Monti Lucretili Landscape Project (MOLULAP) - survey data 2020-2022

Since 2020, the Department of Humanities of Roma Tre University has carried out field seasons in the area surrounding the Montefalco castle, one of the medieval abandoned castles in the Monti Lucretili Regional Natural Park (Lazio, Italy). The activity in the sampling study area of Montefalco and its surroundings is meant to be a pilot study aiming at a wider landscape analysis. The Monti Lucretili Landscape Project (MoLuLaP) focuses on the reconstruction of the long-term landscape and settlement history, from Prehistory up to modern times, of the Monti Lucretili mountainous area NE of Tivoli (Rome). The main goal of the research project is to examine the changing patterns of economic activities affecting the landscape during time, from Prehistory up to the Modern period, including agricultural exploitation, pastoralism and transhumance practices, and their impact on the environment. The past and present perception of the local communities of their landscape is also analysed. Non-invasive surface analyses are performed first, covering selected sample areas, and they may be followed by archaeological excavation at a later stage. The involvement of the local community has already proven to be of a very high value for the research results, and it will be vital in order to achieve the ultimate goal: to provide local communities with a better consciousness of their past and of the memory values and meanings embodied in the landscape palimpsest.