“Harvesting memories”: Integrated approaches of human ecology and landscape archaeology in rural Sicily, the case of Castro Valley and Mt. Barraù (Corleone, PA)

Abstract

The “Harvesting Memories” project focuses on the study of the long-term transformation of the historical landscape in a rural area of Central-Western Sicily (Castro Valley and Mt. Barraù, Corleone – Palermo). In order to achieve a global comprehension of the landscape, which we consider to be a diachronic result of the interaction between humans and their surrounding environment, our main research threads focus on socio-historical and environmental transformation. To this end we are applying an holistic approach, resulting from the cross-pollination of different methodologies: 1) Archaeological research: field survey and pottery studies allow the reconstruction of the historical settlement patterns from Prehistory to the Modern Age; 2) Archival research: the study of Late Medieval and Modern written sources (contracts, wills, chronicles) produces direct and relevant insights on the past land uses; 3) Historical cartography: ancient topographic maps and land registries, treated both from a qualitative and quantitative approach, are a rich source of information on the evolution of the layout of rural districts and their uses; 4) Potential Land Evaluation: this methodology synthesizes the data produced from the above mentioned methodologies and, given a set of known technological variables and potential uses, interpolates landscape models, together with its suitability and potential uses.