Rural Landscapes from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman Period in the Plain of Catania (SE Sicily)

Rural landscape of Sicily is not one of the most intensively studied of the Mediterranean and this has only recently begun to be redressed. Systematic research of the Plain of Catania started in 1996: mostly covering the western portions, these surveys are of great interest for any attempt at analysing ancient rural landscapes and routes networks. Within the survey area (425 km2), 131 new sites were identiied, dating from the Neolithic to the Medieval period. The research seeks to outline main developments in settlement organization from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman period, in order to ill our knowledge gap on local “peripheral landscapes”.