Umberto Moscatelli is Associate Professor in Landscape Archaeology at Macerata University. At present, his research concerns both the evolution of landscapes from the Late Roman Period to the Middle Ages and the landscapes of mountain areas. He has a special interest in G.I.S. and currently directs in central Italy the field project R.I.M.E.M. (Ricerche sugli Insediamenti Medievali nell’Entroterra Marchigiano). He is member of S.A.M.I. (Società degli Archeologi Medievisti Italiani).
Gli Autori del contributo illustrano i risultati di una campagna di ricognizioni organizzata nell... more Gli Autori del contributo illustrano i risultati di una campagna di ricognizioni organizzata nell’entroterra maceratese, in un settore compreso tra le alte valli dei fiumi Chienti e Fiastra. La principale finalità del progetto R.I.M.E.M. è al momento lo studio delle modalità di transizione del popolamento rurale tra tardoantico e altomedioevo La ricerca prevede l’informatizzazione della documentazione raccolta sul campo ai fini della realizzazione di un SIT, orientato alla ricerca, nel quale sono confluiti i dati raccolti sul campo. Ulteriori tematismi sono in corso di acquisizione e sono inoltre in corso di elaborazione procedure di analisi automatizzate. Tra i materiali raccolti prevalgono le ceramiche comuni, rappresentate princi-palmente da olle e forme aperte per la cottura dei cibi, con variazioni nel colore degli impasti nel passaggio dal tardoantico al medioevo. La ceramica depurata presenta mor-fologie destinate a trasportare e a contenere liquidi per la tavola, con evidente calo di at-testazioni dopo l’età classica. Significativa per il periodo altomedievale la presenza di contenitori come catini-coperchio, paioli a cestello e frammenti di pietra ollare. Tra le ceramiche rivestite prevalgono reperti che rimangono lontani da standard di eccellenza, con l’esclusione di alcuni frammenti di maiolica arcaica. Le produzioni attestate dai rinvenimenti si inseriscono in quelle d’uso comune e quotidiano, sia per quanto riguarda la ceramica da cucina sia per quella fine da mensa, rarissimi gli esemplari da ascriversi a produzioni di pregio.
Foreward to the Archaeology of Europe’s mountain areas: methods, problems and case studies, edite... more Foreward to the Archaeology of Europe’s mountain areas: methods, problems and case studies, edited by Umberto Moscatelli & Anna Maria Stagno Special issue of "Il capitale Culturale", 2, 2015
This paper concerns the methodological aspects and some main results of a archaeological
survey c... more This paper concerns the methodological aspects and some main results of a archaeological survey carried out since 2006 in the inland of the Marche Region and related to the R.I.M.E.M. project (the Italian acronym corresponds to the English “Researches on the Medieval Settlement in the Marchean Inland”. The article is strictly linked to the other papers published in this special issue, all concerning the same project, and in a special way to the three essays focused on the pottery fi nds, presented by Ana Konestra, Eleonora Paris and Sonia Virgili. In the fi rst section the Author reports about the hard methodological problems faced in the course of the research: 1. Geomorphological features. All the surveyed area is characterized by hilly and mountainous lands, interspersed with a few fi elds having a lower slope. This activates strong slope processes, landslides and colluvial deposits that make diffi cult the reading of the archeological record. 2. Vegetation cover. The inland areas are affected by a low population density because of the depopulation phenomenon increased after World War II, even due to the strong industrialization of the middle valleys and of the coast. By consequence, the cultivation of many fi elds has been abandoned, resulting in a wide spread of forests and uncultivated lands. In short, a large number of fi elds has a low or no visibility, and only about the 40% of the whole area is suitable for survey in plowed zones. 3. Pottery fragmentation. The mechanized farming techniques produce a strong fragmentation of the archaeological fi nds, making seriously complicated the typological and chronological classifi cation. 4. Lack of knowledge. Medieval archaeology is not a widespread discipline in the Marche; then the shortage of published stratigraphic sequences represents a further impediment to the interpretation of archaeological data collected, even because the majority of the pottery sherds is constituted by coarse wares. 