Archeologia dei Paesaggi in Bassa Romagna. Il progetto "Bassa Romandiola" (2009-2016)

In this paper we are presenting the preliminary results of an archaeological landscape project started by the University of Bologna in 2009, focusing on the north-western part of the Ravenna province, an area called Unione dei Comuni della Bassa Romagna. The main aim of the project is to investigate the medieval settlement patterns of a territory never systematically studied before, and, possibly, to relate these with the pre-existing ones of the Roman period. For this reason, artefact survey was carried out on a sample area, selected on the basis of the existing archaeological and geomorphological knowledge. During the first 4 campaigns, 62 sq. km were investigated, out of a total of 150 of the sample. Thanks to the collected results, it is now possible to question the previous hypotheses, that used to see this territory as “static”, considering both the settlement patterns and the socio-economic structures. Indeed, the survey allowed us to identify rural nucleated settlements from the IX-X centuries, and then, a selection of these sites during the XIII century, when many were abandoned in favour of larger villages. This process was due to the intervention of the major powers of the time, like counts, bishops and communes, powerful enough to modify the pre-existing settlement patterns.