A geoarchaeological approach to the identification of water traces in ancient Daunia: the case of Arpi.
Résumé
Since 2014, the Daunian site of Arpi (Foggia) has been the focus of investigations by the Centre Jean Bérard and the University of Salerno. These investigations aim, among other objectives, to increase knowledge about landscape transformations between the Iron Age and the Roman period in relation to human settlement strategies. The archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations (field and mapping geomorphology and stratigraphy, supported by boreholes and paleoenvironmental analyses), carried out within Water Traces between Mediterranean and Caspian Seas before 1000 AD: From Resource to Storage project (2018), have made it possible to identify the main elements of the landscape, with a special focus on water traces. Starting from these results and other ongoing research, the aim of this contribution is to illustrate the role of hydrography in the transformations of the landscape, considering both the main water network, represented by the Celone valley and other minor streams, as well as that related to surface runoff of meteorological waters. Despite the issue of aridity, Arpi and the Tavoliere are marked by a difficult relationship with water, mainly due to the geological nature of the more superficial, clayey, impermeable soils, and the landforms, characterized by minimal slopes. The effects of these two factors and the actions of intensive agriculture have contributed to accelerating erosion and deposition processes, which are responsible respectively for the disappearance of some archaeological traces and the preservation of paleoenvironmental information. This paper also aims to illustrate, within a broader framework of knowledge about the exploitation of river environments, the strategies adopted by local communities to deal with the water resource management problem within the site, through a system of waterways designed for the disposal of surface waters. Moreover, the research considers extra-site aspects, analysing the relationship between hydrography, road networks, and forms of land management.