The beginning of the 1990s marks a new departure for our research, characterized by a substantial enlargement of the area under investigation. The adoption of a regional perspective takes the form of extensive surveys aimed at including – in contrast to previous work – the areas surrounding the Acacus massif.
The large-scale use of radiocarbon dating and the explicit recourse to ethnoarchaeological and geoarchaeological models have contributed to the creation of a more complete “context” for the archaeological data.
The profound relationships between climatic and environmental change and the cultural developments within human groups have been explored using new criteria. Deterministic deviations have been avoided, and the chronological span studied has come to include historical periods as well; in other words, the birth of the Garamantian kingdom and its relations with the Roman world.
This multidisciplinary perspective pervades the Mission’s approach to the
main themes studied
(geoarchaeology,
prehistoric archaeology,
rock art,
historical archaeology, archeobotany, etnoarchaeology )
Fig. 1 - Anthropological analyses on skeletal remains
Fig. 2 - Excavations at Takarkori site, southern Acacus
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An ideal and concrete complement to our numerous fieldwork activities is provided by an equally wide range of laboratory-based studies, carried out by specialists belonging to various departments at the Universities of Milano, Cassino, Modena, Rome “La Sapienza” and Rome “Tor Vergata”, and members of the CNR. Genetic, geological, palinological, archaeometric, palaeobotanical, palaeoanthropological, archaeozoological and other analyses all aim to produce integrated and complete studies.
These also form a solid basis for the exchange of knowledge and culture between Libya and Italy. The training of local staff, the improvement of existing structures, and the sensitization of local residents to their historical and archaeological heritage form collateral – but by no means secondary – aspects of the research carried out by the Mission. These are part of a modern cultural exchange, all too often confined to declarations of good intentions, which aims to represent a counterpart to the tumultuous and rapid development which has been sweeping Libya for less than a decade. |
Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in the Acacus and Messak - Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"
Via Palestro 63, 00185 Rome - Italy | Tel/Fax: [+39] 06.4467661 E-mail: info@acacus.it
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Missione Italiana nell'Acacus e Messak Università di Roma La Sapienza
