Since ‘90, the University of Pisa has started the project “Vada Volaterrana harbour of Volaterrae in Etruscan and Roman times”, directed by Marinella Pasquinucci and Simonetta Menchelli, and including excavations in the port centre and surveys in the coastal ager Volaterranus. Since 2005, UCLouvain has been investigating an inner area of ager Volaterranus with the project “VII Regio. Valdelsa during the Roman Age and late Antiquity”, directed by Marco Cavalieri. RELOAD (REthinking Liminality Open Access Data) is a recently funded project by FNRS (promoter M. Cavalieri). It undertakes for the first time a systematic comparative analysis of boundary areas between Volterra and the territories of Pisa, Lucca, Florence, and Siena, expecting significant results through an interdisciplinary approach and long-term perspective. The aim is to compare the coastal and the inner areas to reassess the crucial role of liminal zones in the organization and perception of space and the processes of identity formation in Northern Tuscany (3rd BC-5th AD). Integrating field surveys, GIS, legacy data, archaeometry, and statistics, RELOAD aspires to apply the Antifragility theory in archaeology and to implement an open-access database for an innovative understanding of ancient landscape complexity.
Limina, Valentina ; et. al. From the seascape to the inland: current research and a new survey project in the ager Volaterranus (Tuscany, Italy).INTERNATIONAL MEDITERRANEAN SURVEY WORKSHOP (FALL 2022) (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, du 02/12/22 au 03/12/22).
