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The Rural Landscapes of Imperial Italy

John R. Patterson

in Landscapes and Cities: Rural Settlement and Civic Transformation in Early Imperial Italy

The opening chapter outlines the wealth of evidence for rural settlement in Italy collected in the course of archaeological field survey over the past forty years, the diversity of settlement ... More

The opening chapter outlines the wealth of evidence for rural settlement in Italy collected in the course of archaeological field survey over the past forty years, the diversity of settlement patterns this reveals, and the methodological issues that arise in interpreting these data, which are summarized in an appendix. It then explores whether increasing or declining numbers of rural sites should be understood as reflecting changes in levels of population, in patterns of migration, or in agricultural practices. The discussion focuses in particular on Campania, Etruria, Lucania, and Samnium: important factors in the changing patterns of settlement in these areas, and the chronology of those changes, include the economic demand generated by the city of Rome, the presence in a locality of members of the Roman elite, and (in the Apennines) the importance of pastoralism.Less

Rural settlement and village societies

Chris Wickham

in Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400—800

This chapter provides an overview of the state of archaeological knowledge on rural settlement and links it with the textual evidence on village identity. Two caesurae run throughout the subject ... More

This chapter provides an overview of the state of archaeological knowledge on rural settlement and links it with the textual evidence on village identity. Two caesurae run throughout the subject matter of the chapter. First, there is a real difference between the eastern Roman empire and the western in the importance of villages in the rural landscape. Secondly, around the period of the end of the Roman empire in the West, one characteristic settlement form, the rural villa, went out of use, and was replaced by a wider range of patterns. The analysis of the West is divided into a discussion of the villa-focused rural settlement hierarchies of the Roman world, and two surveys of the post-Roman forms that replaced them, in the western Mediterranean, and lastly in northern Gaul and its northern neighbours.Less

Missing persons? Models of Mediterranean Regional Survey and Ancient Populations

Robert Witcher

in Settlement, Urbanization, and Population

This chapter explores the potential and the problems of Mediterranean regional survey for demographic modeling, drawing on case studies from Italy, Greece, and North Africa. Specifically, it ... More

This chapter explores the potential and the problems of Mediterranean regional survey for demographic modeling, drawing on case studies from Italy, Greece, and North Africa. Specifically, it addresses concerns about recovery rates, or the percentage of settlement sites and, indirectly, population identified by surface survey. Discussion is structured into four main sections. The first reviews the general literature on recovery rates, particularly their variability, and leads to a consideration of the situation in the ancient Mediterranean. The second section presents opposing models of recovery rates in the context of the early imperial population of Italy and explores the implications for economic organization. The third section tackles the issue of the Italian population from an alternative model-building approach using the results of the Liri Valley Survey. Finally, issues of recovery rates and demographic modelling in Greek and North African contexts are used to develop a comparative understanding of population and wider economic organization across the ancient Mediterranean.Less

‘The Good Offices’ and Expansion into Africa Under Felix Schnyder

Gil Loescher

in The UNHCR and World Politics: A Perilous Path

The 1960s brought fundamental changes to the UN system of refugee assistance and protection. The developing world replaced Europe as the central focus of the UNHCR's world. The expansion of the UNHCR ... More

The 1960s brought fundamental changes to the UN system of refugee assistance and protection. The developing world replaced Europe as the central focus of the UNHCR's world. The expansion of the UNHCR under the third High Commissioner, Felix Schnyder, coincided with the decolonization and the ensuing emergence of newly independent states in Africa and Asia. Using his ‘good offices’, Schnyder undertook a de facto expansion of the UNHCR's refugee definition and through the development of rural settlement schemes and ‘zonal’ development, progressively increased the range of the services UNHCR provided both to refugees and to host governments.Less

Emrys Jones 1920–2006

Ron Johnston

in Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 153 Biographical Memoirs of Fellows, VII

Emrys Jones (1920–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was a geographer who, together with his elder brother, Alun, was raised in the Cynon Valley mining community of Aberaman in South Wales. In ... More

Emrys Jones (1920–2006), a Fellow of the British Academy, was a geographer who, together with his elder brother, Alun, was raised in the Cynon Valley mining community of Aberaman in South Wales. In 1938, he entered University College Wales, Aberystwyth to study geography. Social anthropology and prehistoric archaeology dominated the teaching programme he experienced – with physical geography largely taught in the Department of Geology. The work on the Teify valley, Tregaron and Utica – all completed if not published by 1950 – together provide a clear view of the underlying philosophy of human geography that Jones sustained throughout his career. He also wrote papers on rural settlement patterns. At the London School of Economics, Jones focused on social geography. The last of his major projects – which occupied much of his retirement – was his study of the Welsh in London.Less

Geophysical Survey and Rural Settlement Architecture on the Lower Danube at the Transition to Late Antiquity

