Preventive archeology in Pontelatone (CE): New data on settlement dynamics near the Volturno river| Archeologia preventiva a Pontelatone (CE): Nuovi dati sulle dinamiche insediative in prossimità del fiume Volturno

The research project, carried out as part of the preliminary planning for the environmental requalification of the Barignano area (Pontelatone, CE), consists in a multidisciplinary application model for the best practice of preventive archaeology. The project started thanks to a recent agreement between the Municipality of Pontelatone (CE) and the Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (ITABC) of the Italian CNR, encharged of drawing up an archaeological map of the territory of Barignano and the surrounding territory. Recent surveys increased the knowledge about the exploitation of the Pontelatone district since prehistoric times and defined a more articulated settlement model of the perifluvial part of the territory, providing it with a different economic position in the ancient world. Research data, confronted with geographically and historically comparable areas, propose a new territorial and economic development model for the areas located on the Volturno river, both in Roman and in earlier periods. Starting from archive research and published scientific literature, the survey was supported by remote sensing data and new software to map land markers - both historical and archaeological - and for their 3D representation. The dataset have been organized in different topics and informative layers on a GIS platform. The survey and the interpretation of remote sensing data provided new elements for the topography of the area. Traces that suggest a different environmental model for some regions of the Volturno plain have been identified. Furthermore, today's research supported by targeted geophysical surveys represents an actual prospect for future research.