The Eneolithic/Bronze Age Transition at Tegole di Bovino (Apulia): Geoarchaeological Evidence of Climate Change and Land-Use Shift

Abstract

Human communities at the transition between the Eneolithic period and the Bronze Age had to rapidly adapt to cultural and climatic changes, which influenced the whole Mediterranean. The exact dynamics involved in this crucial passage are still a matter of discussion. As newer studies have highlighted the key role of climatic fluctuations during this period, their relationship with the human occupation of the landscape are yet to be fully explored. We investigated the infilling of negative structures at the archaeological site of Tegole di Bovino (Apulia, Southern Italy) looking at evidence of the interaction between climate changes and human strategies. The archaeological sedimentary deposits, investigated though geoarchaeological and micromorphological techniques, show the presence of natural and anthropogenic infillings inside most structures. Both human intervention and/or natural events occurred in the last phases of occupation of the site and its subsequent abandonment. The transition to unfavorable climatic conditions in the same period was most likely involved in the abandonment of the site. The possible further impact of human communities on the landscape in that period, testified by multiple other archives, might have in turn had a role in the eventual change in land use.

The geoarchaeological investigation on the defunctionalisation of an Assyrian canals system reveals Late-Holocene land use transitions in Northern Mesopotamia

“…Over time, as the regional climate turned progressively drier, the water management system was abandoned, and we noted a general defunctionalisation of canals and aqueducts. Thin layers of waterlain sediments are recurrent at the very bottom of canals, being the sole remains of sedimentation during the phases of activity of the system and testifying, like in other sites (Mariani et al, 2020), the regular maintenance of the canals. Moreover, microscopic traces of subaerial desiccation suggest the subsequent abandonment of the canal.…”

“…This work further demonstrates that the post-abandonment infillings of negative archaeological structures efficiently support landscape archaeology studies in detecting evidence of past land use and exploitation of natural resources. Even though such deposits have a low chronological resolution (Mariani et al, 2020), their micromorphological investigation allows interpreting landscape evolution and land use changes occurred after the abandonment of an archaeological area supporting archaeological reconstruction. As in the case of Mesopotamian water harvesting systems, geoarchaeological investigation needs to focus on post-abandonment deposits that may disclose unexpected evidence describing the evolution of archaeological landscapes.…”

“…Micromorphological and sedimentological analyses allow elucidating the formation process of natural and anthropogenic deposits infilling canals (e.g. Charbonnier et al, 2017; Cremaschi et al, 2016, 2018; Li et al, 2017; Mariani et al, 2020; Storozum et al, 2018). In our case, the same methods disclose the characteristics of the post-abandonment backfill as well as some functional aspects of the canal’s late phases of activity.…”