Ricerc@Sapienza

The relation between archaeological features and literary tradition as well as the “correct use“ of both kind of evidence
are key issues of wide archaeological and historical significance. Most debated item, in particular, is how to compare
artifacts and texts avoiding the risk of over-interpreting or under-estimating literary tradition. In such a discussion, attention
has been recently paid to the methodology applied by scholars and/or research teams. There is in fact a tight
relation between method and archeological-historical reconstruction. In many cases, it seems possible to stress that
different and incompatible hypothesis are due to different approaches and research procedures rather than to possible
alternative opinions. So, evidence and arguments but also method.
The scientific debate about these subjects extends beyond Greek and Roman Archaeology, involving problems connected
to integration and interpretation of archaeological data aiming at the reconstructions of sequences of facts or at
a historical reconstruction tout-court. Not to mention correct procedures for the analyses and interpretation of different
kind of documents/evidence: artifacts, stratigraphy, texts, epigraphs, oral traditions, religious and ritual contexts and
so forth.