CALL FOR PAPERS until 15th november
The 30th Theoretical Roman Archaeological Conference
Split, Croatia (Thursday 16 April – Saturday 18 April 2020)
Dark Landscapes: Research Strategies in Remote Sensing and Modelling
The Roman sites were closely related to their sourrounding areas and resources. The study of the physical structures used for the territorial or urbanistic management and the economic factors that generated the aforementioned interconnections are still a challenge for current research. The resulting issues can be likened to the cases of the dark matter and dark energy in cosmology, as similarly we can barely detect the full evidence and explain the forces beyond the more visible part of the archaeological record. Fortunately, barriers in both spheres of investigation are being removed with the help of new technologies in remote sensing and computational science. We find here a strategical way of better dealing with ‘big/messy data’ from the archaeological record, within the framework of the Complex systems theory. The study of emerging data properties from a holistic approach offers understanding of the archaeological continuum, as proposed by the ‘Empty’ Mediterranean Landscape theoretical perspective.
The goal of this session is to bring together researchers in both non-invasive survey as well as economic modelling, in order to call attention to the complementarity of their respectives insights. Remote sensing provides evidence of structures (e.g., terraces, roads, pits, channels, etc). Modelling poses relevant questions about the related historical processes (e.g., exploitation of resources, distribution of sites, transport networks, etc.). The combination of both perspectives are expected to ease the selection of study zones and concentrate the focus on finding specific types of structures to test hypotheses and theories on Roman settlement patterns.
Organizers:
Daniel J. Martín-Arroyo Sánchez, University of Barcelona; martin-arroyo@ub.edu
María del Mar Castro García, University of Siena, mariadel.castro@unisi.it
Lázaro G. Lagóstena Barrios, University of Cádiz, lazaro.lagostena@uca.es
Víctor Revilla Calvo, University of Barcelona, vrellivac@ub.edu