Pontine Marshes - Archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeological work on the marsh has been extensive, including surveys, excavations and core samples. Four land systems have been defined: Fogliano coastal, the beach system; Borgo Grappa Beach Ridge, the region just inland from the beach - rather extensive in the Circeo section; the Latina Plain, the main part of the fields; and the Monti Lepini, the flank of the mountains. The center of the marsh, earlier the lagoon, although currently urban, does not provide any ancient evidence of habitation. The land (or the lake) was undoubtedly uninhabited except possibly for itinerant fowlers and fishers, but further, any evidence of human activity there would be deep in the underlying peat. In the fringes, however, most anciently at the north edge of the lagoon and in the coastal fringe, in both the Fogliano and Borgo Grappa Land Systems, evidence of hunting-gathering dates from the Middle Pleistocene. Evidently man has witnessed the entire history of the lagoon and marsh from its first formation, when he hunted and fished along its shores.