0000000000765293
AUTHOR
Antonio Rotolo
showing 3 related works from this author
Geobotanical approach to detect land-use change of a Mediterranean landscape: a case study in Central-Western Sicily
2018
A landscape is a palimpsest of the interactions between human activities and ecological dynamics. In an interdisciplinary perspective of dialogue between the ‘Two Cultures’ (Natural Sciences and Humanities), a study of a rural area has been carried out through a reading of plant ecosystems as signs of human impact. The purpose of this paper—as part of the project ‘Harvesting Memories’: Ecology and landscape archaeology of Castro/Giardinallo Valley and Mt. Barrau district (Corleone, Palermo, Sicily)—is to analyse the formative-processes of a Sicilian rural landscape and its changes in the last century. A key element in the reconstruction of the formation of the present landscape is the serie…
From pedologic indications to archaeological reconstruction: deciphering land use in the Islamic period in the Baida district (north-western Sicily)
2013
Abstract The aim of this work was to detect imprints on soil properties from former Islamic land use (9th to 11th century) using a multi-method, soil-chemical approach. Four soil profiles (with buried horizons) found in the vicinities of former Islamic settlements in Sicily were analysed for phosphorus (total, organic and inorganic), nitrogen (total, NO 3 − and NH 4 + ), carbon compounds (δ 13 C, lipids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and functional groups), physical and chemical C-fractions and the state of soil weathering. Two soil profiles contained ceramic sherds from the Islamic period. Inorganic nitrogen forms, phosphorous and the PAH content indicated strong impacts from trad…
Vegetation series as a marker of interactions between rural settlements and landscape: new insights from the archaeological record in Western Sicily
2020
[EN] Plant communities are complex and dynamic elements of the landscape, intertwined with both natural factors and human activities. Vegetation series reflect the environmental characteristics of the landscape, but also the anthropic impact, one of the exogenous forces that most profoundly affects the landscape formation process. This paper aims to investigate the interactions between long-term human settlement catchment areas and vegetation series. The case study area of the Sicani Mountains (Central-Western Sicily) proved to be an ideal place to perform GIS-based spatial analysis in order to compare a data set of rural archaeological sites and land units created through the mapping of ve…