An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Strategic Spatial Planning: A Study of Sardinian Municipalities

A political and technical debate about the effectiveness of strategic spatial planning results is ongoing. The debate has taken this direction, rather than focusing on the methods, procedures and organization of spatial planning, because it is difficult to contextualize the development of programmed steps within the time required for their implementation. This article explores the potentialities and challenges of this debate, focusing on its evolutionary excursus in Italy and the region of Sardinia. The aim of this article is to propose a qualitative assessment methodology, capable of comparing different spatial strategic plans, in order to understand the extent to which the plans’ stated objectives were achieved, and to assess what changes the implementation of these objectives achieved in the external environment over the medium and long term.     

The cultural landscape near the ancient city of Tharros (central West Sardinia): vegetation changes and human impact

The evolution of the cultural landscape in coastal western Sardinia is investigated by means of pollen analysis in the Mistras Lagoon sediments, near the ancient city of Tharros, with particular attention to changes in evergreen vegetation and the impact of human activity. The pollen diagram, spanning the time interval from 5300 to 1600 cal BP, documents the influence of man, climate, and geomorphic dynamics on the evolution of a semi-open evergreen vegetation landscape and variations in extent of a salt-marsh environment. Anthropogenic indicators and microcharcoals concur in depicting increased land use coinciding with the Nuragic, Phoenician, Punic and Roman dominations. Pollen data, along with archaeobotanical evidence, suggest a prevailing arable farming economy, vocated to Vitis and cereals exploitation, during the Nuragic phase until 2400 cal BP, replaced since then by a prevailing stock rearing economy. Between 2050 and 1600 cal BP, a less intensive human impact on the landscape is profiled, consistently with the archaeologically documented abandonment of the rural villages in favour of a slow urbanization, experienced by the Sinis territory in Imperial times. The pollen record provides new insights into the history of important economic plants in the Mediterranean, such as Vitis, Olea and Quercus suber. The results of the pollen analysis reveal how the records of these taxa are primarily influenced by the cultural development of the Sinis region and secondarily by dynamics involving the natural companion vegetation.     

Radiocarbon and U-series dating of the endemic deer Praemegaceros cazioti (Depéret) from “Grotta Juntu”, Sardinia

Radiocarbon and U-series methods (²³⁰Th/U and ²³¹Pa/²³⁵U) for absolute age determination have been applied to some fossil samples from Grotta Juntu, in North Eastern Sardinia (Italy). The remains belong to the endemic deer species Praemegaceros cazioti, which is here represented by an almost complete skeleton. The three dating methods lead to concordant ages of about 7500 years BP, indicating that the skeleton was maintained as closed system after burial. Taking into consideration these results, Praemegaceros cazioti from Grotta Juntu is now the youngest representative of this species in Sardinia.     

Books received

Comparative neglect of the effects of the Black Death in Aragon makes a collection of documents published in 1956 by Dr López de Meneses particularly valuable. Over half the documents, mostly dating between 1348 and 1351, describe the disruption and disorder which occurred in the administrative and economic spheres, and it is on these that this study will focus.King Pedro IV showed flexibility and pragmatism in his treatment of the crisis, but normal administrative processes were only slowly restored, and people took full advantage of the shortage of officials and the loss and discontinuity of legal records. Economically, the royal treasury suffered an almost immediate drop in income. The king could not grant financial aid to his subjects, but lessened taxes and tributes, and frequently interceded on behalf of the Jews. The king also issued useless price and wage controls.The documents shed little light on the problem of mortality dates, but they vividly illustrate the confusion, fraud, and lawlessness which occurred in the aftermath of the plague. There is no indication that the epidemic caused changes in the fundamental character of any Aragonese institution, or that the king's activities were paralyzed by the crisis. Though grave, the damages of this first plague were not irreparable.     

King Pedro IV of Aragon, royal propaganda and the tradition of royal speechwriting

In the medieval Crown of Aragon it was customary for the corts to begin with a proposicio or opening speech made by the king. These Aragonese royal speeches were not merely confined to a brief summary of the political situation or a series of points to be considered but were elaborately constructed political sermons, in which affairs of state were portrayed in terms of Christian morality and nationalist pride, with the aid of exempla drawn from the Bible and other religious and classical works. An example is the speech made by Pedro IV ‘the Ceremonious’ of Aragon against the rebellion of the Judge of Arborea in Sardinia. A copy of this speech survives written in the king's own hand which raises the interesting question of whether the kings of Aragon were themselves responsible for the ideas expressed in these speeches and for composing them or whether their efforts were confined to reading out propaganda which was primarily the creation of royal officials.     

La Sicilia dei Moncada. Le corti,l'arte e la cultura nei secoli XVI–XVII

In the last few decades many studies have underlined the role of philhellenism in shaping the Risorgimento as a transnational movement. But philhellenism also had a significant impact in embodying the pre-unification Italian state in a new imaginative framework, marked by the binary oppositions of civilized/barbarian, liberal/despotic and north/south. This article analyses the influence of philhellenism in shaping the imagery of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the role played by this local imagery in promoting opposing patriotisms within the national political sphere in the years leading up to the unification of Italy. Cavour’s moderate party stressed the positive impact of the Piedmontese domination over the island of Sardinia in order to underline Piedmont's image as a force of modernization of a land strongly marked by feudal despotism and pastoral violence. By contrast, Mazzini and the democrats also deployed a philhellenic narrative scheme to explain the backwardness of Sardinia with reference to the despotic and ‘oriental’ character of the Piedmontese domination in an attempt to encourage opposition to unification under the leadership of the subalpine government.     

