Summary
- This intensive and large-scale systematic survey is part of the umbrella, long-term Metapontine chora project which aimed to investigate the countryside of the Greek colony of Metaponto. Thanks to the previous work of Dinu Adamesteanu there existed already a substantial corpus of knowledge about population dynamics in the area, but this survey allowed for further, systematic and comparative regional exploration of settlement strategies in this colonial territory. This survey identified ca. 560 survey sites of the Greek and Roman periods. By studying diachronic differences in site density the goal of this survey was to reconstruct the social, economic, political history of the polis in the Greek-occupied Southern Italy.
Project Dates
- 1981 - 1984
Periods
- No period data has been added yet
- 8000 BC
- 6000 BC
- 1000 AD
- 2000 AD
Survey Method
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- The area of the first and largest survey (1981-1984) within the Metaponto project was the “Bradando to Basento” transect placed across the heart of the Greek chora measuring 4.2 km wide by 10 km in length (c. 44.5 sq. km; actual coverage 21.3 sq. km): this transect was designated to sample all the typical landscapes of the chora. The circular transect around the Pantanello sanctuary encompassed an area of 3 sq. km but only 1.7 sq km was surveyed. The standard interval between field-walkers was 10 m (which could be reduced to as little as 3 m in cultivated fields or fields with farming equipment). Sites (loci of human activities) were identified by distinct surface concentrations; these were the basic units of research for this project. Unlike other Mediterranean landscapes, the Metapontino area was relatively free of “background noise” (i.e. the off-site, continuous and low material density throughout the surface was basically absent). Standardized documentation and artefact-collection procedures were used in the field, and sites were assigned a sequential number and documented on 1 : 10 k maps. The team combed the scatters at random and collected all visible diagnostic ceramic artefacts of all classes of all periods as well as all lithic artefacts, loom weights, terracotta and architectural figurines, bones, samples of roof tile fragments. In subsequent years, several other transects were surveyed (1992-1994; 2005). Some parameters and procedures differed from of the first survey. For instance, in the “Bradano to Cavone” transect (surveyed in 1992-1994), off-site artefacts started to be taken into account and recorded as well as the agricultural boundaries and land-use features of the surveyed plots. Corrected artefact counts and densities in plots and sites started to be carried out as well.
Research Focus
Other Comments
- Research Director: Joseph Coleman Carter (Institute of Classical Archaeology – The University of Texas at Austin); Field Directors: Cesare D’Annibale, Jon Morter, Steve Thompson, Alberto Prieto ............................................................................................................................. This record has been produced by the FASTI Online Survey team
- How was the Greek countryside of Metaponto (re)organised? What were the relationships between Greek settlers and the non-Greek people? Did use of the landscape change through time? Where was the “boundary” between Greek and indigenous settlement? The survey aimed to assess and trace changes in settlement patterns, land use and town-countryside relations in the countryside of Metaponto especially from the proto-historic phase and the successive periods, and to put this study into the regional context of Magna Grecia.
Funding Body
- Packard Humanities Institute and several other donors (for a list: Carter, Prieto 2011, xiv)
Research Institution
- Institute of Classical Archaeology – The University of Texas at Austin
Director
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Director
- Joseph Coleman Carter