Abstract
ABSTRACT 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 the site for each main chronological period. The archaeobotanical data indicated a precise, qualitative picture on the historical vegetation of this area, accompanied with the agricultural practices of the communities. The zooarchaeological data added further information on the reconstruction of rural economy and animal exploitation patterns. An integrated comparison of the characteristic landscape and the archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data presented the dynamics of agricultural strategy, wood exploitation, and management of animal resources of an early medieval rural community in Western Sicily.
Highlights
In the landscape of Mediterranean archaeology, the geographical and historical contexts of Early Medieval Sicily present interesting interactions between cultures and under different rulers of the Byzantine and Islamic worlds (Davis-Secord 2017)
Less is known about the materiality of the rural settlements that arose in the Islamic age, from the mid-9th to the second half of the 11th c
The total percentage of cereals for Period A was 70.01%, and legumes 13.34%, among which we identified chickling vetch (Lathyrus sp.) with 4.44%, fava beans (Vicia faba) with 3.33%, chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) with 1.67%, peas (Pisum sativum) with 1.11%, vetch (Vicia ervilia) with 1.11%, and lentils (Lens culinaris) with 0.56%
Summary
In the landscape of Mediterranean archaeology, the geographical and historical contexts of Early Medieval Sicily present interesting interactions between cultures and under different rulers of the Byzantine and Islamic worlds (Davis-Secord 2017). Parallel to the scarcity of investigations of the settlements, little complete research on human–environment interactions – in the sense of the intersection of archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, and ecological data – have been published with consideration of the post-Roman countryside of Sicily, the exceptions being research on Sofiana/Philosophiana and the Villa del Casale of Piazza Armerina (Mercuri et al 2019), and the ongoing ERC (European Research Council) project ‘Sicily in Transition’ (Carver and Molinari 2016)
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