Brevi considerazioni di un archeologo

This paper focuses on the relationship between the historical and archaeological research, on the established methods and available set of sources, as well as on the main cultural trends developed in the archeological debate over the last few decades. Taking the cue from the enliven discussion over the Greek "colonization" of the West, and by referring to the different interpretations of other complex phenomena of the ancient world – such as the "Romanization" and the end of Antiquity – several other issues are also addressed, in particular concerning the last 50 years evolutions in the archaeological research. From the debate between the New Archeology, and the Processual and Post-processual archaeologies, to the emergence of medieval, modern, and contemporary post-classic archaeologies; from the Italian tradition of the historic archaeology to the development of the "global archeology", the so-called “archeologia della complessità”, and the “global landscape archaeology”. In this respect, the need for a contextual, stratigraphic, and multidisciplinary approach for the analysis of historic landscapes is particularly emphasized. Finally, issues concerning the “public archeology” are also tackled.