Vida Navarro, Maria del Carmen; (1995) Forerunners of urbanism: A comparative study of settlement organisation in Western Veneto and South Etruria from the middle Bronze Age to the end of the final Bronze Age. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The Ph.D studies the settlement trends of two areas in Italy - Western Veneto and South Etruria- for which there is clear evidence of increasing complexity during the Bronze Age. The developments which took place in both areas are compared to monitor wider social and historical issues, namely the possible factors and causes behind the processes leading to settlement nucleation and the later emergence of urban forms in Italy. The two areas provide an outstanding opportunity for this, because their trajectories appear similar yet diverge in the final stages: Southern Etruria to undertake a leap in complexity which led to the emergence of its Iron Age protourban groups; Western Veneto to face a halt and apparent reversal of trends, and the virtual collapse of the area as a focus for settlement. Both areas have also been the object of field survey campaigns, which have contributed to a better knowledge of the overall settlement distribution of the regions. The approach adopted is a novel one in that it oversteps local and regional boundaries to compare the various trends affecting the two regions, in so far as the data allows it, on the same footing, as a way of assessing the extent of their impact on settlement. An explanation of the methodology employed is followed by the historical background to the research which underlines some of the problems with the data. After this introduction a series of variables are studied, and their impact in the settlement histories of the two regions is assessed: the environmental conditions, traditional and absolute chronological spans and settlement continuity, economic trends and resources (subsistence and technology), and social involvement. Finally the extent to which each of these variables promoted settlement trends of a pre-urban nature is analysed.

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