Verucchio and its Hinterland. Landscape Archaeology in the Valmarecchia

Abstract

The special position occupied in prehistoric research by the proto-urban centre of Verucchio in southern Romagna can be explained not only in the extraordinary finds that have been made in its necropolis but also in its position as an Etruscan bridgehead in Umbrian territory. However, the history of the origins of the settlement and its zone of influence are largely unexplored. The project Verucchio: City Development and Trade Links, Eleventh-Seventh Century BC, supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), aims to address this desideratum at various levels such as survey, settlement patterns, trade routes and raw material supply. Research focuses on the areas directly adjacent to the valley of the river Marecchia, the main trade route between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Adriatic coast in this area. Between 2009 and 2013 an archaeological landscape survey was successfully carried out and will be completed in 2015. Particular attention is being paid to topographically favoured hilltops and plateaus. In most of these locations archaeological remains with varying degrees of clarity can be identified through systematic site inspections. During the previous five survey campaigns more than 200 sites dating from the Stone Age to the Roman Imperial Age have been located. This preliminary paper aims to give an overview of the most important known and some of the newly discovered archaeological sites in the Marecchia Valley.