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The foundation of the colony of Mutina led to the reorganisation of the pre-existing settlement as well as the subdivision of the agriculture land. In the countryside, which had become fairly fertile as a result of deforestation and land drainage works, a system of villas and farms was laid out on to which was introduced an agricultural and breeding organisation that was largely self-sufficient. This relatively successful economic situation is shown by prices that were kept low over a long period and by the presence of a highly flourishing animal breeding system, in particular pigs, which probably made best use of that area which remained as common woodland.
It was above all in the early centuries of the Empire that the rural population, which provided fundamental economic and productive support for the city, developed and spread quickly. Villas were built in the plain around the region’s capital, at Cognento, San Damaso and Scartazza, around which grew large land holdings dedicated to intensive and specialist farming of the agricultural resources (vine growing, olive processing, grain production).
Even before the Roman occupation of the area, the land surrounding Modena and the city itself were the subject of a powerful increase in human settlement which reached its peak during the Etruscan period and, before that, during the Bronze Age, when a large part of the western parts of Emilia-Romagna was occupied by people known as terremare.
The Terramara Montale (Castelnuovo Rangone) Archaeological and Open Air Museum is one of the most important of these settlements. It houses archaeological remains that are still preserved on site as well as containing the faithful full-size reconstruction of a typical village of huts. Each year there is a programme of activities in experimental archaeology, enabling us to learn more about the ways of life and production techniques in that far-off period of pre-history.
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