Neolithic settlement and paleopedological changes during the Middle Holocene in northern Sardinia (Italy)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21263630 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gian Battista Marras (University of Cambridge, corresponding author), Giovanni Boschian (0000-0003-4324-6353, University of Pisa) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Publication date | 2023-07-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2813-432X • E-ISSN: 2813-432X |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fearc.2023.1206750 |
| OpenAlex | W4383371870 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 67 |
Sardinia is the second biggest island in the Mediterranean region and has been intensely settled since the Middle Holocene (c.7750 BP). Despite a large number of documented Neolithic archaeological sites, very little is known about human-environmental interactions, including land use and domestic activities associated with the emergence and expansion of Neolithic settlements (c. 7750 and 5500 BP). To shed new light on these issues, we carried out new geoarchaeological analyses on buried soils and archaeological sequences exposed at the Neolithic site of Contraguda, northern Sardinia. Physical-chemical analyses combined with a micromorphological study of 24 thin sections from archaeological deposits and buried soil horizons were performed to evaluate the formation processes of archaeological deposits and paleosols. Soil micromorphology detected the presence of pedofeatures originating from land clearance and agricultural activities from the buried Vertisol. Vertisol and Entisol formation largely resulted from the anthropic impact on the landscape, which changed the trajectories of soil development and caused desertification of the environment. Furthermore, sediment fabric and pedofeatures also allowed us to reconstruct Neolithic domestic practices, showing that household maintenance waste debris, which also included animal penning refusal, was dumped into pit structures. Together, our results provide the first geoarchaeological evidence of human impact on soil development within the island during the Middle Holocene and give new insight into the Middle Neolithic (c. 6500-6000 BP) domestic behaviour and land use activities. These findings have significant implications for understanding the island's pedological history and offer a valuable insight on the settlement organization of the Neolithic farming communities and their impacts on the paleoenvironment of Sardinia
Archaeology · Geoarchaeology · Geography · Holocene · Human settlement · Land use · Loess · Mediterranean climate · Paleosol · Soil water · Vertisol · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology · Geology · Paleontology
Handbook for Soil Thin Section Description
Your path led trough the sea … The emergence of Neolithic in Sardinia and Corsica
Paleosols provide sedimentation, relative age, and climatic information about the alluvial fan of the River Tirso (Central-Western Sardinia, Italy)
Crop and wild plant exploitation in Italy during the Neolithic period
Low and variable
Mediterranean landscape change during the Holocene
Micromorphological evidence of soil deterioration since the mid-Holocene at archaeological sites in Brittany, France
Vegetation and fire history of coastal north-eastern Sardinia (Italy) under changing Holocene climates and land use
Years of climate, vegetation, fire and land-use dynamics in the thermo-mediterranean vegetation belt of northern Sardinia (Italy)
Prehistoric shepherds and caves in the Trieste Karst (Northeastern Italy)
Geoarchaeological Investigations of Midden‐Formation Processes in the Early to Late Ceramic Neolithic Levels at Çatalhöyük, Turkey ca . 8550–8370 cal BP
Sedimentology and soil micromorphology of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene deposits of Grotta dell'Edera (Trieste Karst, NE Italy)
Land Use History and Site Formation Processes at the Punic Site of Pauli Stincus in West Central Sardinia
Dynamics of Celtic fields—A geoarchaeological investigation of Øster Lem Hede, Western Jutland, Denmark
Site formation processes and urban transformations during Late Antiquity from a high‐resolution geoarchaeological perspective
Biomolecular and micromorphological analysis of suspected faecal deposits at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey
The cultural landscape near the ancient city of Tharros (central West Sardinia)
Environmental history in the Mediterranean world
Late Neolithic household activities in marginal areas
The role of pottery in Middle Neolithic societies of western Mediterranean (Sardinia, Italy, 4500-4000 cal BC) revealed through an integrated morphometric, use-wear, biomolecular and isotopic approach
Palynological and Archaeological Evidence for Ritual Use of Wine in the Kura-Araxes Period at Aradetis Orgora (Georgia, Caucasus)
Dumping, Sweeping and Trampling
Carbon Dynamics in Vertisols as Revealed by High-Resolution Sampling
Soil micromorphological evidence of early agriculture in north‐west Europe
Formation and Land-Use History of Celtic Fields in North-West Europe – an Interdisciplinary Case Study at Zeijen, the Netherlands
Edaphic opportunism? A discussion of soil factors in relation to the beginnings of plant husbandry in south‐west Asia
A pilot geo-ethnoarchaeological study of dung deposits from pastoral rock shelters in the Monti Sibillini (central Italy)
Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Vegetation and Soils
Microstratigraphic traces of site formation processes and human activities
Shepherds and karst
Animal penning and open area activity at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |