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Remain of Roman land divisions in the south-eastern area. (A) Orthophoto (2003) and plan of the vectorized structures; (B) Vectorized structures (indicated by red arrows) superimposed to the Local Dominance visualization of DEM (10-20 m search radius); (C) vectorized structures (red), modern field divisions recorded in the FCM (light blue).
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The extensive analysis of remote-sensed data (among which ALS-derived images) and fieldwork carried out in the Trieste Karst (N–E Italy) have shed light on archaeological landscapes largely unknown until recent years. The chronological definition of this complex palimpsest was based on the collection of findings associated to the archeological evid...
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... In recent years, the free availability of large sets of high-resolution LiDAR data in the north-eastern regions of Italy and Slovenia, has greatly impacted on the archaeological knowledge of the northern Adriatic, allowing for the detection and documentation of several unreported archaeological stone architectures and structures especially in the vegetated environments of the Classic Karst region (Mlekuž 2015;Bernardini et al. 2015Bernardini et al. , 2018Vinci and Bernardini 2017;Vinci et al. 2019;Lozić 2016;Laharnar et al. 2019;Bernardini et al. 2020). However, a promising and so far neglected area of investigation regards the open agricultural fields of the alluvial plain of Friuli, where numerous later prehistoric earthworks, including burial mounds and settlements' perimeter ramparts, are documented. ...
In this study, we use high-resolution data from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) acquisitions to comprehensively analyse late prehistoric earthwork structures in the alluvial plain of Friuli (NE Italy). By comparing LiDAR-derived models with direct topographic surveys of the structures carried out in the past we provide a detailed overview of the main characteristics of the structures. The new documentation, including Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), profiles and 3D models of the preserved structures, refines the topographic information collected by previous scholars and offers new insights into the development of sophisticated building techniques by Bronze Age communities. Additionally, by converting earthwork volumes into energetics and combining workforce investment analysis with other archaeological proxies—particularly site size and distribution—we have supported the analysis of settlement patterns and organization. Assuming 100 hypothetical full-time workers, the construction of burial mounds would have required from 1 week to 2 months; phase 3 monumental embankments at Sedegliano, Savalons, and Galleriano forts would have taken 4–10 months while 2.5–4 years at Udine. The Udine mound would have demanded up to 28 times the labour needed for other forts’ embankments, requiring approximately 11 years to complete and likely necessitating additional workforce from nearby settlements. This approach reveals the emergence of a defined hierarchical settlement system in the Friuli plain during the Recent Bronze Age, with the fort of Udine serving as a top-order settlement within a polity of smaller ones, akin to those recognized in the nearby regions of the Po Plain.
... Nonetheless, this is motivated by the fact that in many case studies, the value of the ground point density is not reported, and therefore, it is impossible to clearly evaluate how many points actually reached the ground surface. Moreover, this estimation is also supported by the experience on LiDAR data processing gathered by the authors (Bernardini et al., 2015(Bernardini et al., , 2018(Bernardini et al., , 2021Fontana et al., 2017Fontana et al., , 2018Fontana et al., , 2023Mazzacca et al. 2022;Ninfo et al. 2011;Vinci and Bernardini 2017;Vinci, Bernardini, and Furlani 2019). ...
In the last two decades, the analysis of data derived from LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology has dramatically changed the investigation and documentation of past cultural landscapes, sometimes revealing monumental architectures and settlement systems totally unknown before. Despite the exponential uptick of case studies, an extensive review of LiDAR applications in archaeology is so far missing. Here, we present a systematic survey of works published in international journals in 2001-2022, with the aim of providing an annotated bibliography on the theme and collect quantitative information about each case study. Data collected allowed to analyse the geographic distribution of LiDAR-based studies, the specifics of acquisitions, the topography and vegetation cover of each study area, the characteristics of the material culture detected, major goals and integrated techniques. The survey considers 291 studies, of which 167 located in Europe, 104 in the Americas and only 20 between Asia, Middle East, Oceania and Africa. Our analysis shows that the impact of LiDAR in archaeological studies was greater in some areas of Europe and North America, where scholars could rely on the availability of open data provided by the institutions. This is testified by the higher number of both case studies and large-scale projects investigating these regions. It also emerges that LiDAR potential largely depends on the characteristics of the material culture, the vegetation cover and data resolution. These factors underlie the outstanding results achieved through LiDAR in tropical rainforests compared to those obtained in temperate areas, such as the Mediterranean, where the outcropping archaeological evidence, albeit vast and widespread, is generally less preserved and obscured by the dense vegetation of the Mediterranean maquis. We conclude that the increasing availability of LiDAR data over vast areas could lead to enormous advances in the investigation, monitoring and protection of the cultural heritage.
