Umberto Tecchiati (University of Milan)

Economy, settlement, and cultural landscape making in Alpine Prehistory and Late Prehistory. Methodological aspects and case studies.

 Abstract:  Beyond the nature of a passage and natural boundary territory, moreover permeable and porous, the Alps have always represented a territory in which to live and thrive in a human-environment relationship substantially marked by homeostatic balance.

The not-unlimited settlement possibilities offered by the environment to the more or less permanently settled communities of Recent and Late Prehistory gave rise to early multi-layered settlement patterns widely spread over the territory, on which in many cases Roman, medieval and modern towns and cities developed. The study of these settlement systems and their economic, political, and social characteristics are the source of numerous studies that emphasize their long duration and significance for the prehistory of the Po-Alpine macro-region.