During the last millennia human and natural processes in the Mediterranean Basin have become strongly intertwined, modifying the Earth’s surface in many different ways (Butzer, 2008; Zanchetta et al., 2013). Evident traces of this joint human-nature activity can be detected in coastal areas and alluvial plains, where an enduring synergic relationship commonly occurs between landscape, ancient cultures and society evolution (Butzer, 2008). A holistic geoarchaeological approach helps understand the history of these areas encompassing both natural and human-induced changes. In this regards interesting cases are the Apuo-Versilia plain and the Pisa urban area. For instance the Apuo-Versilia plain experienced a discontinuous progradation of the coastline between Etruscan times and the Middle Ages. A change in the progradation rate was documented after Modern Age and was related to an increase in flood frequencies due to the overlap of climate events and human impact (Bini et al. 2013). Whereas, Pisa is a multilayered city located nowadays on a 4 m-high mound composed of anthropogenic, made-ground deposits dated from the Roman period onwards (Bini et al., 2015). These deposits, totally due to human activities, overlie alluvial, man-modified sediments recording intense human frequentation in a context of a natural environment developed since the early Etruscan age. Changes in Pisa topography through time, quantified using stratigraphic data and the Digital Elevation Model for five historical periods, indicate that the maximum increase in volume and thickness of anthropogenic deposits occurs during the Etruscan-Roman transition, which potentially corresponds to the local onset of the Anthropocene. Integration of DEM analysis with high-resolution stratigraphy allows to reconstruct the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of human frequentation and urban ground growth. The comparison of these two sectors, therefore, indicates interesting relation between human activity and change in the landscape.
Human-Environment Relationship and Landscape Evolution since Etruscan Times: Case Studies from Apuo-Versilia Plain and Pisa Urban Area (NW Italy)
BINI, MONICA
2016-01-01
Abstract
During the last millennia human and natural processes in the Mediterranean Basin have become strongly intertwined, modifying the Earth’s surface in many different ways (Butzer, 2008; Zanchetta et al., 2013). Evident traces of this joint human-nature activity can be detected in coastal areas and alluvial plains, where an enduring synergic relationship commonly occurs between landscape, ancient cultures and society evolution (Butzer, 2008). A holistic geoarchaeological approach helps understand the history of these areas encompassing both natural and human-induced changes. In this regards interesting cases are the Apuo-Versilia plain and the Pisa urban area. For instance the Apuo-Versilia plain experienced a discontinuous progradation of the coastline between Etruscan times and the Middle Ages. A change in the progradation rate was documented after Modern Age and was related to an increase in flood frequencies due to the overlap of climate events and human impact (Bini et al. 2013). Whereas, Pisa is a multilayered city located nowadays on a 4 m-high mound composed of anthropogenic, made-ground deposits dated from the Roman period onwards (Bini et al., 2015). These deposits, totally due to human activities, overlie alluvial, man-modified sediments recording intense human frequentation in a context of a natural environment developed since the early Etruscan age. Changes in Pisa topography through time, quantified using stratigraphic data and the Digital Elevation Model for five historical periods, indicate that the maximum increase in volume and thickness of anthropogenic deposits occurs during the Etruscan-Roman transition, which potentially corresponds to the local onset of the Anthropocene. Integration of DEM analysis with high-resolution stratigraphy allows to reconstruct the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of human frequentation and urban ground growth. The comparison of these two sectors, therefore, indicates interesting relation between human activity and change in the landscape.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
