Search results for "mediterranean"
showing 10 items of 3196 documents
Factors influencing the distribution, abundance and nest-site selection of an endangered Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) population in Sicily
2003
Egyptian vulture (Neophrom percnopterus) breeds in Sicily and, in 22 years of monitoring, has shown a decline followed by a slight recovery. We used Generalised Linear Models to predict: (1) the distribution range, (2) the habitat selection within the range, (3) the quality (i.e., occupation rate, breeding success) of breeding sites. Some 60% of Sicily proved to be unsuitable, being either too densely forested and without cliffs for nesting, or too densely populated, along with intensive agriculture. The models converged, indicating that the pairs select a precise upland habitat where low cliffs, distant from urban areas, are surrounded by arboreal crops and Mediterranean vegetation. The va…
Archaeogenetics and Landscape Dynamics in Sicily during the Holocene: A Review
2021
The Mediterranean islands and their population history are of considerable importance to the interpretation of the population history of Europe as a whole. In this context, Sicily, because of its geographic position, represents a bridge between Africa, the Near East, and Europe that led to the stratification of settlements and admixture events. The genetic analysis of extant and ancient human samples has tried to reconstruct the population dynamics associated with the cultural and demographic changes that took place during the prehistory and history of Sicily. In turn, genetic, demographic and cultural changes need to be understood in the context of the environmental changes that took place…
The first colonization of Ibiza and Formentera (Balearic Islands, Spain): Some more islands out of the stream?
1995
Abstract The Balearic Islands, off the east coast of Spain, have provided a focus of interest in investigations of the earliest colonization of the Mediterranean islands, because of the relatively late date of their oldest sites. Mallorca was visited in the fifth millennium BC and inhabited by the third, and Menorca was colonized during the closing centuries of the third millennium; this therefore makes Ibiza and Formentera special cases of isolation, since they were evidently not occupied until about 2000 BC and moreover were essentially deserted between roughly the thirteenth and seventh centuries BC. The paper presents all the currently available data relevant to this question, particula…
The production cycle of lime-based plasters in the Late Roman settlement of Scauri, on the island of Pantelleria, Italy
2018
This paper deals with the archaeometric study of lime-based plasters found in the archaeological settlement of Scauri, located in the homonymous bay in the south-western part of Pantelleria Island. Since 1999, archaeological surveys have led to the recovery of the huge remains of a Late Roman settlement dating back to the fourth-fifth century AD. It is well known that the island of Pantelleria is entirely composed of volcanic rocks. Accordingly, the production of quicklime required calcareous rocks to be imported. Also, the selection criteria of the sandy aggregate are relevant and of interest to this study, to evaluate the achieved technological level. Within this context, a mineralogical …
The Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Cadiz as a natural laboratory for paleotsunami research: Recent advancements
2021
International audience; After the 2004 Indian Ocean (IOT) and the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunamis, new research in tsunami-related fields was strongly stimulated worldwide and also in the Mediterranean. This research growth yields substantial advancements in tsunami knowledge.Among these advancements is the “Paleotsunami” research that has marked particular progress on the reconstruction of the tsunami history of a region. As an integration of the historical documentation available in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Cadiz areas, geological and geoarchaeological records provide the insights to define the occurrence, characteristics, and impact of tsunamis of the past. Here, we present the recent …
El registro material del colmenar ibérico de la Fonteta Ràquia (Riba-Roja, València)
2016
La excavación arqueológica en 2008 del yacimiento de la Fonteta Ràquia (Riba-Roja del Túria, València) permitió documentar un pequeño asentamiento rural de la Edetania, territorio de la antigua ciudad ibérica de Edeta / Tossal de Sant Miquel (Llíria, València). El núcleo estuvo ocupado entre finales del s. V a.C. y finales del III / comienzos del II a.C. Destaca, por encima de todo, por una gran especialización en apicultura, tal y como demuestra el hallazgo de miles de fragmentos de aproximadamente 200 colmenas cerámicas, superando con creces los registros precedentes de este tipo de actividad en Iberia y el Mediterráneo en general. The archaeological excavation of the site in Fonteta Ràqu…
Abric de la Ratlla del Bubo (Crevillent, Alicante). Results of the 1986-1991 campaigns. New data on its palaeolithic sequence
2022
El Abric de la Ratlla del Bubo (Crevillent, Alicante) es uno de los yacimientos clave para el conocimiento del Paleolítico superior en el área central del Mediterráneo ibérico, especialmente en lo que a sus fases iniciales se refiere. El yacimiento ha sido objeto de varias intervenciones arqueológicas, tanto clandestinas como científicas. Sin embargo, hasta este trabajo, la información disponible era parcial y, en muchos casos, remitía a materiales sin referencia estratigráfica. En este estudio se exponen los resultados del análisis del material lítico, del registro vegetal y de la fauna recuperada en las campañas de 1986 a 1991. Además, se presenta una amplia serie de dataciones radiocarbó…
1200 years of decadal-scale variability of Mediterranean vegetation and climate at Pantelleria Island, Italy.
2013
A new sedimentary sequence from Lago di Venere on Pantelleria Island, located in the Strait of Sicily between Tunisia and Sicily was recovered. The lake is located in the coastal infra-Mediterranean vegetation belt at 2 m a.s.l. Pollen, charcoal and sedimentological analyses are used to explore linkages among vegetation, fire and climate at a decadal scale over the past 1200 years. A dry period from ad 800 to 1000 that corresponds to the 'Medieval Warm Period' (WMP) is inferred from sedimentological analysis. The high content of carbonate recorded in this period suggests a dry phase, when the ratio of evaporation/precipitation was high. During this period the island was dominated by thermop…
Newly discovered orichalcum ingots from Mediterranean sea: Further investigation
2021
Abstract In February 2016, 47 ingots were found in the seabed of Contrada Bulala (Gela, CL, Italy) near the site where 40 ingots had previously been recovered. The ingots composition was determined to be a Cu - Zn alloy, dated by the archaeologist to the VI century B.C. This specific alloy was then known as Orichalcum. From an archaeological point of view, the first question raised about the new discovery was whether the ingots of the first and the second excavations belonged to the same shipwreck. Following the previous study, an elemental analysis was performed on the ingots from the second finding by using ICP-OS and ICP-MS techniques. The chemometric treatment of the analytical results …
First evidence of Pleistocene ochre production from bacteriogenic iron oxides. A case study of the Upper Palaeolithic site at the San Teodoro Cave (S…
2020
Abstract The use of iron pigments is well documented in the archaeological horizons of the different parts of the world since the Middle Pleistocene. The mineralogical and chemical composition of the pigments allowed defining, in most cases, their inorganic origin, which were then used after a limited transformation and manipulation. The use of a biogenic ochraceous pigment and its manipulation has recently been described in a late Holocene archaeological horizon of the American continent. Here we describe the earliest case of archaeological use of ferrous pigment produced by iron-oxidising bacteria (FeOB), the first identified in a European Epigravettian (late Upper Palaeolithic) layer, at…