Marco Materazzi

Hilltop archaeological sites in the central Apennines represent complex landscapes shaped by long-term interactions between geological dynamics, geomorphological processes and human activity. Mount Primo (Marche Region, Central Italy), already known for significant Final Bronze Age discoveries and for the presence of sub-concentric monumental terraced structures surrounding its summit, offers an exemplary case for investigating how natural and anthropogenic factors jointly contribute to the formation and transformation of upland archaeological sites. Despite previous non-invasive surveys, key questions remained open regarding the origin, construction and function of the extensive terracing system, as well as its relationship with the underlying litho-structural setting and with the long-term occupation of the site.This study addresses these issues through an integrated geo-archaeological approach combining high-resolution remote sensing, geomorphological field survey and targeted archaeological excavation. Lidar-derived Digital Terrain Models, VAT and MSTP visualizations, thermal imagery and detailed contour-line analysis were used to refine the reading of microtopography, distinguish natural landforms from anthropogenic features, and identify anomalies not detectable through aerial photography or surface inspection. These data guided the placement of six stratigraphic test pits across the first three terraced levels, enabling the verification of structural hypotheses and the acquisition of new archaeological materials.Results show that the summit of Mount Primo is characterized by a complex interplay between stratification, fault-related morphologies, karstic features and anthropogenic terracing. Remote sensing revealed previously unknown linear elements, probable extensions of internal partitions, and areas where terracing has been differentially eroded due to steep slopes or gravitational processes. Excavations confirmed that the five concentric terraces are entirely artificial constructions, built with unworked limestone blocks and dark organic-rich soil sourced locally from multiple outcrops. In several sectors, post-holes cut into the fractured Maiolica bedrock indicate the presence of light wooden structures. Archaeological materials- mainly coarse impasto ceramics, lithic industry and faunal remains- are attributable to the Final Bronze Age, with minor evidence of Archaic and Roman Republican ritual activity. The presence of lithic production debris and faunal assemblages suggests on-site processing activities, while the scarcity of later materials indicates a shift toward episodic cultic use in subsequent periods.The combined geomorphological and archaeological evidence demonstrates that Mount Primo was intentionally reshaped during the Final Bronze Age through extensive terracing, likely requiring substantial communal effort. Rather than representing a purely defensive hillfort, the site appears to have functioned as a multifunctional upland space integrating habitation, seasonal aggregation, ritual practices and territorial control. Its position along trans-Apennine routes and its association with a nearby bronze hoard further support its role as a strategic and symbolic landmark. The study highlights the interpretive power of integrated geoarchaeological methods in mountain contexts and contributes to the broader understanding of upland settlement dynamics in protohistoric central Italy.

The formation and development of gullies are pervasive drivers of hillslope degradation, yet forecasting where and at what elevation gullies begin remains challenging. This study proposes a morphometric–energetic framework to anticipate gully-initiation zones in catchments developed on low-permeability lithologies and limited tectonic control across contrasting climatic and geomorphic settings. Using GIS analyses and morphometric parameters, with some derived from hypsometric curves, our objective is to link basin-scale morphology and energy distribution to the propensity for linear incision, thereby defining a statistically representative initiation belt and stream network positions most susceptible to gully initiation. The study results show that the altitudinal range most susceptible to gully development is at the mean basin’s elevation, and that this range can be associated with an energy potential (Şen’s “Energy Index”) similar to those used to calculate hydroelectric potential in a river basin. Furthermore, the study highlights that the contributing area required to activate these erosive processes varies within fairly narrow limits, between 1 and 3 ha. The framework is designed to be quantitative, transferable among landscapes, and parsimonious in data requirements, even if applicable, as mentioned, in basins with low-permeability lithology and limited tectonic control, and as a first-level predictive tool. By prioritizing diagnostics that can be computed from standard topographic datasets, the approach aims to support land-use planning and sediment-risk mitigation, offering a practical pathway for early identification and management of areas vulnerable to gullying.

The formation and development of gullies is a pervasive driver of hillslope degradation, yet forecasting where and at what elevation gullies begin remains challenging. This study proposes a morphometric–energetic framework to anticipate gully initiation zones in catchments developed on low-permeability lithologies and limited tectonic control, across contrasting climatic and geomorphic settings. Using GIS analyses and morphometric parameters, some of these derived from hypsometric curves, our objective is to link basin-scale morphology and energy distribution to the propensity for linear incision, thereby defining an altitudinal belt and stream network positions most susceptible to gully initiation. The framework is designed to be quantitative, transferable among landscapes, and parsimonious in data requirements. By prioritizing diagnostics that can be computed from standard topographic datasets, the approach aims to support land-use planning and sediment-risk mitigation, offering a practical pathway for early identification and management of areas vulnerable to gullying.

On 15 and 16 September 2022, a large area of the Marche region in central Italy experienced an exceptionally heavy rainfall event, with nearly 420 mm of rain falling in just six hours. The intense rains, in addition to causing 13 fatalities, triggered a large number of landslides in the mountain areas and flood events, mainly concentrated along the valleys of the hydrographic basins of the Metauro, Cesano, Misa, and Esino Rivers. The physiographic setting of the territory and the poor maintenance of both the main and secondary hydrographic network, often insufficient or entirely absent, exacerbated an already exceptional event. Although extraordinary, the natural event occurred in an area already affected by intense meteoric events in the past, the most recent of which had taken place just eight years earlier, in 2014. This study presents the results of the systematic and detailed surveys conducted in several sites affected by the storm, also providing detailed case studies. These surveys highlighted the critical issues detected during the disaster and identified appropriate intervention measures for reducing hydraulic risk in the Region. Many of these measures are innovative and will serve as guidelines for future land-use planning and for improving public education and awareness in flood-prone areas.