5. As for the time span between the Roman Republican period and the Xth century A.D., only a very small part of the sherds was diagnostic (less than 17% of the selected material; less than 2.4 % of the whole). 6. All the problems listed above make very diffi cult the classifi cation of the sites and the interpretation of the great amount of off-sites, apart from the main materials concentrations, attributable to sites clearly recognizable in situ. In the second section of the paper, the methodological – technical aspects of the survey are illustrated. As the R.I.M.E.M. project relies on a diachronic approach, a very intensive analysis has been applied, based on a grid survey in each fi eld (10 x 10 m squares); this is the only way to gather the markers of Early Medieval Period and others characterized by a low/very low visibility, and to prevent the biases due to the inexperience of the students engaged in the survey. All the fi eld activities are recorded in several forms, which the author encloses to his essay. Finally, the paper illustrates some results of the survey in some selected settlement areas, especially focusing on the rural settlement evolution between the Late Roman Period and X-XIth centuries. In addition to previous geophysical analysis and aerial photos taken from low-fl ying airplanes, is parsed here the contribution provided by the pottery fi ndings (see Konestra, Paris and Virgili in this same issue). Despite of the problems described above, the archaeological sources – contrary to an old approach based only on documentary sources – allow us to understand that the LONG ABTRACTS 835 transition between the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Ages did not correspond to an abandonment of the settlement areas, but rather to a change, the details of which however still escape us.
This paper reports on a set of intensive field survey by a team of the Macerata University (Dept.... more This paper reports on a set of intensive field survey by a team of the Macerata University (Dept. of Cultural Heritage) in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the Marche region of central Adriatic Italy. The field survey is linked to the R.I.M.E.M. project, carried out since 2004 and aimed at an understanding of the landscape evolution in the region inland. The interventionscomprise surface artifact surveys, topographic surveys, low-altitude aerial photography andpottery studies. The authors add a new contribution to the investigation of rural settlementin the transition from Late Roman period to the Early Middle Ages through the analysis of some sites.
Gli Autori del contributo illustrano i risultati di una campagna di ricognizioni organizzata nell... more Gli Autori del contributo illustrano i risultati di una campagna di ricognizioni organizzata nell’entroterra maceratese, in un settore compreso tra le alte valli dei fiumi Chienti e Fiastra. La principale finalità del progetto R.I.M.E.M. è al momento lo studio delle modalità di transizione del popolamento rurale tra tardoantico e altomedioevo La ricerca prevede l’informatizzazione della documentazione raccolta sul campo ai fini della realizzazione di un SIT, orientato alla ricerca, nel quale sono confluiti i dati raccolti sul campo. Ulteriori tematismi sono in corso di acquisizione e sono inoltre in corso di elaborazione procedure di analisi automatizzate. Tra i materiali raccolti prevalgono le ceramiche comuni, rappresentate princi-palmente da olle e forme aperte per la cottura dei cibi, con variazioni nel colore degli impasti nel passaggio dal tardoantico al medioevo. La ceramica depurata presenta mor-fologie destinate a trasportare e a contenere liquidi per la tavola, con evidente calo di at-testazioni dopo l’età classica. Significativa per il periodo altomedievale la presenza di contenitori come catini-coperchio, paioli a cestello e frammenti di pietra ollare. Tra le ceramiche rivestite prevalgono reperti che rimangono lontani da standard di eccellenza, con l’esclusione di alcuni frammenti di maiolica arcaica. Le produzioni attestate dai rinvenimenti si inseriscono in quelle d’uso comune e quotidiano, sia per quanto riguarda la ceramica da cucina sia per quella fine da mensa, rarissimi gli esemplari da ascriversi a produzioni di pregio.
