The plain of Pisa, located in northwestern Tuscany, close to the Arno River’s delta, which flows into the Ligurian Sea near the town of Pisa after 241 km, is the result of different geomorphological processes (erosion, transport, accumulation). These are mainly conditioned by the fluvial and marine system (fluvial sedimentary accumulation, formation of the delta system, progradation of the coastline), as well as by human intervention, which together have led to its current formation. The abundance of natural resources, in particular water resources, the geographical location and the accessibility of the plain are some of the factors that have favoured a stable and lasting settlement since the Lower Palaeolithic. The populations that lived here over the course of the historical periods, however, had to face the changing and dynamic character of the plain, and in particular the force of the water, which represented an inestimable resource as well as an unpredictable danger. The research carried out during this PhD particularly focuses on the study of two historical phases that were crucial in the formation of the Pisa plain: the Roman and the medieval periods. The interventions carried out at the time of the Augustan colonization (I century BC) transformed the plain, impacting the rural landscape through the construction of a new agrarian system or the centuriation of Pisa, which still significantly structures the hydric network, the road network and the settlement system today. The transformation and transmission process of the orthogonal grid requires a developed analysis of the factors that have made it “visible” during different historical phases. This is especially true for the medieval period, which is characterised by the “return” of the Municipality of Pisa, a centralised power that was able to exercise greater control over territory and water resources. This research aims to reconstruct the main characteristics and the different evolutionary phases of the centuriated landscape over the centuries through the study of the palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrographic dynamics that have affected Pisa even before Roman colonization. An interdisciplinary and diachronic methodological approach was applied in order to best identify and understand the natural and anthropic factors that have conditioned this “constructive” process over time. The morphological analysis of the urban and agrarian parcels allowed the recognition of the organisational forms of the Pisan landscape, in particular of the centurial grid and the phenomena of transmission and deformation of its constituent elements. The integration of the stratigraphic database (enriched by a coring campaign carried out in 2016 in collaboration with several Italian universities) with the historical-archaeological, archival and planimetric data has made it possible to obtain new results on the pedosedimentary and paleohydrographic evolution of the Pisan plain. It has also permitted us to propose new hypotheses on the paleogeography of the Roman period as well as its evolution over the centuries. Surface and subsoil surveys have made it possible to reconstruct the relationship between the settlement system, the forms of exploitation and management of resources, the palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrographic transformations and the morphological dynamics (modes of transmission and/or transformation of the centurial grid) over the long term, demonstrating that the visible centuriation in its “most updated” version is the result of a long and continuous process of humanenvironment interaction.

La pianura di Pisa è situata nella Toscana nord-occidentale, a ridosso del delta del fiume Arno che, dopo aver percorso 241 km, sfocia nel mar Ligure a breve distanza dal centro urbano di Pisa. Differenti processi geomorfologici (erosione, trasporto, accumulo), prevalentemente condizionati dal sistema fluviale e marino (apporto sedimentario di origine fluviale, formazione del sistema deltizio, progradazione della linea di costa), nonché dall’intervento antropico, hanno condotto alla sua conformazione attuale. L’abbondanza di risorse naturali, in particolare delle risorse idriche, la collocazione geografica e l’accessibilità della pianura sono alcuni dei fattori che hanno favorito un’occupazione stabile e duratura sin dal Paleolitico inferiore. Le popolazioni che si sono succedute nel corso delle epoche storiche hanno tuttavia dovuto fronteggiare il carattere mutevole e dinamico della pianura, e in particolare modo la potenza dell’acqua, che ha rappresentato un’inestimabile risorsa quanto un imprevedibile pericolo. In particolare la ricerca svolta nell’ambito del dottorato si concentra sullo studio di due fasi storiche che sono state determinanti nel processo di formazione della pianura di Pisa: l’epoca romana e l’epoca medievale. Gli interventi realizzati all’epoca della colonizzazione augustea (I secolo a.C.) hanno trasformato la pianura, impattando il paesaggio rurale attraverso la realizzazione di una nuova pianificazione agraria, la centuriazione di Pisa, che ancora oggi struttura in maniera significativa la rete idrica, il reticolo viario e il sistema insediativo. Lo studio del processo di trasformazione e di trasmissione della griglia ortogonale richiede un’analisi approfondita dei fattori che, nel corso delle differenti fasi storiche, l’hanno resa “visibile”, in particolar modo durante l’epoca medievale caratterizzata dal “ritorno” di un potere centralizzato, quello del Comune di Pisa, in grado di esercitare un maggiore controllo sul territorio e sulle risorse idriche. La ricerca ambisce a ricostruire i caratteri principali e le differenti fasi evolutive del paesaggio centuriato nel corso dei secoli, implicando dunque uno studio approfondito delle dinamiche paleoambientali e paleoidrografiche che hanno interessato il contesto pisano ancor prima della colonizzazione romana. Per ottenere i risultati sperati è stato adoperato un approccio metodologico interdisciplinare e diacronico in grado di cogliere i fattori, naturali e antropici, che nel corso dei secoli hanno condizionato tale processo “costruttivo”. La lettura morfologica del parcellare urbano e agrario ha permesso il riconoscimento delle forme di organizzazione del paesaggio pisano, in particolar modo del reticolo centuriale e dei fenomeni di trasmissione e di deformazione dei suoi elementi costituenti. L’integrazione del database “stratigrafico”, arricchito da una campagna di carotaggi svolta nel corso del 2016 in collaborazione con altre università italiane, allo studio dei dati storico-archeologici, archivistici e planimetrici ha consentito di ottenere nuovi risultati relativi all’evoluzione pedosedimentaria e paleoidrografica del settore della pianura pisana investigato e di avanzare nuove ipotesi in merito allo scenario paleogeografico di epoca romana e alla sua evoluzione nel corso dei secoli successivi. Le indagini di superficie e di sottosuolo hanno permesso così di ricostruire la relazione esistente tra il sistema insediativo, le forme di sfruttamento e di gestione delle risorse, le trasformazioni paleoambientali e paleoidrografiche e la dinamica morfologica (modalità di trasmissione e/o trasformazione della trama centuriale) nella lunga durata, dimostrando che la centuriazione visibile nella sua versione “più aggiornata” è il risultato di un lungo e continuo processo di interazione uomo-ambiente.

