Relations between ancient settlement and the physical environment: a case study of the area from Dora Baltea river to Scrivia river (Western Po Plain - Italy)

As is known, since the prehistory, the interrelationship of the man with the landscape have become increasingly close. The study carried out on the western Po plain between the confluence of the Baltea and Scrivia Rivers, fully confirms this assumption. The study area is characterized by a typically fluvial morphology with Holocene terraces enclosed within the carved late Pleistocene plain (Main Level of Plain) and sometimes in direct contact with the Monferrato hills. The reconstruction of the evolution of the bed of the Po River has highlighted as, in certain reaches, it has been the prevalent tendency to digression and therefore instability, while in other reaches the bed was maintained more stable and less wide. Over the past two centuries, human activities especially of rice cultivation, largely cleared the remains of ancient morphologies and settlements. However it is possible to recognize a link between the distribution of population and landscape. In fact, the settlements, including the Bronze Age of Pobietto, lie mainly on higher terraces. In Roman and Medieval age, the Po river becomes very important related to its wideness or stability: the major road axis crossing the Po were located where the river is more narrow and more stable. For example in these areas, are located the cities of Valenza and Casale Monferrato, which correspond to the Roman Vardacate and Valentia. A similar location have many medieval “villenove” and the Breme and Aqualonga early medieval abbeys, which are, with Lucedio and San Genuario, the center of the re-colonization after the late-antiquity crisis. Therefore, it should be noted how are important the integrated contributions of the geomorphological and historical and archaeological study for understanding the evolution of an area.