Luigi Patella

Abstract

The aim of this brief paper is to examine the characteristics of the karstcomplex which, incorporating the four main basins, occupies the highest partof the Cicolano Mts. The physical features of the district and the structure ofMan's temporary utilization of the area have determined the rise of its typicallyrural landscape. Here the particular types of agro-pastoral economy, which dateback at least to the Classical Age, have survived through the Middle Ages rightup to modern times and are still practised today. Though this kind of economyis not unusual in the higher part of the Apennines, in other districts it hasundergone such transformation that its specific socio-economic functions havebeen completely altered.