Cyrene offers one of the largest and most spectacular necropoleis of the Mediterranean basin and, owing especially to its vastness, it is particularly difficult to control and protect. It reveals an extraordinary patrimony of rock-cut architecture, monumentally built around the ancient site, and also represents a zone at major risk of damage and destruction as a result of continuous looting, uncontrolled urbanisation and vandalism. Recent studies by Jim and Dorothy Thorn have presented a preliminary view and gazetteer of the architectonic monumentality, especially of the rocky chamber tombs, showing the need for survey projects in the area. A joint team of Libyan and Italian archaeologists, geologists, topographers and technicians of the local Department of Antiquities and Chieti University started in 1999 a project of surveying and mapping the southern and eastern parts of the necropolis, giving birth to a GIS using differential GPS and Robotic total station for the positioning and recording of the tombs, as well as multispectral HD satellite images, previously orthorectified and georeferred, combined with old maps and RADAR data for a highly detailed topographic base, up to DEM and DTM. From 2004, the survey and the GIS have been extended to the western and northern parts of the necropolis, at the moment counting more than 2,000 mapped and recorded tombs. An important step in the last two years has been the use of remote-sensing and photo-interpretation analysis in order to map the damages of urbanisation and modern construction in the areas of the necropolis. Using images covering the development of the situation every two to three months, mainly shots coming from Google Earth archives, in combination with further satellite images specifically bought for a more complete view of the last two to three years, it has been possible to start drawing a map of the areas under threat from building works and urbanisation. The aim of this paper is to present the main problems of this huge necropolis, which is at the moment one of the most threatened areas of Cyrene, every day at risk from the destruction of its monumental buildings.

The project of mapping the chora of Cyrene, for the team of Chieti University, started between 1999 and 2001 as a layer of a ‘macro-GIS’ of the area to the east of Cyrene, that is, the transect between Cyrene and El-Gubba/Qubbah. Because of the large scale of the area and the monumentality of the sites, the team is composed of several research units based around a large number of scholars and technicians. The project employs a suite of traditional methodologies for the study of landscape archaeology (surveys, GIS mapping, differential GPS, excavations), in combination with technologies integrating the knowledge of the territory (remote sensing on HD satellite photos, geomorphological reconstruction, laser scanning, archaeometric analysis, non-invasive geophysical prospection and infrared diagnostic analysis). The large quantity of data coming from this wide approach has been organised into a flexible and multilayer GIS. A joint team of Libyan and Italian archaeologists and technicians is testing a common protocol for monitoring the monuments and sites in the territory, using surveys and remote sensing analysis, which has intensified during these problematic periods, and regularly analysing satellite sets over the past four years.

The project aims to map and document as much as possible in this territory, to identify the location of the region's so-called ‘minor sites’, which are numerous and almost unknown. They were, from the Late Classical to the Islamic periods, vital sites for the management of the local economy. This paper presents the main issues relating to settlements and sites in Late Antiquity, concentrating mainly on fortifications along the limes and basilicas within the area of the transect. Moreover, in the presentation of the data, the GIS approach has been integrated here with data coming both from the remote sensing and from more traditional research approaches, such as planimetrical and typological analysis of the buildings, study of the sources and detailed mapping of the building techniques.

Since 2007, the Archaeological Mission of Roma Tre University has conducted surveys in the territory of Lepcis Magna, in a peri-urban area between Ras el-Mergheb and Ras el-Hammam. To date, 168 sites have been surveyed. From the analysis of this data collection can be drawn a synthesis of the landscape's evolution from the Hellenistic to the end of the Ottoman period (including the analysis of battlefields and military structures related to the Italo-Turkish War and World War I). As elsewhere in Tripolitania, the Roman productive and settlement system was based on the villae and farms with torcularia for olive (and wine) production. However, the ancient suburban landscape was here characterised by local limestone quarry activities and funerary monuments, the research on which has given significant new data. The Late Antique and medieval periods, with their conjunctures of growth and contraction, as well as the Karamanli/Ottoman phase have been analysed for their agricultural peculiarities and forms of settlement. The Late Antique and medieval defensive system (gsur, the Ras el-Hammam and Ras el-Mergheb castles) and the Ottoman religious landscape (marabouts or ‘shrines’, today almost completely demolished) have also been taken into consideration.

This article discusses a GIS analysis of the results of the Carthaginian Countryside survey conducted by Joseph Greene from 1979 to 1983. The 136 sites identified by the project constitute one of the largest datasets of site locations recorded in the hinterland of Carthage from multiple time periods. The results of this survey have not generally been integrated into modern studies of the region because the project was never fully published and has not been digitised. This paper discusses the challenges of working with legacy data and the importance of using GIS to both preserve and analyse the Carthaginian Countryside survey. The results presented here reveal new insights into the antiquity of the rural landscape around the city of Carthage and the importance of revisiting legacy datasets to contextualise current research.

The study of red slip ware (RSW) imports in the Metelis region was bolstered by the significant presence of fine wares at the site of Kom al-Ahmer. The ancient town is located 44 km southeast of Alexandria. The study of the pottery is based on over 32,000 sherds, of which 472 are fine ware and 364 are imports from the Mediterranean basin and Upper Egypt. The flow of imported fine wares reflects the political events affecting Africa Proconsularis, in particular the invasion of the Vandals. Imports from Africa represent almost a monopoly on fine pottery imports through the first half of the fifth century. After the invasion, these were significantly reduced. However, there was no decline in the number of imported vessels and, from the mid-fifth century onwards, a considerable amount of Cypriot RSW and a smaller quantity of examples from Upper Egypt could be found. Thus, the change in pottery imports involved their areas of origin. After the Byzantine Empire conquered the North African region, pottery imports from Africa resumed in many Mediterranean contexts. This does not seem to have been the case at Metelis, where Cypriot RSW remained dominant and the imports of Egyptian RSW A and Aswan fine ware increased.

The Libyan varieties of both Arabic and Berber are among the least researched in their respective fields. In order to facilitate the study of these varieties, we present an annotated bibliography of all relevant research that could be identified up until the middle of 2016. With this, we aim to identify both the gaps in current and the possibilities for future research. Studies are grouped into Arabic and Berber sections, and subgrouped according to region. For Arabic, dialects of Tripoli and western regions, Benghazi and eastern regions, Fezzan and southern regions, as well as Jewish dialects, are treated. For Berber, varieties of Zwara, the Nafusa mountains, Sokna and El-Foqaha, and Awjila, and Tuareg are treated. Short introductions highlighting the most important studies precede bibliographic references and brief comments are given when of interest.

Toponymic records are a useful tool for establishing initial discriminating criteria before undertaking an archaeological survey of a given territory. This study deals with a series of toponyms in an area located in the region of Cyrenaica which are characterised by containing several terms, the first of which refers to anthropic elements related to some forms of settlement, in particular the forms qaṣr, sīra and qarya. First, a semantic study of the toponyms was conducted and then they were incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS) with a 3D base map, which provided information on their location and their relationship with the physical environment.

‘Notes from Libya’ is a new regular feature of Libyan Studies and follows the reports of the Society's Head of Mission. These reports were previously concerned with the organisation of fieldwork and administrative matters connected to obtaining permissions, visas, and so on, and were recorded in the minutes of the Council meetings. However, they have recently taken on a new form, outlining the alarming developments in Libya, largely focusing on its heritage but also on the political and economic situation, which impacts on the management of Libya's ancient monuments and artefacts. The importance and historical interest of these reports now, however, merit a wider audience and a more formal record, so these accounts are now published in Libyan Studies.