M. J. BOYD

in The Transition to Late Antiquity, on the Danube and Beyond

One of the key aims of the ‘Transition to Late Antiquity’ research programme has been to collect a systematic data sample in order to examine local patterns and disparities at a regional level. In ... More

One of the key aims of the ‘Transition to Late Antiquity’ research programme has been to collect a systematic data sample in order to examine local patterns and disparities at a regional level. In this project, an understanding of inter- and intra-settlement patterns of occupation is primarily acquired by calculating total density distributions of surface material, but for the examination of individual architectural units and the relationships between them, a geophysical survey has been used because of its particular ability to provide detailed information about subsurface features over a large area without excavation. This chapter describes the approach and methodology employed in the geophysical surveys carried out to assess rural settlement patterns in Bulgaria (lower Danube) as part of the ‘Transition to Late Antiquity’ research programme. Examples of particular surveys — which in general have proved remarkably successful — are used to illustrate the results.Less

Peopling Ancient Landscapes: Potential and Problems

David Mattingly

in Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and Problems

The explosion of archaeological field survey projects in the late 20th century has contributed to a general sense that rural settlement expanded considerably in many areas of the Roman Empire, but ... More

The explosion of archaeological field survey projects in the late 20th century has contributed to a general sense that rural settlement expanded considerably in many areas of the Roman Empire, but has not yet had much impact on overall demographic models and estimates for Roman population of provinces or the empire as a whole. Chapter 5 raises many points of fundamental importance for the debate about how best to mobilize the archaeological data. This chapter responds to Chapter 5 and focuses on potential problems of interpretation and methodology: issues relating to modelling settlement from archaeological site ‘numbers’, to the application of random sampling methods in Mediterranean survey, to the recoverability of rare upper-echelon and potentially abundant but elusive lower-order settlements, to the use of interpretative labels for ploughzone sites, to distinguishing evidence of absence from absence of evidence.Less

The “Rural” Settlement Pattern

A. Martin Byers

in Cahokia: A World Renewal Cult Heterarchy

This chapter critiques Thomas Emerson's interpretation of the countryside settlement pattern, which he claims supports the view that Cahokia was the dominant centralized power. It also interprets ... More

This chapter critiques Thomas Emerson's interpretation of the countryside settlement pattern, which he claims supports the view that Cahokia was the dominant centralized power. It also interprets these same data in terms of the heterarchical polyistic locale-centric account. Subsequently, the chapter outlines the mortuary aspect of this archaeological record (primarily drawing on the work by George Milner, Melvin Fowler, Thomas Emerson, and supporting researchers), critiques the funerary paradigm interpretations that they give, and then presents the alternative Mourning/World Renewal Mortuary model. Then, it shows that the very same settlement data can be more coherently interpreted in terms of the World Renewal Cult Heterarchy model. It first introduces the sequential settlement articulation mode. In addition, the bifurcated settlement articulation mode account is explained.Less

Economic Change and the Transition to Late Antiquity

R. P. Duncan-Jones

in Approaching Late Antiquity: The Transformation from Early to Late Empire

This chapter examines potential indices of prosperity or decline in the 3rd century. In the regions of the Empire considered, various chronological pointers suggest worsening conditions in the 3rd ... More

This chapter examines potential indices of prosperity or decline in the 3rd century. In the regions of the Empire considered, various chronological pointers suggest worsening conditions in the 3rd century. Most of the zones surveyed in the Rhineland show a drop by about one-third in site numbers in the period 20-275. In a number of areas surveyed in Italy, the aggregate percentage fall in the number of rural sites between ‘early’ and ‘late’ periods appears to be 52-61 percent. A staggering fall in mining activity in Spain and Portugal is implied by the 88 percent drop in the number of workings after the second century. Even in Africa, site numbers at Segermes show a setback of 19 percent in the second half of the third century. Records of private legislation by the Emperor, prolific in the earlier 3rd century, almost dry up from 260 until the 280s.Less

Land and people, c. 1300

R. E. Glasscock

in A New History of Ireland: Volume II, Medieval Ireland 1169–1534

This chapter discusses the following: medieval climate; landforms; woodlands; peat bogs; field systems; population; rural settlements; the medieval house; towns; trade; and size of towns.

