Apulian prehistoric community connections: Preliminary results of GIS analysis and field activity

In a selected area in the region of Apulia, Italy, an ongoing project is currently dealing with the comprehension of how prehistoric communities moved in their territory and how they exploited the landscape during the Neolithic and the early Bronze Age. Apulia is especially interesting in early prehistory. It is characterized by fertile soils, a favourable climate and an abundance of valuable raw materials, especially high-quality flint, and obsidian sources off the coast. Thus, the density of settlements is very high through all of prehistory, and it is not surprising that the region played an important role as a bridge between the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the inner peninsular areas during pre- and protohistoric times. Ideas, artefacts and people travelled from east to west and from north to south. The scope of the work presented here is based on a collection and re-evaluation of sites from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in northern Apulia. We outline the results of first GIS analysis (visibility analysis and leastcost path analysis) which were conducted in order to understand the networks of ties and relationships between sites. Furthermore, we describe the results of surveys undertaken to verify the position of sites, their chronological setting and their placement in the landscape. The high percentage of finds, mostly pottery sherds and a modest quantity of flint, confirms the placement of settlements recorded during the 70 s and allows examine the relationship between the sites in depth in the course of time and how the communities related with their landscape.