On September 15th and 16th, 2022, a large area of the Marche region in central Italy experienced an exceptionally heavy rainfall event, with nearly 420 mm/m² of rain falling in just six hours. The intense rains, in addition to causing 13 fatalities, triggered a large number of landslides in the mountain areas and flood events, mainly distributed along the valleys of the hydrographic basins of Metauro, Cesano, Misa, and Esino Rivers. The physiographic setting of the territory and the poor maintenance of both the main and secondary hydrographic network, often insufficient or entirely absent, exacerbated an already exceptional event. Although extraordinary, the natural event affected an area already hit by intense meteoric events in the past, the most recent of which occurred just eight years earlier, in 2014. This study presents the results of the systematic and detailed surveys conducted in several sites affected by the storm, also providing detailed case studies. These surveys highlighted the critical issues detected during the disaster and identified appropriate intervention measures for reducing hydraulic risk in the Region. Many of these measures are innovative and will serve as guidelines for future land-use planning and for improving public education and awareness in flood-prone areas.

The concept of Landscape Sensitivity is now more topical than ever, given the intense stresses associated with increasing hydrogeological instability because of strong anthropic pressures and extreme climatic events. One of the environments most affected by anthropogenic stresses and catastrophic weather events is undoubtedly the river environment. Studies conducted in the river plains of the Marche region in Italy, starting from the second half of the last century till today, have shown that the deepening of the riverbed is of a maximum of 10 m in the main river channels. Subsequently, these incisions were amplified by the massive impermeabilization of the floodplains and by works in the riverbeds, built to prevent erosion. In the basins of Chienti and Potenza Rivers, the downcutting was about 4–8 m, compatible with the averages of the Marche region rivers for the same period. These deepenings were subsequently amplified, starting in the mid-1980s, with the construction of sewage treatment plants near the main watercourses. In many cases, erosion phenomena, both lateral and vertical, have been observed, sometimes triggering landslide movements in the proximal banks. The analyses made it possible to highlight that this imbalance in river dynamics is due to the convergence of physical processes, such as the increase in discharge, and chemical processes that produce alteration of clay minerals related to surfactants and other chemical pollutants. This study represents a first attempt to highlight a little-known issue that could influence river sustainability of areas subject to significant anthropic pressures.

The formation and evolution of management gullies is a highly intense process of soil erosion often overlooked in policies and river basin strategies. Despite the worldwide spread of the phenomenon, our ability to assess and simulate gullying and its impacts remains limited; therefore, predicting the development and evolution of these river reaches represents a significant challenge, especially in areas where the loss of productive soil or the hazards linked to landslides or floods represent critical factors. Our study demonstrates how an exclusively morphometric approach, based on the construction of the hypsometric curve and applied to small hydrographic basins that are lithologically homogeneous and hierarchized according to the Strahler classification method, is able to predict the triggering height of the gullies; this height corresponds to the mean elevation of the basin and the inflection point of the hypsometric curve itself, confirming the hypothesis that this point coincides with the point at which a sudden change in surface runoff energy occurs, The study also shows that the portion of the basin necessary to trigger these intense erosive processes is always within a small range, regardless of the size and morphology (slope) of the basin itself. Such an approach, which is quick and relatively easy to apply, could help develop hydrogeological hazard mitigation practices in land planning projects.

In statistical landslide susceptibility evaluation, the quality of the model and its prediction image heavily depends on the quality of the landslide inventories used for calibration. However, regional-scale inventories made available by public territorial administrations are typically affected by an unknown grade of incompleteness and mapping inaccuracy. In this research, a procedure is proposed for verifying and solving such limits by applying a two-step susceptibility modeling procedure. In the Torto River basin (central-northern Sicily, Italy), using an available regional landslide inventory (267 slide and 78 flow cases), two SUFRA_1 models were first prepared and used to assign a landslide susceptibility level to each slope unit (SLU) in which the study area was partitioned. For each of the four susceptibility classes that were obtained, 30% of the mapping units were randomly selected and their stable/unstable status was checked by remote analysis. The new, increased inventories were finally used to recalibrate two SUFRA_2 models. The prediction skills of the SUFRA_1 and SUFRA_2 models were then compared by testing their accuracy in matching landslide distribution in a test sub-basin where a high-resolution systematic inventory had been prepared. According to the results, the strong limits of the SUFRA_1 models (sensitivity: 0.67 and 0.57 for slide and flow, respectively) were largely solved by the SUFRA_2 model (sensitivity: 1 for both slide and flow), suggesting the proposed procedure as a possibly suitable modeling strategy for regional susceptibility studies.

The research proposes a simple but geomorphologically adequate method to produce a combined landslide susceptibility map. In fact, in a logic of real use, offering type-specific landslide susceptibility maps to land use planners and administration could be not a successful solution. On the other hand, the simple grouping of more types of landslides could be misleading for model calibration considering that the relationships between slope failures and geo-environmental predictors should be conveyed by the abundance of each type of landslide resulting not specific and diagnostic for each typology. In this test, after having produced independent models for flow, slide and complex landslide by exploiting MARS (Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines) and a set of type-specific geo-environmental variables, a combined landslide susceptibility map was obtained by combining the scores of the three source maps. The combined map was finally validated with a new unknown archive, showing very good performances.