Archaeological GIS for Land Use in South Etruria Urban Revolution in IX-VIII Centuries B.C.

Abstract

A GIS is developed for analysis of formation, growth, and collapse of past societies. The Urban Revolution in the Mediterranean area between 9th and 13th centuries B.C. pushed by development of Mediterranean market area is a good case study. The process leads to the growth of urban centers and of population. In Ancient Etruria the changes produced the abandonment of older sites and the origin of proto-urban centers on hill plateaus. The GIS is developed for explaining the factors affecting the urbanization process in Tarquinia. Settlement strategy was linked to available resources in the territory. The research focused on land use for ancient agriculture by reconstructing features of land use. The results show that the selection of plateau allowed a better resources management, required by population growth as well by the Mediterranean market demand. The changes explain the transition from a subsistence economy to a production of agrarian surplus in cereals. A new organization based on the private household property of agrarian plots could satisfy a better resource allocation.