Session: #677

Content:

This session will discuss the complex relationship between human communities and the rich natural landscape of Sicily and the central Mediterranean basin during the prehistoric and proto-historic periods (from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze age). Traditionally, the prehistory of this area has been studied almost exclusively from a chrono-typological point of view. This approach has left little room for discussion about other perspectives. In this respect, over the last decade, research focussing on the analysis and the study of the tight relationship developed between human groups and the rich environmental landscape, is redefining our understanding of the prehistoric framework of the central Mediterranean basin.
In the session, therefore, we would like to discuss the aspects of the transformation of the natural environment into varied and complex cultural landscapes and to understand what were the cultural and technological mechanisms and the modes of production used by prehistoric communities. The primary focus of the session would be the main island, but we are also interested to debate with specialists working in the many islands surrounding Sicily, as well as in the neighbouring regions (e.g., southern Italy, Sardinia, north Africa).
For this purpose, we welcome papers from our international colleagues that cover, though not exclusively, the following themes:

- Bioarchaeological, geophysical and archaeometric analyses
- Exploitation of raw materials and natural resources
- Spatial and GIS analyses, settlement patterns and distribution of sites
- Empowerment of ritual and funerary landscapes
- Processes of unequal access to landscape
- Social meaning of cultural landscape

Session: #677

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