The paleoenvironmental history of Peloro Cape (Sicily, Italy) reveals landscape transformations and legacies due to human activity since the Bronze Age.
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Type
conferenceObject
Abstract
Since the onset of stable human occupation, natural ecosystems and their resources have been increasingly exploited and significantly transformed. This long-lasting process produced enduring legacies in the ecological, morphological, and cultural characteristics of the landscape. Coastal areas have been particularly impacted due to their historical role as key contact zones and critical nodes along trade and transit routes. Southern Italy, in particular, has historically served as a gateway for the exchange of goods and cultural interactions between the eastern and western Mediterranean.
Within the framework of a multidisciplinary collaboration involving paleoecologists, Quaternary geologists, historians and archeologists from various international institutions, we present the high-resolution paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Peloro Cape area (Eastern Sicily, Italy) spanning the last four millennia. In 2019, a ~730 cm-long sediment core was extracted from the coastal salt marsh of Pantano Grande (a.k.a. Lago di Ganzirri), located along the ancient trade corridor of the Messina Strait. The core was dated using a combination of radiocarbon analysis and geochemical fingerprinting of two volcanic ash (tephra) layers. Results indicate a continuous and relatively stable sedimentation rate from the base of the core (3720 BP) to the sediment-water interface, corresponding to the year of sampling (2019).
A multiproxy analysis – integrating lithostratigraphy, geochemistry, meiofaunal assemblages, and palynology – reveals the extent and dynamics of human-induced environmental change since the beginning of the sedimentary record. Around 3700 years ago, fossil pollen evidence indicates the anthropogenic spread of olive trees (Olea europaea), which altered the composition of native vegetation. This phase ended in the 12th cen. BCE (ca. 3200 BP), following the arrival in Sicily of populations from the Italian peninsula and the increase in maritime piracy. A resurgence of human impacts is evident in the 6th cen. BCE (ca. 2600 BP), coinciding with the establishment of Greek colonies. This period is characterized by widespread deforestation and intensified land use, coupled with increased precipitation, which collectively accelerated soil erosion and debris supply. These processes may have contributed to the formation of a barrier separating the marsh from the open sea. During Roman times, the area experienced renewed olive cultivation. However, subsequent sociopolitical changes prompted shifts in land-use practices, including phases of abandonment and rewilding. The complex paleoenvironmental history of the Peloro Cape area testifies how the morphology, ecology and functioning of this area have been shaped—directly or indirectly—by human activity over the last four millennia.
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Abstract Congresso SGI-SIMP 2025-5.pdf
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4475e0b1ed0ebb9ea43acb448540a62c
Conference(s)
International Conference “Geosciences and the Challenges of the 21st Century"