Foreward to the Archaeology of Europe’s mountain areas: methods, problems and case studies, edite... more Foreward to the Archaeology of Europe’s mountain areas: methods, problems and case studies, edited by Umberto Moscatelli & Anna Maria Stagno Special issue of "Il capitale Culturale", 2, 2015
This paper concerns the methodological aspects and some main results of a archaeological
survey c... more This paper concerns the methodological aspects and some main results of a archaeological survey carried out since 2006 in the inland of the Marche Region and related to the R.I.M.E.M. project (the Italian acronym corresponds to the English “Researches on the Medieval Settlement in the Marchean Inland”. The article is strictly linked to the other papers published in this special issue, all concerning the same project, and in a special way to the three essays focused on the pottery fi nds, presented by Ana Konestra, Eleonora Paris and Sonia Virgili. In the fi rst section the Author reports about the hard methodological problems faced in the course of the research: 1. Geomorphological features. All the surveyed area is characterized by hilly and mountainous lands, interspersed with a few fi elds having a lower slope. This activates strong slope processes, landslides and colluvial deposits that make diffi cult the reading of the archeological record. 2. Vegetation cover. The inland areas are affected by a low population density because of the depopulation phenomenon increased after World War II, even due to the strong industrialization of the middle valleys and of the coast. By consequence, the cultivation of many fi elds has been abandoned, resulting in a wide spread of forests and uncultivated lands. In short, a large number of fi elds has a low or no visibility, and only about the 40% of the whole area is suitable for survey in plowed zones. 3. Pottery fragmentation. The mechanized farming techniques produce a strong fragmentation of the archaeological fi nds, making seriously complicated the typological and chronological classifi cation. 4. Lack of knowledge. Medieval archaeology is not a widespread discipline in the Marche; then the shortage of published stratigraphic sequences represents a further impediment to the interpretation of archaeological data collected, even because the majority of the pottery sherds is constituted by coarse wares. 5. As for the time span between the Roman Republican period and the Xth century A.D., only a very small part of the sherds was diagnostic (less than 17% of the selected material; less than 2.4 % of the whole). 6. All the problems listed above make very diffi cult the classifi cation of the sites and the interpretation of the great amount of off-sites, apart from the main materials concentrations, attributable to sites clearly recognizable in situ. In the second section of the paper, the methodological – technical aspects of the survey are illustrated. As the R.I.M.E.M. project relies on a diachronic approach, a very intensive analysis has been applied, based on a grid survey in each fi eld (10 x 10 m squares); this is the only way to gather the markers of Early Medieval Period and others characterized by a low/very low visibility, and to prevent the biases due to the inexperience of the students engaged in the survey. All the fi eld activities are recorded in several forms, which the author encloses to his essay. Finally, the paper illustrates some results of the survey in some selected settlement areas, especially focusing on the rural settlement evolution between the Late Roman Period and X-XIth centuries. In addition to previous geophysical analysis and aerial photos taken from low-fl ying airplanes, is parsed here the contribution provided by the pottery fi ndings (see Konestra, Paris and Virgili in this same issue). Despite of the problems described above, the archaeological sources – contrary to an old approach based only on documentary sources – allow us to understand that the LONG ABTRACTS 835 transition between the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Ages did not correspond to an abandonment of the settlement areas, but rather to a change, the details of which however still escape us.
This paper reports on a set of intensive field survey by a team of the Macerata University (Dept.... more This paper reports on a set of intensive field survey by a team of the Macerata University (Dept. of Cultural Heritage) in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in the Marche region of central Adriatic Italy. The field survey is linked to the R.I.M.E.M. project, carried out since 2004 and aimed at an understanding of the landscape evolution in the region inland. The interventionscomprise surface artifact surveys, topographic surveys, low-altitude aerial photography andpottery studies. The authors add a new contribution to the investigation of rural settlementin the transition from Late Roman period to the Early Middle Ages through the analysis of some sites.
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Papers by Umberto Moscatelli
La ricerca prevede l’informatizzazione della documentazione raccolta sul campo ai fini della realizzazione di un SIT, orientato alla ricerca, nel quale sono confluiti i dati raccolti sul campo. Ulteriori tematismi sono in corso di acquisizione e sono inoltre in corso di elaborazione procedure di analisi automatizzate.
