The case of Ustica island (Palermo, Sicily): a multidisciplinary approach for prehistoric palaeoenvironmental reconstruction (original) (raw)

Abstract Book - 40th Association for Environmental Archaeology Conference - Sheffield (UK), 29th November-2nd December 2019, 2019

Abstract

The volcanic island of Ustica (9 km2) is located about 58 km north of the coast of Palermo, Sicily, in a strategical position for the routes that lead from the Aeolian Islands to Western Sicily and from Western Sicily to the south of Sardinia. During prehistory Ustica was settled since Neolithic times until the Middle Bronze Age (about 4000-1300 BC). Since 2017, a paleoenvironmental analysis of Ustica island is conducted within the project Brains2Islands, which includes the investigation of human-environmental dynamics on small volcanic islands of the Tyrrhenian sea during prehistory. Surveys and field activities brought to light several prehistoric sites; one of them, Piano dei Cardoni (Late Neolithic) is now under excavation and study. For this paper, the pattern of distribution of the settlements since Neolithic times is analysed considering the volcanic setting, the geomorphological evolution and the soil properties of the island. Botanical macro- and micro-remains from soils and obsidian artifacts are analysed within a multivariate approach that discusses them in relationship with the lithic use -wear and residue results, for the paleovegetational, paleoclimatic and paleoeconomic reconstruction. The exploitation of local sources for ceramic manufacturing is investigated through the petrographic analyses of the sherds. All these data are compared in order to reconstruct the cultural landscape of the communities of the island during the 5th millennium BC.

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