ABSTRACT:
The aim of this dissertation is the investigation of Bronze age settlement patterns in the territory of Siniscola, in north-eastern Sardinia.
Starting from a literature review, the author first created a database and an archaeological map to undertake two types of geographical analysis, carrying out a series of surveys on the field and collecting the GPS coordinates of each one of the 35 considered sites. At this point, a Thiessen Polygons analysis was carried out using the software ArcGIS v. 10, and comparisons were made with the results of the same method applied to the close territory of Lodè.
The work has led to two main conclusions, one methodological and one related to the actual evidence. The first one is that Thiessen Polygons analysis has revealed to be too abstract and essentially ineffective in the investigation, probably due a couple of reasons: (1) the fact that the definition of a standard type of 'settlement' is difficult in this period and region, and (2) the fact that it does not take into the right account specific adaptions to local morphology, especially in a case like Siniscola, in which settlements seems to be related more to routes than to spaces. In fact, the second conclusion is that Bronze Age settlements in the area can be divided in three main settlement 'clusters', which probably reflect in some way the existence of different social macro-units, every one of which controlled different strategic routes that allow access to the inland to the S and to the area of Posada to the N.
AUTHOR: Marco Mulargia
REFEREE: Alberto Cazzella
UNIVERSITY: Sapienza Università di Roma. Department of Scienze dell'Antichità.
DATE OF GRADUATION: 2013
LANGUAGE: ITALIAN