Tra i materiali raccolti prevalgono le ceramiche comuni, rappresentate princi-palmente da olle e forme aperte per la cottura dei cibi, con variazioni nel colore degli impasti nel passaggio dal tardoantico al medioevo. La ceramica depurata presenta mor-fologie destinate a trasportare e a contenere liquidi per la tavola, con evidente calo di at-testazioni dopo l’età classica. Significativa per il periodo altomedievale la presenza di contenitori come catini-coperchio, paioli a cestello e frammenti di pietra ollare.
Tra le ceramiche rivestite prevalgono reperti che rimangono lontani da standard di eccellenza, con l’esclusione di alcuni frammenti di maiolica arcaica. Le produzioni attestate dai rinvenimenti si inseriscono in quelle d’uso comune e quotidiano, sia per quanto riguarda la ceramica da cucina sia per quella fine da mensa, rarissimi gli esemplari da ascriversi a produzioni di pregio.
Special issue of "Il capitale Culturale", 2, 2015
survey carried out since 2006 in the inland of the Marche Region and related to the
R.I.M.E.M. project (the Italian acronym corresponds to the English “Researches on the
Medieval Settlement in the Marchean Inland”. The article is strictly linked to the other
papers published in this special issue, all concerning the same project, and in a special way
to the three essays focused on the pottery fi nds, presented by Ana Konestra, Eleonora Paris
and Sonia Virgili.
In the fi rst section the Author reports about the hard methodological problems faced in the
course of the research:
1. Geomorphological features. All the surveyed area is characterized by hilly and
mountainous lands, interspersed with a few fi elds having a lower slope. This activates
strong slope processes, landslides and colluvial deposits that make diffi cult the reading of
the archeological record.
2. Vegetation cover. The inland areas are affected by a low population density because
of the depopulation phenomenon increased after World War II, even due to the strong
industrialization of the middle valleys and of the coast. By consequence, the cultivation
of many fi elds has been abandoned, resulting in a wide spread of forests and uncultivated
lands. In short, a large number of fi elds has a low or no visibility, and only about the 40%
of the whole area is suitable for survey in plowed zones.
3. Pottery fragmentation. The mechanized farming techniques produce a strong
fragmentation of the archaeological fi nds, making seriously complicated the typological and
chronological classifi cation.
4. Lack of knowledge. Medieval archaeology is not a widespread discipline in the Marche;
then the shortage of published stratigraphic sequences represents a further impediment to
the interpretation of archaeological data collected, even because the majority of the pottery
sherds is constituted by coarse wares.
5. As for the time span between the Roman Republican period and the Xth century A.D.,
only a very small part of the sherds was diagnostic (less than 17% of the selected material;
less than 2.4 % of the whole).
6. All the problems listed above make very diffi cult the classifi cation of the sites and the
interpretation of the great amount of off-sites, apart from the main materials concentrations,
attributable to sites clearly recognizable in situ.
In the second section of the paper, the methodological – technical aspects of the survey
are illustrated. As the R.I.M.E.M. project relies on a diachronic approach, a very intensive
analysis has been applied, based on a grid survey in each fi eld (10 x 10 m squares); this is
the only way to gather the markers of Early Medieval Period and others characterized by
a low/very low visibility, and to prevent the biases due to the inexperience of the students
engaged in the survey.
All the fi eld activities are recorded in several forms, which the author encloses to his essay.
Finally, the paper illustrates some results of the survey in some selected settlement areas,
especially focusing on the rural settlement evolution between the Late Roman Period and
X-XIth centuries.
In addition to previous geophysical analysis and aerial photos taken from low-fl ying
airplanes, is parsed here the contribution provided by the pottery fi ndings (see Konestra,
Paris and Virgili in this same issue).
Despite of the problems described above, the archaeological sources – contrary to an
old approach based only on documentary sources – allow us to understand that the
LONG ABTRACTS 835
transition between the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Ages did not correspond to an
abandonment of the settlement areas, but rather to a change, the details of which however
still escape us.
La ricerca prevede l’informatizzazione della documentazione raccolta sul campo ai fini della realizzazione di un SIT, orientato alla ricerca, nel quale sono confluiti i dati raccolti sul campo. Ulteriori tematismi sono in corso di acquisizione e sono inoltre in corso di elaborazione procedure di analisi automatizzate.
