Landscape archaeology and ancient establishments strategy. Spatial analysisfor the investigation of Roman colonial territories in Wadi Abiod, Aures, Eastern Algeria

The present article exposes the potential of a geo-archaeological approach in revealing the diversity of settlement strategies within the colonized areas according to an intramountainous landscape conditions.It attempts to understand the Roman expansion in the valley of Wadi Abiod, an important fluvial artery in the eastern Atlas based onthe reconstruction and analysis of ancient roads systems. The nature of Roman colonization in the area is currently heavily debated, therefore the paper aims to contribute to this discussion by investigating the non-urban aspect of this segment in the Aures region through a combination of all information provided from extensive fieldsurveys (from 2018 to 2020) and Geographical Information System-based analysis that were confronted with geological and geomorphological controls of the territory. the preliminary results ofthis integrated approach reveal the importance of the roads in expanding the scope of Romanization in a land crossing complex that seems at the margin of interest to the Romans.