The Italian Neolithic: A Synthesis of Research

This paper reviews the distinctive economic and social development of Neolithic Italy and its islands, from ca. 6000 B.C. until the emergence of the Copper Age ca. 3500 B.C. Through a synthesis of traditional interpretations and more recent discussions relating to early farming economies, social and technological developments, settlement, and landscape, the complex regional patterns are described. The development of archaeological studies in Italy, the biases in regional and chronological data collection, the regional patterns of cultures and landscapes, and the emergence of distinctive funerary, artistic and economic activities reveal a wealth of varied and intriguing archaeological information from a wide variety of sources that link parallel developments in the Mediterranean and Europe.     

New Architectural Models and Building Tradition: A Dialogue in Early Modern Sardinia – The Jesuit Church in Sassari

Architecture in early modern Sardinia is characterized by a strong continuity with previous practices. In the second half of the 16th century, new models join the Gothic building tradition, linked in particular to trends in military engineering and Classicism of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Jesuit church in Sassari offers an interesting example of the intertwining of these architectural modes, which originated with a sudden change of leadership at the site. Giovan Maria Bernardoni, an Italian Jesuit architect, initially modeled the church after the Gesù in Rome, and it was partially built under his direction. After his departure from Sardinia, local master builders finished the construction, following the Gothic tradition and possibly some external influences. This article analyzes the church, particularly focusing on the challenges presented by its articulated vaulting system completed between 1587 and 1609.     

Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia,Italy)

The major goal of the present study has been to assess the ecological context of the Early Neolithic settlement under excavation in the coastal site of Sa Punta-Marceddì (Terralba, Sardinia, Italy) where a trench of Neolithic age has been brought to light. Based on the origins of the site's organic fossiliferous content, the purpose of this work is to achieve an understanding of: 1) the reasons why this location was chosen by EN man and 2) its functions. This research has enabled us to suggest a human paleoecological scenario over the course of the last three centuries of the 6th millennium BC in the inland area of the Oristano Gulf. On the basis of pollen spectra and the phytolith morphologies recognised, it is suggested that herbaceous vegetation covered the alluvial plain. Arable agriculture does not seem to have been practiced on the site, but the record of coprophilous fungi and endoparasites, along with clues that there were burning practices, suggest livestock farming activity. To date, a univocal interpretation of the function of this trench is still lacking. However, it is the oldest and the only evidence in Sardinia of a remarkable transformation of an open-air space due to settlement.     

The distribution and sources of archaeological obsidian from southern France

One-hundred-and-sixty-two pieces of obsidian have been found at 50 archaeological localities in southern France. The distribution is concentrated in the Rhône Valley, but includes sites in Drôme and in southwest France. The obsidian is mainly from sites of the Chassey culture (4th and 3rd millennium Neolithic), but there is one Impressed Ware site (Early Neolithic) and four Copper Age sites with obsidian. Only a small proportion of the obsidian (31 pieces) consists of waste pieces, providing little evidence for on-site working. 10 pieces of obsidian were analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis to determine their geological provenance. Seven pieces proved to be from the Sardinian SA source, one from Lipari, and two from Pantelleria. Chronologically there is some division between sources used: all three pieces of Liparian obsidian so far identified from southern France, in this work and by earlier researchers, belong to Early Chassey contexts, and the two Pantellerian pieces are from a Copper Age dolmen. Sardinian and Liparian obsidian probably reached France by way of northern Italy. where both types were in use in contemporary cultures. The two Pantellerian pieces are evidence of some type of contact between France and the southern Mediterranean in the Copper Age, despite earlier suggestions of a very restricted distribution for the Pantellerian source. Obsidian was probably imported to southern France with other goods since the small amounts used would not warrant a separate trading network for obsidian alone.     

湖北黄梅意生寺遗址发掘报告

湖北黄梅意生寺遗址是配合黄黄高速公路建设所发掘的一处重要的早商遗址,其上限可早到石家河文化时期。这次发掘揭露出了一批早商遗存,器物的演变具有连续性,它们既包含了中原商文化因素,又具有较强烈的地方特征,是研究早商时期考古学文化非常重要的考古资料。     

重庆市万州区包上秦汉墓地

包上墓地位于重庆市万州区新乡镇寨子村八组,北与武陵镇隔江相望,东北距万州市区约36.5公里,地理位置为东经108°15′25″、北纬30°33′75″(图一)。墓地位于长江南岸一级台地上,地势北低南高,东西各     

略论韩国百济故地出土的中国陶瓷

中国六朝各朝代一直与朝鲜半岛保持着密切的关系,尤其与百济之间有着不同形式的交往。迄今为止,在韩国百济故地已出土了不少中国六朝时期的陶瓷,这些器物可证实当时文化交流的部分情况。本文对其中保存较完整、时代较明确的几件器物进行了初步地分析和比较,并试图探讨这些器物的输人途径、烧制窑口、年代等问题。随着中国国内对该时代墓葬和陶瓷研究的进一步深入,必将对韩国的有关研究起到重要的参考和借鉴作用。