The Astura river valley and Satricum, an assessment of current environmental and landscape archaeological data

This paper presents landscape archaeological and sedimentological data on the Astura valley, with Satricum as its focal point. The progress in the study of the changing environmental conditions in this valley, which connects the Alban Hills with the Tyrrhenian coast, is described and the constraints for adequate 14C dating of the sed- imentary phases distinguished. We reflect on the relations that the observed changes in environmental condi- tions may have had with long-term settlement and land use dynamics in and around the valley. This is placed in the wider context of results from studies on the Agro Pontino.