Beyond the margins: Settlement pattern and society in the middle of the pre-Roman Apennines

This paper reassesses the social and settlement organisation of communities inhabiting the central Apennines in the pre-Roman period, traditionally interpreted as marginal due to the absence of urban centres. Focusing on the middle Apennine region, it combines landscape archaeology, GIS-based spatial modelling, and archaeological evidence to analyse settlement patterns, economic practices, and territorial strategies. The study demonstrates that these mountain societies developed rational and adaptive forms of organisation closely attuned to local environmental conditions. Rather than representing incomplete or peripheral trajectories, Apennine communities followed alternative pathways to social complexity, shaped by the interaction between geomorphology, accessibility, and culturally mediated economic choices.