The collapse of the Terramare culture and growth of new economic and social system during the late Bronze Age in Italy

The study analyzes the birth, development and the crisis of Terramare culture, the most important economic and demographic phenomenon during the Middle and Recent Bronze Age (ca. 1650- 1150 BC) in central-northern Italy. The research proposes a reconstruction of the economic social and political communities of the Terramare and tries to identify the causes that led to the complete collapse of the Terramare system, at the end of the Recent Bronze Age. In relation to this evidence various factors have been taken into consideration: anthropogenic (strong population growth), ecological (deforestation and excessive land use), environmental (increasing aridity). It is possible that all these factors have played a role in grafting the crisis that led to the collapse of social and political structures and to the complete abandonment of the territory. The remaining population was probably subject to a diaspora. The analysis of archaeological data from the neighbouring regions shows evidences which can be interpreted in this direction, although the use of the archaeological record has shown a certain complexity in this regard. Finally a mythical-historical document (Dyonisius of Halicarnassus) that could cautiously be connected to the memory of the collapse of Terramare has been analyzed.