SLEEPING, EATING, MEETING, WORKING: PROBLEMS AND METHODS IN THE STUDY OF STRUCTURES IN SOUTHERN ITALY SETTLEMENTS DURING THE BRONZE AGE

During the last years more attention was paid in prehistoric archaeology to the functional analysis of sites or parts of them in relation with the studies on the activities carried out: the diffusion of extensive excavations and interdisciplinary researches supported this trend. Several problems linked to the interpretation of intra-site structural evidence are still open: some attempts to analyse specific contexts and their methodological bases are taken into consideration as a stimulus to define more precisely questions and ways to carry out research. For exam pie, basic problems in the study of structures inside a settlement rise from the difficulty to distinguish (following reliable principles) residential structures from functional ones and to recognize the cycles of activity carried out in different areas. Starting from some case studies of Bronze Age southern Italy, the authors test the potential of a "global" functional approach to the study of roofed structures (not necessarily huts) and open activity areas equipped with small structures.