statistics.
Extended abstract
Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in AD 79 and excavated for more than 260 years, is one of the most studied and best known ancient cities in the Roman world. Until today the archaeological research activity in that area has been particularly focused on the urban settlements like Pompeii or Stabiae. However, the cities cannot be considered to be in total isolation from their hinterland in which they were geographically, politically and culturally embedded and from which they were economically dependent. The rural landscape around Pompeii consisted of a dense network of Roman farms (villae rusticae). They are believed to have been of vital importance for agricultural production and food supply to the cities and thus represented the interactive rural-urban relationship in the Sarno River plain. The systematic investigation of the bibliographical references and own field work yielded a dataset of about 150 villae rusticae in the Sarno River plain. The findings were localised and geo-referenced using geographic information systems (GIS). From the current perspective it can be observed that the villae rusticae were not distributed equally across the entire plain, but clustered in the surroundings of Pompeii and Stabiae whereas other parts show no or only sporadic findings of villae. The principal question arises if this unequal distribution of the villae results (i) from random findings of the more or less intensive archaeological activity or (ii) from the ancient rural settlement pattern which may have favoured the establishment of villae rusticae in the vicinity of the urban centres. To approach this question, quantitative methods of spatial analysis using GIS and spatial statistics will be applied on the dataset of villae rusticae. They aim at recognizing spatial patterns, trends and relationships by measuring characteristics of the distribution of villae rusticae and assessing their statistical significance. This is to validate the first simply visual impression of the clustered organization of villae rusticae. Furthermore, the comparison of the location of villae rusticae with a pre-AD 79 landscape model of the Sarno River plain allows for an identification of paleo-topographical and paleo-environmental factors that may have controlled this spatial distribution.