... 110151 (Grozzana) della Carta Tecnica Regionale del Friuli Venezia Giulia in scala 1:5000 (RAFVG 2003), rende il progetto cartografico adatto ad essere esteso a tutto il territorio regionale. Le metodologie adottate nella ricerca, i risultati ottenuti ed il prodotto cartografico finale, oggetto di una recente pubblicazione specialistica edita da Vinci, Bernardini, Furlani (2019), vengono qui presentati in lingua italiana con alcune modifiche e integrazioni. Area di studio L'area di studio ha una dimensione di circa 10 km² e si trova nella parte sud-orientale del cosiddetto 'Carso Classico'. ...
Palinsesti Programmati nell’Alto Adriatico? Decifrare, conservare, comunicare e pianificare il paesaggio collects the proceedings of a single-day workshop focused on the multidisciplinary study of the Northern Adriatic landscapes. The authors of contributions address the issue of Northern Adriatic landscape, perceived as a palimpsest resulting from the interaction between man and the environment through time. Five case studies from different areas describe the methodology and techniques for deciphering the landscape and recognizing long-term occupation strategies and possible ties between the ancient landscape and nowadays.
... The Karst and large parts of northern Istria, including the Mali Kras plateau, are quite unsuitable for agriculture (e.g. Montagnari Kokelj 2003;Migliavacca et al. 2015;Vinci et al. 2019), and most of the sites from Palaeolithic to Early Bronze Age come from caves and rock shelters. Only during the late Early and Middle Bronze Ages, the settlement pattern undergoes a dramatic change with the development of the first long-lasting hill forts, traditionally known as 'castellieri', 'gradine' or 'gradišča', approximately between 1800 and 1600 BC (Borgna et al. 2018), but cave sites continued to be used for stabling animals as documented from Neolithic onwards at many locations (Boschian 1997;Boschian and Montagnari Kokelj 2000;Boschian and Miracle 2007;Montagnari Kokelj et al. 2012). ...
... Potential new archaeological sites were firstly detected through the combined analyses of LiDAR-derived images and aerial pictures and historical cadastral maps (nineteenthcentury Franciscan cadastral maps) following a methodology already presented in other contributions (e.g. Bernardini et al. 2018;Vinci and Bernardini 2017;Vinci et al. 2019). All the identified features have been checked on the ground through archaeological and geomorphological surveys. ...
... In this context, the position of the square enclosures in the immediate vicinity of large settlements and within the area delimited by the long linear features seems to suggest a direct control of the livestock by the local community and limited seasonal movements of the herds within the area controlled by each fortified settlement. This hypothesis is in agreement with the identification of protohistoric land division structures located close to other important karst hill forts, for instance, at Veliko Gradišče, where they have been interpreted as evidence of agro-pastoral activities carried out under the protection of the close settlement (Vinci et al. 2019). ...
