lo studio delle relazioni fra uomo ed ambiente è fondamentale per la comprensione delle dinamiche culturali e sociali, soprattutto nelle comunità che adottano per la prima volta un’economia di tipo agricolo o agro-pastorale. l’obiettivo principale di questo lavoro è quello di valutare i caratteri e le dinamiche dell’interazione uomo-ambiente in un periodo compreso tra il 6.200 ed il 3.700 bC nella regione pugliese, sulla base delle evidenze paleoclimatiche, paleoambientali e paleoagricole. seguendo un approccio multidisciplinare si è cercato di confrontare il dato del popolamento antropico, fornito dalle evidenze archeologiche, con i dati paleoambientali e paleoclimatici disponibili grazie ad alcune sequenze naturali off-shore e off-site. Questi dati sono stati di seguito confrontati con i resti archeobotanici (carboni e semi) provenienti da 35 insediamenti compresi tra vii e iv millennio. tale approccio ha messo in evidenza possibili processi di trasformazione delle comunità neolitiche in relazione ad oscillazioni di alcuni parametri quali temperature e precipitazioni che potrebbero aver influito in misura differente sulle modalità di interazione tra uomo e ambiente, sia in termini di dinamiche insediative sia in relazione a specifiche scelte agronomiche.

The objective of our research was to define the main human–environment interactions during the Neolithic period (6500–3700 bc) in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy based on available published and unpublished data. Knowledge of these interactions is crucial to understanding the cultural and social dynamics of the period, particularly concerning the earliest farmers. Using a multidisciplinary approach, paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatological data at the regional and Mediterranean scales were compared with the results of analyses performed on natural deposits and deposits in Neolithic settlements. The following data sets were used: (1) 121 14C dates for settlements, from which probability curves (%) of the Apulian Archaeological Occupation (AAO) were developed; (2) offshore data obtained from analyses performed on two offshore sediment cores drilled in the Adriatic Sea; (3) offsite data from studies conducted in two natural coastal contexts; and (4) onsite archaeobotanical data from 35 settlements. This study allowed us to tentatively define the main climatic features between 6200 and 3700 bc. We identified two dry phases (one between 5000 and 4600 bc and a second that peaked c. 4000 bc) and two wet intervals (one between 6200 and 5500 bc and a second that peaked around 4400 bc). Climate changes appear to have been relatively gradual. The use of archaeobotanical data allowed us to determine a direct link between paleoclimatic and archaeological sequences. These data highlight the variations in agricultural strategies (species used and harvest times) as humans responded to changes in the rainfall regime.

Hidden Neolithic landscapes of the Adriatic coastal region in Apulia have been reconstructed by comparing geomorphological, palaeoenvironmental, archaeobotanical and archaeological data. Ancient landscapes are hidden and/or transformed by natural processes (rising sea-level, erosion and/or accumulation processes) and by recent human activity (intensive land use and urban expansion). Recent research on archaeological landscapes in the Tavoliere, Ofanto and Murge areas has highlighted several less well-known aspects of hidden Early to Late Neolithic landscapes.

Based on multiproxy investigations of a 250 cm long sediment core (ALI1), a reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental dynamics for the Alimini Piccolo lake (south Adriatic coast of Apulia, Italy), is proposed. Our results indicate that shortly before 5500 cal. yr BP a marsh environment established. From 5400 cal. BP the marsh progressively became a lagoon and did not change until 3320 cal. BP, when Alimini Piccolo evolved into a shallow, sheltered, freshwater basin. Around 1400 cal. yr BP the basin became again a lagoon. Changes of the deposition environments and the chronological framework defined in the ALI1 sequence allowed speculation about local relative sea-level motions through the mid-late Holocene. Using proxy-data (molluscs, foraminifers, ostracods and plant macro-remains) as environment and bathymetry indicators, we reconstruct the elevation of the basin bottom (above or below sea level) through time. Plant macro-fossils have proved to be an especially reliable source of data for sea-level reconstruction. The resulting relative sea-level curve is characterised by a slow rise between 5500 and 3900 cal. yr BP, a drop culminating around 2500 cal. yr BP and a new, steeper rise continued to the present position. Our model differs from other curves (tectonically and isostatically corrected) proposed for a number of Mediterranean coastal sites where Holocene sea-level changes have been described with a continuously rising curve, steep before 7000-6000 yr BP, more gradual between 6000 yr BP and the present. On the other hand, our reconstruction seems to agree with evidence on sea-level position during the Roman age, found in several Apulian sites (Salento coastland) by means of geomorphological and archaeological investigations.