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Since the Neolithic seafaring allowed people to move over long distances. The coasts all across the Great Sea were touched by groups of seafarers that using long boats and coastal cabotage ventured by sea looking for new settlements or obsidian and other raw materials. During the III and first half of the II millennium BC sail navigation and innovations in naval technology rapidly developed in the eastern Mediterranean. This technical advance allowed to shorten distances, but lead seamanship to become a specialised task that required profound knowledge of the sea as an environment. Meteorology, oceanographic conditions and coastal morphology was necessary knowledge required to face the seascape. Most of this phenomenon was both fostered and exploited by the rising important local polities of the Bronze Age and the result was a high degree of connectivity within the eastern basin. More fragmentary appears to be the picture of contemporary maritime connections in the central and western basins, the main areas of interest of this study. Here eastern naval technological innovations will not arrive until the second half of the millennium. However in the same time span as in the east, local more modest, sea routes, begin to emerge. These implied the crossing of large portions of open sea. Despite the risk this type of navigation, favoured the colonisation of remote islands and the spread of local cultures during the copper age, and by the Early Bronze Age some common cultural patterns can be recognised in different regions but overall seafaring remains relevant on a local scale. By the second half of the II millennium BC these two realities began to be increasingly interconnected due to the opening of consistent long-range sea routes. From the XVII to the XII century BC, Aegean material culture and influences spread in the west all along these new sea routes. These were far from static and changed and evolved both in extension and in location of key nodes, leaving conspicuous amounts of traces behind. Starting from these traces, this work aims to investigate the sea routes that emerged during the Bronze Age for navigating in the central and western Mediterranean, how these evolved and expanded throughout the centuries, and what type of contacts and interconnections arose due to these maritime voyages, their nature and their intensity. Furthermore a diachronic study will be attempted by comparing the knowledge acquired on the sea routes of the Bronze Age with the routes and evidences of the Iron Age. The aim of this second part of the study would be to investigate the possible existence of trends and patterns in the choice and drawing of sea routes, surviving in later periods.

The town of Ravenna, in northern Italy, today contains eight buildings listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, all dating between the fifth and the sixth centuries - a time when it was one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean. The Roman town underwent a major transformation at the beginning of the fifth century, from a small Roman 'Municipium' to an Imperial capital. This role called for new buildings of power, housing the Imperial Court and the related bureaucratic body, a Bishop's Palace and other monuments suche as the Circus. In addition this walls, churches and others community zones were created; all following late antique models such as Milan, the previous capital, and of course Constantinople. An expansion of Ravenna's infrastructures was also necessary, in particular new roads and sewer system, a port, warehouses, and aqueducts. From the fifth century to the Early Medieval period Ravenna flourished as one of the main centres of North Italy and during this period its archbishop played an important role in the religion, politics and economy of the region. This paper seeks to illustrate the archaeological evidence related to the 'longue durée' of the urban centre of Ravenna as a fulcrum of power and control.

The town of Ravenna, in northern Italy, today contains eight buildings listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, all dating between the fiflh and the sixth centuries - a time when it was one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean. The Roman town under­went a major tranformation at the beginning of the fifth century, from a small Roman 'Municipium' to an Imperial capital. This role called far new buildings of power, housing the Imperial Court and the related bureaucratic body, a Bishop's Palace and other monu­ments such as the Circus. In addition city-walls, churches and others community zones were created; all following late antique models such as Milan, the previous capital, and of course Constantinople. An expansion ef Ravenna's infrastructures was also necessary, in particular new roads and sewer system, a port, warehouses, and aqueducts. From the fifth century to the Early Medieval period Ravenna flourished as one of the main centres of North Italy and during this period its archbishop played an important role in the religion, politics and economy of the region. This paper seeks to illustrate the archaeological evidence related lo the 'langue durée' of the urban center of Ravenna as a fulcrum of power and control.

