The necropolis as a landscape of power: some reflections

Cristiano Putzolu

«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2024, 35.1, 31-40; doi: 10.19282/ac.35.1.2024.03

Abstract

This paper focuses on some methodological approaches specific to digital archaeology in the analysis of a particular type of landscape, namely Etruscan-Italic necropolises. First, it highlights the interpretation of a necropolis as a landscape of ancestors and the importance of material and immaterial practices in the formation of such a space. Then it addresses the theoretical framework of phenomenological landscape analysis, developed in recent decades by C. Tilley, as a privileged way to address both aspects. In order to reconcile the phenomenological approach to landscape with the use of digital spatial technologies, which according to Tilley are insufficient because they are at best ‘representations’ of landscape, A. De Guio’s reading of the Powerscape concept is introduced. De Guio presents various spatial analysis algorithms, as fundamental ‘hammers’ to shape our knowledge of multifaceted landscapes such as powerscapes (an example of which is funerary landscapes). The reconciliation between the phenomenological approach to landscape and GIS-based spatial analyses of perceptual fields (especially vision and hearing) allows us to confidently rely on new perspectives, such as J. Ortoleva’s recent research on auditory perception in Etruscan necropolises or the latest approaches to viewshed analysis.

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