This paper presents the results of an international research aimed at investigating the ancient landscape of the Mali Kras plateau, a sector of northern Istria (southwestern Slovenia). The remains of two main protohistoric hill forts, Mali Kras and Socerb, and a few minor sites were already reported from this area. A cemetery, associated with Socerb hill fort, was in use between the sixth century BC and the first century AD. Airborne LiDAR remote sensing of Mali Kras plateau has allowed to identify several unknown archaeological features, ranging from approximately square features (30 × 30 m) to larger enclosures with different shapes, very long linear features and stone mounds. The elaboration and digitization of high-definition remote sensing data compared with historical cartography, field surveys, targeted small-scale excavations and thermoluminescence dating have been performed in order to decode the complex archaeological palimpsest. The square structures can be attributed to Middle-Recent Bronze Age on the basis of pottery finds. These structures are located close to natural passages from the plateau to the gulf of Trieste, in areas with low visibility and scarcity of soil, which were traditionally used for grazing activities. The other identified enclosures, some of them sharing a similar chronology, were also probably used for pastoral activities but for other purposes since their shape and size are different. Two main long drystone walls define the southeastern sector of Mali Kras plateau in correspondence of the most accessible entrance to the area. The preliminary data and comparisons with similar structures suggest these walls could correspond to protohistoric linear boundaries built to delimit grazing or agricultural areas under direct control of the nearby settlements. The enclosures identified at Mali Kras plateau, most probably connected to herding activities, and perhaps the long linear walls too, could reflect the development of new husbandry practices in the Middle-Recent Bronze Age in the karst areas of the north Adriatic hinterland, such as observed in the alpine territory.
An interdisciplinary study of the ancient landscape of the Trieste Karst (north-eastern Italy) is presented in this paper. Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) has been applied to obtain high-resolution topography of the 25 km2 investigated area in order to identify potential archaeological anomalies. The ALS-derived high-resolution Digital Terrain Models have been visualized and managed using QGIS and Relief Visualization Toolbox. Possible archaeological anomalies have been verified through field surveys and interpreted using a multidisciplinary approach mainly based on the collection of associated archaeological materials and geomorphological and stratigraphic evidence. From a methodological perspective, the elaboration and study of ALS-derived images, and in particular the local relief model visualization, combined with the collection of Roman shoe hobnails, have proven to be effective approaches for the certain identification and dating of Roman roads in karst environments. The obtained results have revealed an almost completely unknown Roman landscape: the investigated area was crossed by important public roads, whose layout has been accurately reconstructed for a total length of over 10 km, and occupied by large country estates, sometimes enclosed within boundary walls perfectly fitting the Roman land division grid. One of the identified buildings could correspond to a road station, perhaps the Avesica known from ancient itinerary documents—i.e., the itinerarium Antonini Augusti—due to its position and proximity to a major road junction.
Dry stone walls are a worldwide phenomenon that may shape entire regions. As a specific form of vernacular agro-pastoral practice, they are expressions of the culture and history of a region. Dry stone walls have recently received increased attention in Croatia, primarily due to research in landscape architecture and (historical) geography, though archaeological research on such remains is rare in part due to the challenges of undertaking such work in areas covered by dense evergreen maquis vegetation. In this paper, this type of landscape has been studied in detail for the first time using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) based digital feature models as a basis to articulate dynamic dry stone wall landscapes in a diachronic archaeological interpretation. Using a case study from the Mediterranean region of Punta Križa, Croatia, we show that what superficially appears to be a simple system of dry stone walls contains a wealth of information on a complex sequence of human activity. The systematic, detailed, and diachronic interpretation applies a transparent workflow that provides a tool for all those undertaking interpretative mappings of archaeological prospection datasets and has proved highly effective when working with ALS-derived visualizations. The ca-pacity to develop spatio-temporal interpretation within the framework of GIS and a Harris Matrix is especially powerful and has the potential to change our image of any region. While the case study presented here deals with a small area in Croatia, the methods described have a broad application in any areas of complex landscape remains.
Recent investigations at Grociana piccola, a site in northeastern Italy consisting of two sub-rectangular fortifications, offer the rare opportunity to investigate Early Roman military architecture outside the Iberian peninsula. Excavations have revealed an inner rubble masonry rampart dated to the 2nd c. BCE by associated pottery, mainly amphora remains. This date suggests that the fortification was in use during the first Roman conquest and/or later campaigns of the 2nd c. BCE, providing one of the earliest and smallest examples of a military fort. The fort's ramparts were built using the same building technique as much larger 2nd-c. BCE military camps. Another trench uncovered the northeastern corner of the outer rampart and a probable tower or artillery platform which can be connected to a temporary camp built during the mid-1st c. BCE.
