0000000000408630
AUTHOR
Carla Aleo Nero
Sources of geomaterials in the Sicani Mountains during the Early Middle Ages: A case study of Contrada Castro, central western Sicily
From 2017, an unknown rural settlement in Contrada Castro at Corleone (Palermo Province, western Sicily) was investigated as part of the `Harvesting Memories Project¿. The stratigraphic sequence, supported by radiocarbon dating, has demonstrated a reoccupation of a pre-Roman site during the transition between the Byzantine and Islamic periods. In particular, the main occupation occurred in the late 8th¿9th century when pottery kilns and a probable warehouse were constructed. During the 10th¿11th century, a new structure with different orientations replaced the previous buildings that had already collapsed. Specifically focusing on a perspective of the household production and its relationsh…
The Harvesting Memories Project: Historical ecology and landscape changes of the Sicani Mountains in Sicily
The Harvesting Memories project aims to investigate the historical landscape dynamics in an inner area of the Sicani Mountains district in Western Sicily (Contrada Castro, Corleone-Palermo). The interdisciplinary approach of the project allowed us to combine and integrate methods from different disciplines such as historical ecology, landscape archaeology, archaeobotany and GIS-based spatial analysis. In this paper some results have been summarized. The comparison between land mosaic change during the last 60 years, the relationship between site catchment area and land suitability and the correlation between archaeobotanical and phytosociological data. This approach underlined the relevance…
The Sicilian Countryside in the Early Middle Ages: Human–Environment Interactions at Contrada Castro
Within the project ‘Harvesting Memories: Ecology and Archaeology of Monti Sicani Landscapes’, this paper aims to reconstruct human–environment interactions in the inland areas of Western Sicily during the Early Middle Ages through a comparative analysis of environmental archaeological data. We analyse carpological and anthracological finds and faunal remains originating from different layers of the rural settlement of Contrada Castro (Corleone, Palermo), excavated in 2017–2019. The site was mainly occupied between the Byzantine and Islamic periods (late 8th to 11th c. AD). The examination of wood charcoal enabled the identification of plant species selected and exploited in the landscape of…
Novel Sources of Biodiversity and Biomolecules from Bacteria Isolated from a High Middle Ages Soil Sample in Palermo (Sicily, Italy)
: The urban plan of Palermo (Sicily, Italy) has evolved throughout Punic, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Norman ages until it stabilized within the borders that correspond to the current historic center. During the 2012 to 2013 excavation campaign, new remains of the Arab settlement, directly implanted above the structures of the Roman age, were found. The materials investigated in this study derived from the so-called Survey No 3, which consists of a rock cavity of subcylindrical shape covered with calcarenite blocks: it was probably used to dispose of garbage during the Arabic age and its content, derived from daily activities, included grape seeds, scales and bones of fish, small animal bon…