Geoarchaeology of the Cornia river coastal plain (Piombino, southern Tuscany, Italy)

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a 1:20,000 scale Geoarchaeological map of the Cornia river coastal plain in southern Tuscany. The Geoarchaeological map integrates a comprehensive dataset of geomorphological and archaeological features. The spatial relationships between landforms and archaeological records show that the settlement pattern from the VII century BC to the V century AD was mostly influenced by the presence of several depositional landforms which formed before the period under consideration. Integrating the outputs of geomorphological and topographical analyses with archaeological databases is also helpful for land planning, especially in areas where present-day anthropic exploitation needs predictive and valid tools to assess the archaeological hazard.

Keywords

• Geomorphology
• landscape archaeology
• settlement pattern
• coastal plain