Landscape variability and human patterns in Bronze-Iron Age hilltop settlements in the Central Apennines (Italy).

During the Bronze and Iron Ages artificially defended hilltop settlements were commonplace in Europe. Their typologies, development, and diffusion have been widely investigated in the archaeological literature, with different tools, from traditional field excavations to the newest techniques in photogrammetry and spatial analysis. In Italy, the occurrence and context of hillforts are less known. Here, hilltop features characterised by concentric rings, known as Castellieri, have been attributed to protohistoric times, dated to a chronological range from the 15th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE. Their presence is attested from the Karst region and the Istrian Peninsula down along the Apennines from Tuscany to Apulia. In Apenninic Italy, these sites occur in intermontane locations, and likely characterised a non-urban society that lived in a marginal and challenging landscape.

We identified potential Castellieri sites within the Umbro-Marchean Apennines through the application of remote sensing techniques integrated with GIS-based cartographic analysis. This approach allowed to characterise, for the first time, the Castellieri sites through a field-based geomorphological, topographical, relational and archaeological assessment and investigate their relationships with the surrounding palaeoenvironment in terms of spatial use and natural resources exploitation. These sites are typologically defined by the presence of characteristic earthen embankments or stone fortifications, their morphologies, often featuring circular and concentric enclosures adapted to local geomorphology, and their strategic siting, predominantly on elevated terrain or at the confluences of valleys. Our preliminary analyses show a remarkable network of interconnected sites along a variety of landscapes, following patterns relatable to widespread and established pastoral practices potentially similar to modern times.