Inner Sabina before Rome: Landscape, Settlement, and Society in the Central Apennines

Quasar, 2026. Isbn: 978-88-5491-744-6. Pagine: 384 - For centuries, the mountain regions of central Italy have occupied a marginal place in historical narratives of pre-Roman Italy, often portrayed as peripheral, isolated, or resistant to change. This volume challenges that view through a comprehensive archaeological reconstruction of the inner Sabina, the upland territory mostly straddling the modern regions of Lazio and Umbria, geographically framed by the river Nera, the Sibillini mountains, the Velino valley, and the Reatini range, and centred in the Roman period on the town of Nursia (modern Norcia). Focusing on the first millennium BC up to the Roman conquest traditionally associated with the campaign of Manius Curius Dentatus in 290 BC, the book explores how local communities structured their territories, organised mobility, exploited resources, and negotiated social relationships across a demanding mountain environment. Combining landscape archaeology, settlement analysis, and GIS-based spatial modelling, it reconstructs patterns of settlement, connectivity, and land use in order to offer a fundamentally new picture of this region. Rather than a marginal or static world, the inner Sabina emerges as a dynamic landscape shaped by communities capable of developing complex territorial strategies and forms of social organisation. By situating this case study within wider debates on ancient landscapes and human–environment relationships, the volume offers a broader contribution to the archaeology of mountain societies and pre-Roman Italy. Sommario: Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1: Theoretical Premise The Category of SEF and Archaeological Reconstruction: History, Applications and Possible New Path Chapter 2: The Geomorphological Context The Mountains The Apennines The Case Study Area Geomorphology Geology Hydrography The Paleoclimate Chapter 3: The Historical Context The Sabines History of the Studies The Ancient Literary Sources The Epigraphic Sources The Archaeological Sources The case study area Modern Conceptualisations on the Apennines Italic Societies Chapter 4: Methodology The Cascia Survey: Campaigns 2016-2022 Chapter 5: The Archaeological Analysis The Archaeological Evidence From the Case Study Territory The Cemetery of Opaco, Caseificio Grifolatte. Elements for a Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Chapter 6: The Economy Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Salt Commerce Forests, Wildlands, and Other Resources Long-Term Trajectories of Landscape Exploitation: Preliminary Notes Chapter 7: The Settlement Patterns Developments After the Roman Conquest: Preliminary Observations Chapter 8: The Communities of Inner Sabina: A Mountain Society Conclusions Annexes Bibliography List of Illustrations.…