Valleys and settlement: Some new evidence

Extensive field survey in South Etruria (central Italy) has revealed little evidence for valley‐bottom settlement. This is partly explained by an overlay of recent silt but was caused principally by periodic valley flooding, for which a climatic explanation is likely. Settlement evidence is mainly restricted to the period before the sixth century B.C. and the first and second centuries A.D. A number of low‐lying English sites in valley and fenland contexts also demonstrate a similar sequence.