Significati e ruoli dei ‘centri minori’: uno sguardo dalla Sicilia centro-occidentale

The aim of the paper is to describe some cases of ‘minor settlements’, whose role could have been very significant from a political and economic point of view. The case studies regard three districts (Himera, Halaesa, Cignana) of central-western Sicily, where intensive and systematic archaeological surveys have been carried out. Sometimes these ‘minor settlements’ belong to networks of settlements, both of Greek and Roman periods. Their location, morphological characteristics and typology of the finds, allow us to hypothesize a key role in the territory, and sometimes they reveal strong elements of continuity over time (the ‘longue durée’).