ATELIER · ArTisanal productions in EarLy Iron AgE PRotourban centres of North Adriatic Region

Between the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 7th centuries BC, the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions (Northeastern Italy), as well as Slovenia, were involved in a significant process referred in literature as ""Proto-urbanization"". During this period, a revolutionary territorial, political, and social rearrangement is attested, achieved through the strong competence of communities and their ruling elites in managing resources and establishing permanent intercultural and extraterritorial networks. ATELIER is the first large-scale, ""no-borders"" and systematic research project focus on the analysis and the comprehension of the role, importance, and structure of the artisanal productive framework within the Early Iron Age Protourban centers of the North Adriatic region and its impact on the subsequent socio-cultural and economic landscape. This research aims to provide new insights into the crucial phase of establishment and consolidation of Protourban centers by investigating the specific characteristics associated with artisanal production, identifying the principal ""models of production"" through the analysis of craft specializations and resource management systems. By examining the patterns of distribution and circulation of goods within and beyond the communities involved in this phenomenon, ATELIER project will identify networks and exchange trajectories that facilitated trade, interactions, and horizontal mobility in this area, strongly connected both in geographical and cultural perspectives. The interdisciplinary approach adopted by ATELIER, integrating traditional archaeological methodologies with archaeometry and spatial/landscape analysis, will be fundamental for reconstructing the historical, territorial and economic-productive scenario of the Early Iron Age.""