L’occupazione romana e medievale nella pianura di Pisa. Analisi morfologica delle forme agrarie e urbane, e studio delle dinamiche paesaggistiche / Commodari, Arianna. - (2018 Dec 10).

L’occupazione romana e medievale nella pianura di Pisa. Analisi morfologica delle forme agrarie e urbane, e studio delle dinamiche paesaggistiche

COMMODARI, ARIANNA
10/12/2018

Abstract

The plain of Pisa, located in northwestern Tuscany, close to the Arno River’s delta, which flows into the Ligurian Sea near the town of Pisa after 241 km, is the result of different geomorphological processes (erosion, transport, accumulation). These are mainly conditioned by the fluvial and marine system (fluvial sedimentary accumulation, formation of the delta system, progradation of the coastline), as well as by human intervention, which together have led to its current formation. The abundance of natural resources, in particular water resources, the geographical location and the accessibility of the plain are some of the factors that have favoured a stable and lasting settlement since the Lower Palaeolithic. The populations that lived here over the course of the historical periods, however, had to face the changing and dynamic character of the plain, and in particular the force of the water, which represented an inestimable resource as well as an unpredictable danger. The research carried out during this PhD particularly focuses on the study of two historical phases that were crucial in the formation of the Pisa plain: the Roman and the medieval periods. The interventions carried out at the time of the Augustan colonization (I century BC) transformed the plain, impacting the rural landscape through the construction of a new agrarian system or the centuriation of Pisa, which still significantly structures the hydric network, the road network and the settlement system today. The transformation and transmission process of the orthogonal grid requires a developed analysis of the factors that have made it “visible” during different historical phases. This is especially true for the medieval period, which is characterised by the “return” of the Municipality of Pisa, a centralised power that was able to exercise greater control over territory and water resources. This research aims to reconstruct the main characteristics and the different evolutionary phases of the centuriated landscape over the centuries through the study of the palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrographic dynamics that have affected Pisa even before Roman colonization. An interdisciplinary and diachronic methodological approach was applied in order to best identify and understand the natural and anthropic factors that have conditioned this “constructive” process over time. The morphological analysis of the urban and agrarian parcels allowed the recognition of the organisational forms of the Pisan landscape, in particular of the centurial grid and the phenomena of transmission and deformation of its constituent elements. The integration of the stratigraphic database (enriched by a coring campaign carried out in 2016 in collaboration with several Italian universities) with the historical-archaeological, archival and planimetric data has made it possible to obtain new results on the pedosedimentary and paleohydrographic evolution of the Pisan plain. It has also permitted us to propose new hypotheses on the paleogeography of the Roman period as well as its evolution over the centuries. Surface and subsoil surveys have made it possible to reconstruct the relationship between the settlement system, the forms of exploitation and management of resources, the palaeoenvironmental and palaeohydrographic transformations and the morphological dynamics (modes of transmission and/or transformation of the centurial grid) over the long term, demonstrating that the visible centuriation in its “most updated” version is the result of a long and continuous process of humanenvironment interaction.
10-dic-2018
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1247163
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