Introduction

The nEU-Med project is part of the Horizon 2020 programme, in the ERC Advanced project category. It began in October 2015 and will be concluded in October 2020. The University of Siena is the host institution of the project. The project is focussed upon two Tuscan riverine corridors leading from the Gulf of Follonica in the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Colline Metallifere. It aims to document and analyze the form and timeframe of economic growth in this part of the Mediterranean, which took place between the 7th and the 12th C. Central to this is an understanding of the processes of change in human settlements, in the natural and farming landscapes in relation to the exploitation of resources, and in the implementation of differing political strategies. The project is composed of several research units. Each unit covers an aspect of the interdisciplinary research underpinning the nEU-Med project, each with their own methodology. For this first volume of results, it was decided not to give an account of all the work carried out within all the units, but to select those lines of investigation which, at the end of the first year and a half, have made it possible to articulate and develop an interdisciplinary research strategy