U probnim istraživanjima nalazišta Batina–Sredno potvrđene su pretpostavke koje počivaju na rezultatima terenskog pregleda o postojanju prapovijesnog i rimskog groblja smještenih južno od naselja na Gracu. Razdoblju prapovijesti pripadaju ostaci ravnog paljevinskog groblja daljske grupe s kraja brončanog i početka željeznog doba. U grobovima su zabilježeni brojni keramički, metalni i stakleni nalazi koji potvrđuju pretpostavke o iznimnoj važnosti Batine kao istaknutog južnopanonskog centra smještenog na važnoj komunikaciji koja je slijedila tok Dunava. Posebno je važno otkriće danas izravnanih tumula s grobovima smještenim uz njihove rubove od kojih se neki izdvajaju veličinom te brojem i vrstama nalaza. Razdoblju antike pripada otkriće paljevinskih i kosturnih grobova na južnoj nekropoli utvrde Ad Militare i pripadajućeg civilnog naselja. Zabilježeni su i karakteristični jarci V-presjeka koji se povezuju s djelovanjem rimske vojske. Rezultati probnih istraživanja na Srednom potvrdili su iznimno značenje ovog nalazišta za hrvatsku, ali i europsku arheološku baštinu. ; After two years of field surveying in north-eastern Baranja with the aim of finding new archaeological sites and documenting registered ones, trial excavations in Batina conduced. The trial excavations were conduced at the Sredno site, situated in the north-eastern part of Bansko Brdo. The excavations were conduced with the aim of examining the assumed existence of a prehistoric and Roman cemetery. The assumption was based on the results of a 2008 field survey. In the excavations, four trenches were dug, three in the central part of the site, and the fourth in its northern part, closest to the settlement at Gradac (Fig. 1). The trenches were dug in mild elevations that had been significantly lowered in the course of soil cultivation (Fig. 2). A total of 61 graves were excavated: 47 prehistoric and 14 Roman. In the trenches, a relatively large number of ditches were found, varying in width and depth. In the course of the excavations, a flat incineration cemetery of the Dalj Group was found, which represented the newer stage of the Late Bronze Age and the initial phase of the Early Iron Age. Along the northern margin of the cemetery in Sredno, tumuli were identified, the remains of which were suggested by irregular elevations also situated in other parts of the site. All the graves contained cremation remains, laid in ceramic vessels (Fig. 5) or in organic envelopes (Fig. 3). Most frequently, various forms of pots were used as urns, and in most cases they were covered by a bowl. The majority of finds comprise ceramic vessels that contained food and beverages for the final journey (Fig. 3). The most common finds are various forms of pots, bowls, kantharoi, beakers and cups, and exceptionally dual vessels and stands. Among metal grave goods, attire accessories (fibulae, needles) and ornaments (armlets, torques, pendants) were recorded. These often show signs of having been incinerated in a funeral pyre with the deceased. The number of metal attire accessories and ornaments is larger in women's graves, where glass beads and ceramic spindlewhorls also appear. Relatively small iron knives with a gently curved blade and a short tang are typical in the graves of both sexes. In men's graves, the parts of attire also include bronze needles. Whetstones and iron beads were also recorded. Grave 12 stands out with its finds of weapons and attire accessories, which also included a large ceramic symposial set. It was partly cut by grave 3, in which bronze items forming part of a horse harness were unearthed. According to the characteristics of the pottery and metal finds, the graves can provisionally be classified in two burial horizons: an older horizon from the end of the Late Bronze Age (9th century BC), and a newer one from the beginning of the Early Iron Age (8th century to the first half of the 7th century BC). The graves have direct analogies with Dalj Group finds from Batina, which are preserved in numerous European museum collections. In Sredno, 14 Roman incineration and skeleton graves were found. These belong to the southern necropolis located along the road leading from the Ad Militare fort to the Ad Novas fort. Incineration burials in urns, of the bustum type, were unearthed (Fig. 6), as well as those with scattered cremation remains in a grave pits. Skeleton graves with finds of coins were also recorded (Fig. 7). In the fills of cremation graves, ceramic vessel and lamp shards were found, as well as iron nails, wedges and rivets, and bronze mounts. On the basis of their finds, the oldest burials were dated to the 1st century, while graves of the bustum type suggest a more recent dating, probably the 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd century at the latest. Skeletal graves are more recent and originate from the 3rd century. A relatively large number of wide and deeply sunk ditches were found that possibly represent the remains of ditches which might have been constructed along roads. Two ditches with a characteristic V-shaped cross-section deserve special mention, as they are typical defensive ditches (fossa) of Roman military camps.

This essay examines the political destiny and function in government of the civic institutions and élites of formerly independent urban polities once they had settled into the new political context of the Italian regional states in the fifteenth century. Research conducted from the 1970s onwards has established the greater weakness of Padua's municipal institutions and élite in relation to Venice, as compared to the experience of many other cities of the Terraferma dominion. The essay focuses on the profile of issues connected with land in the Paduan civic council's activity in the later fifteenth century, also seeking to gauge the extent of its autonomy in policy-making and its perception of its role, especially in relation to the action of Venetian authority. The archival material used concerns both the activity of the Paduan council and the more general conduct of government in Venice and Padua.