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In Southern Apulia, the archaeological research long considered primary objective the definition of preroman territorial pattern and settlement dynamics; in spite of this, the study of long-life towns and regional surveys offered the possibility of examining landscape transformations in the Salento area after the Roman conquest. This paper aims to discuss this matter. The topic will be dealt with some exempla, also looking at some better- known contexts relating to the period III-II century B.C. In consideration of an overall analysis we can recognise a substantial maintenance of the messapic settlement system after the bellum Sallentinum, while we can verify a more evident caesura after the Annibalic war.

International audience; Since 2014, the Centre Jean Bérard of Naples and the Università degli Studi of Salerno, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Barletta-Andria-Trani e Foggia resumed the study of Arpi’s Daunian settlement. The goal was to specify the phases of frequentation and abandon, as well as the use of the domestic spaces, and the interactions between the residential zone, the cult areas, and the funeral places. Previous research data and the study of rural and urban landscapes’ dynamics were used for this task. The research initially focused on the resumption of the so-called «mosaic of lions and panthers» domus’ documentation, studied by Marina Mazzei in the 90’s. It was progressively extended to all data related to Montarozzi area, located in the south-east part of the Arpi settlement. The combined study of structures, necropolis’ nucleus, roads and water supply/draining systems, enabled us to extend the research, little at a time, from a single context to the Montarozzi neighborhood, and eventually to the whole settlement area. The cultural and environmental transformations of the settlement in contact with the colonial cities, the North Greeks, and the Romans, were thus traced back throughout the evolution of the Daunian house from the end of the 5th century to the 2nd century.

Between 2004 and 2008 a part of a necropolis dating to the last phases of the Picene civilization and the Roman era was explored in Pian Santa Maria, in the territory of Serra Sant’Abbondio (Pesaro-Urbino). Although very fragmented and in a bad state of conservation, this context appears of great interest for the succession and the mixture of Picene, Celtic and Etruscan-Roman cultural elements. The permanent exhibition at the premises of the Municipality of Serra Sant’Abbondio, set up in 2012, provided an opportunity for a first presentation of the finds. Although they do not include particularly valuable objects, they let ask exciting questions for the historical understanding of the end of the Picene civilization and the early stages of Romanization in this mountain and inland.