This volume presents a comprehensive review of palaeoenvironmental evidence and its incorporation with landscape archaeology from across the Mediterranean. A fundamental aim of this book is to bridge the intellectual and methodological gaps between those with a background in archaeology and ancient history, and those who work in the palaeoenvironmental sciences. The aim of this volume is twofold: first, to provide archaeologists and landscape historians with a comprehensive overview of recent palaeoenvironmental research across the Mediterranean, and second, to consider ways in which this type of research can be integrated with what might be considered “mainstream” or “cultural” archaeology. This volume takes a thematic approach, assessing the ways in which environmental evidence is employed in different landscape types, from coastal zones via rivers and wetlands to islands and mountainous areas. This volume also presents analyses of how people have interacted with soils and vegetation, and revisits the key questions of human culpability in the creation of so-called degraded landscapes in the Mediterranean. It covers chronological periods from the Early Neolithic to the end of the Roman period.
Author(s): Kevin Walsh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: 384
Cover
The Archaeology of Mediterranean Landscapes
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
Mediterraneanism
Frameworks for the Assessment of Human–Environment Engagements
Environmental Knowledge and Cultural Ecologies
2 From Geology to Biology
Fundamental Geological and Biological Characteristics
Basic Climatic and Biogeographical Characteristics
Tectonics and the Creation and Destruction of Niches
Hellenistic and Roman Catastrophes
Tectonic Legacies
3 Sea-Level Change and Coastal Settlement – Human Engagements with Littoral Environments
Introduction
Characterising the Mediterranean
Maritime Processes
Coastal Processes
Examples of Mediterranean Coastal Change
Higher-Energy Events
Pre- and Proto-Historic Coastal Exploitation
Coastal Exploitation: The Development of Ports and Harbours (Bronze Age Onwards)
Early Ports and Harbours
Classical Coasts and Harbours
Controlling Permeability
4 Rivers and Wetlands
Studying Mediterranean Rivers and Wetlands: Research Questions and Approaches
Characteristics of Mediterranean Rivers
Springs and Karst
Wetlands
Alluvial Geoarchaeology: People and Climate
Alluvial Landscapes and Farming in Anatolia and Greece
Aspects of Alluvial Archaeology in Italy
Late Proto-Historic and Classical Alluvial and Hydrological Landscapes
Urban Alluvial Geoarchaeology: Glanum, Rome, and Gordion
Glanum
Rome
Gordion
Environmental Knowledge in Dynamic Alluvial and Wetland Zones
Human Engagements with Mediterranean Wetlands
Hydromythology
The Pontine Marshes: Roman ‘Relationships’ with a Wetland
Wetlands and Disease
Discussion: Responses to Hydrological Variability
5 Environmental Change
Approaches and Research Questions
The Phytological Context
The Fall from Eden
Landscape Change Around the Mediterranean
Anthropogenic and Climatic Impact: Views from Around the Mediterranean
Southern Mediterranean
The Near East
The Evidence for Soil Erosion
Anatolia and Greece
Some Anatolian Trends
Variability Across Greek Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Classical Landscapes
The Development of the Anthropic-Climatic Regime
People and Environment in Italian Landscapes
People and Environment in Southern French Landscapes
People and Environment in Spanish Landscapes
Variations in Vegetation Change Across Spain
Late Neolithic–Bronze Age Landscapes in Spain
Site Catchments in Proto-Historic Spain
6 Working and Managing Mediterranean Environments
Lifeways in Mediterranean Environments
Clearance, Terracing, and the Creation of the Sustainable Mediterranean Landscape
The Role of Fire
Agricultural and Productive Vegetation
Woodland and Landscape Management (Dehesa and Other Systems)
Environmental Change and Social Geoarchaeology
The Sainte Victoire: Changing Patterns of Interaction with Environment
The Roman Watermill at Barbegal
Discussion: The Human Scale of Interaction with Past Environmental Processes
7 Islands
Introduction
Mediterranean Islands and Island Biogeography
Colonisation of Mediterranean Islands
Settlement, Economy, and Insularity
Aspects of Insular Environmental and Cultural Change
Malta
Smaller Islands
The Balearics
Discussion: Are Islands Different?
8 Mountain Economies and Environmental Change
Introduction: Vertical Spaces, Cyclical Time
Defining Mountain Landscapes
Human–Landscape Engagements Across Mediterranean Mountains
Greece and Anatolia
The Cretan Mountains
Italy, France, and Spain (the Apennines, Alps, and Pyrenees)
The Alps
Southern French Alps
The Pyrenees
Patchy Porosity: Mediterranean Mountains and Variable Integration
Conclusion
9 Conclusions – The Mediterranean Mosaic: Persistent and Incongruent Environmental Knowledge
Retrodicting Human Engagement with the Landscape
Revisiting Mediterranean Environmental Problems
Mediterranean Landscapes: Past, Present, and Future…
Bibliography
Index