The Conquest of the Jungle

Ashley Carse

in Beyond the Big Ditch: Politics, Ecology, and Infrastructure at the Panama Canal

This chapter focuses on the settlement and development ofBoquerón,a rural community in the headwaters of the Panama Canal. Boquerón’shistory is narrated through the story of the always-unfinished ... More

This chapter focuses on the settlement and development ofBoquerón,a rural community in the headwaters of the Panama Canal. Boquerón’shistory is narrated through the story of the always-unfinished roadlinking itto thenearest highway. The road has intermittentlybeen improved and decayed, advancing and retreating over time as capitalists, entrepreneurs, and state officials have channeled more resources into the region or diverted them elsewhere. Like all infrastructures, then, the road never “arrived” once and for all, because investment fluctuated along with shifts in political administrations, agrarian reform policies, or commodity markets.Therefore, rural people talk about “bad roads” to characterize more than a general state of poverty. Because road conditions aremultiscale sociopolitical relations materialized upon the local landscape, community members analyze those conditions to make sense oftheir changing relationships withother groups and access to valuable resourcesacross space and time.Less

Settlements

Duncan Garrow and Chris Gosden

in Technologies of Enchantment?: Exploring Celtic Art: 400 BC to AD 100

This chapter begins with a broad-brush analysis of the patterns evident on settlements. It then looks in detail at the Celtic art objects deposited on three specific sites: the enclosed rural ... More

This chapter begins with a broad-brush analysis of the patterns evident on settlements. It then looks in detail at the Celtic art objects deposited on three specific sites: the enclosed rural settlement at Gussage All Saints; the hillfort at Bury Hill; and the Roman military fort at Newstead. It concludes that Celtic art was consequential in the ever-present need to create and negotiate community links. While the nature of community changed radically between 400 BC and AD 100, as did the forms of Celtic art, the role of fine metalwork as an ingredient of high importance within social networks and transformations formed a relative constant.Less

Zhaizi, the Persistent Natural Village in Fuyuan

Yi Wu

in Negotiating Rural Land Ownership in Southwest China: State, Village, Family

This chapter discusses the enduring social and cultural identities of rural settlements, which in Fuyuan and many other rural areas in southwest China is called zhaizi. It reveals that the identity ... More

This chapter discusses the enduring social and cultural identities of rural settlements, which in Fuyuan and many other rural areas in southwest China is called zhaizi. It reveals that the identity of every zhaizi, reinforced by a series of elements and mechanisms, such as restricted membership, ancestral graves, and territorial deities, has been instrumental in maintaining the social and physical boundaries of each community. These identities have persisted over long historical periods and continued to exist in a socialist context.Less

Cahokia as a Hierarchical Monistic Modular Polity: A Critical View

A. Martin Byers

in Cahokia: A World Renewal Cult Heterarchy

This chapter outlines an interpretation of the so-called rural settlement pattern of the Mississippian period recently proposed by Thomas Emerson, in which he clearly characterizes the countryside ... More

This chapter outlines an interpretation of the so-called rural settlement pattern of the Mississippian period recently proposed by Thomas Emerson, in which he clearly characterizes the countryside settlement pattern as a “rural” extension subordinated to the paramount chief seated at Cahokia. In a number of cases, the mound groups are linked with a central plaza or, in some cases, central bodies or associated bodies of water, some of them being manmade borrow pits. It is also implied that those who occupied the central precinct with the dominant Monks Mound, the Grand Plaza, and the surrounding palisade constituted the political, religious, and social apex of Cahokia. The presented summary of Cahokia reinforces the earlier comments that there is a common core of all the versions of the hierarchical monistic modular polity account, whether they fall into the gradualist or the “Big Bang” rupturist category: this commonality is the notion that Cahokia was a political center with associated economic, social, military, and even religious aspects and that these aspects were not simply incidentally related but were functionally subsumed to the political.Less

The Nature of Work

Peter Redfield

in Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana

This chapter moves from questions of nature back to ones related to technology and development. It compares ecologies of work in the penal colony and the space center, and the place of improvisation ... More

This chapter moves from questions of nature back to ones related to technology and development. It compares ecologies of work in the penal colony and the space center, and the place of improvisation within each design, as well as their status as separate states within states relative to the rest of French Guiana. Construction of a large dam at Petit Saut and debates over two roads in the summer of 1994 brought oppositions within Guyanais society to the surface. The shift from the rural settlements envisioned in the penal colony to the urban professional norms of the space center reflects wider trends of material culture and a new scale of mobility and connection that affect thought and practice. Returning from nature to culture and the ever-expanding island of civilization amid the forest, the quality of human action involved in transforming these landscapes is considerable.Less

Conclusion

Simon Featherstone

in Englishness: Twentieth-Century Popular Culture and the Forming of English Identity

This chapter discusses the current status of Englishness and Englishness studies. It shows that Englishness still occupies traditional ground defined by archaic hierarchies of social station and ... More

This chapter discusses the current status of Englishness and Englishness studies. It shows that Englishness still occupies traditional ground defined by archaic hierarchies of social station and myths of rural settlement. Englishness studies, on the other hand, depend on the way the English question continues to be framed. The discussion looks at the half-heartedness of English nationalism and the moment when popular Englishness took on a modern aspect. It also considers the possibility of experiencing Englishness as a meeting point of global histories. The chapter concludes that England remains to be in search of itself as a nation, a search that continues to be an important part of its politics and culture.Less