Tra i materiali raccolti prevalgono le ceramiche comuni, rappresentate princi-palmente da olle e forme aperte per la cottura dei cibi, con variazioni nel colore degli impasti nel passaggio dal tardoantico al medioevo. La ceramica depurata presenta mor-fologie destinate a trasportare e a contenere liquidi per la tavola, con evidente calo di at-testazioni dopo l’età classica. Significativa per il periodo altomedievale la presenza di contenitori come catini-coperchio, paioli a cestello e frammenti di pietra ollare.
Tra le ceramiche rivestite prevalgono reperti che rimangono lontani da standard di eccellenza, con l’esclusione di alcuni frammenti di maiolica arcaica. Le produzioni attestate dai rinvenimenti si inseriscono in quelle d’uso comune e quotidiano, sia per quanto riguarda la ceramica da cucina sia per quella fine da mensa, rarissimi gli esemplari da ascriversi a produzioni di pregio.
Special issue of "Il capitale Culturale", 2, 2015
survey carried out since 2006 in the inland of the Marche Region and related to the
R.I.M.E.M. project (the Italian acronym corresponds to the English “Researches on the
Medieval Settlement in the Marchean Inland”. The article is strictly linked to the other
papers published in this special issue, all concerning the same project, and in a special way
to the three essays focused on the pottery fi nds, presented by Ana Konestra, Eleonora Paris
and Sonia Virgili.
In the fi rst section the Author reports about the hard methodological problems faced in the
course of the research:
1. Geomorphological features. All the surveyed area is characterized by hilly and
mountainous lands, interspersed with a few fi elds having a lower slope. This activates
strong slope processes, landslides and colluvial deposits that make diffi cult the reading of
the archeological record.
2. Vegetation cover. The inland areas are affected by a low population density because
of the depopulation phenomenon increased after World War II, even due to the strong
industrialization of the middle valleys and of the coast. By consequence, the cultivation
of many fi elds has been abandoned, resulting in a wide spread of forests and uncultivated
lands. In short, a large number of fi elds has a low or no visibility, and only about the 40%
of the whole area is suitable for survey in plowed zones.
3. Pottery fragmentation. The mechanized farming techniques produce a strong
fragmentation of the archaeological fi nds, making seriously complicated the typological and
chronological classifi cation.
4. Lack of knowledge. Medieval archaeology is not a widespread discipline in the Marche;
then the shortage of published stratigraphic sequences represents a further impediment to
the interpretation of archaeological data collected, even because the majority of the pottery
sherds is constituted by coarse wares.
5. As for the time span between the Roman Republican period and the Xth century A.D.,
only a very small part of the sherds was diagnostic (less than 17% of the selected material;
less than 2.4 % of the whole).
6. All the problems listed above make very diffi cult the classifi cation of the sites and the
interpretation of the great amount of off-sites, apart from the main materials concentrations,
attributable to sites clearly recognizable in situ.
In the second section of the paper, the methodological – technical aspects of the survey
are illustrated. As the R.I.M.E.M. project relies on a diachronic approach, a very intensive
analysis has been applied, based on a grid survey in each fi eld (10 x 10 m squares); this is
the only way to gather the markers of Early Medieval Period and others characterized by
a low/very low visibility, and to prevent the biases due to the inexperience of the students
engaged in the survey.
All the fi eld activities are recorded in several forms, which the author encloses to his essay.
Finally, the paper illustrates some results of the survey in some selected settlement areas,
especially focusing on the rural settlement evolution between the Late Roman Period and
X-XIth centuries.
In addition to previous geophysical analysis and aerial photos taken from low-fl ying
airplanes, is parsed here the contribution provided by the pottery fi ndings (see Konestra,
Paris and Virgili in this same issue).
Despite of the problems described above, the archaeological sources – contrary to an
old approach based only on documentary sources – allow us to understand that the
LONG ABTRACTS 835
transition between the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Ages did not correspond to an
abandonment of the settlement areas, but rather to a change, the details of which however
still escape us.