Survey in het dal van de Astura, 2003

Samenvatting

The article discusses the Astura 2003 campaign of the ongoing Pontine Region Project directed by Peter Attema. The fieldwork, covering the left bank of the lower Astura river valley, consisted of two surveys: – an intensive, systematic survey of accessible fields, aimed at mapping the distribution of prehistoric, protohistoric and Roman archaeological remains over the landscape;– an intensive, systematic survey of accessible fields, aimed at mapping the distribution of prehistoric, protohistoric and Roman archaeological remains over the landscape;– revisiting the known (Roman) sites in the area, for a better understanding of the chronology of these sites. The preliminary results of the surveys show how the Astura valley was in use from the Middle Palaeolithic period onwards. In the late Iron Age and Archaic periods, the density of rural occupation increased sharply. Many of these sites show continuity into the Roman Republican period and, to a lesser extent, the early and middle Imperial periods.