Sources of geomaterials in the Sicani Mountains during the Early Middle Ages: A case study of Contrada Castro, central western Sicily

Abstract

From 2017, an unknown rural settlement in Contrada Castro at Corleone (Palermo Province, western Sicily) was investigated as part of the 'Harvesting Memories Project'. The stratigraphic sequence, supported by radiocarbon dating, has demonstrated a reoccupation of a pre-Roman site during the transition between the Byzantine and Islamic periods. In particular, the main occupation occurred in the late 8th-9th century when pottery kilns and a probable warehouse were constructed.During the 10th-11th century, a new structure with different orientations replaced the previous buildings that had already collapsed. Specifically focusing on a perspective of the household production and its relationship to the surrounding landscapes of this site, this paper presents the results of a geological survey and petrographic analysis of ceramic finds and lithic samples to identify the source area of the geomaterials used in the studied settlement. The ceramic finds were divided into different Paste Groups based on the characteristics of a polarizing microscope study. The use of some locally available raw materials was recorded both for ceramic and lithic samples. Such an approach enables us to better understand ceramic craft technology, clay and lithic procurement strategies and, more broadly, the consumption of household pottery in the Early Medieval site in Contrada Castro. Furthermore, this study verifies the close relationship that this rural settlement had with the surrounding resources in the area and reveals a connection with the city of Palermo during the Early Middle Ages.

Continuity, Resilience, and Change in Rural Settlement Patterns from the Roman to Islamic Period in the Sicani Mountains (Central-Western Sicily)

“…The pottery data from sites of the Islamic era unveil another interesting trend. As already substantiated by petrographic/archaeometric analyses of pottery from Contrada Castro [102], certain types of painted amphoras indicate a significant shift in trade patterns. In rural areas, unlike the Roman/late antique period's extra-regional scale, trade operated at a mid-range scale in Islamic period, especially along a city (Palermo)/countryside axis.…”

“…This site has been the subject of multidisciplinary analyses focused on the study of human-environment interactions, which have highlighted-through zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical, and phytosociological analyses [100]-a long-lasting continuity in the exploitation of environmental and animal resources [101]. The ceramic record demonstrates a good level of economic complexity in this inland area, in which the presence of amphorae produced in Palermo testifies to an exchange connection between the city and the countryside [102].…”

The Harvesting Memories Project: Historical ecology and landscape changes of the Sicani Mountains in Sicily

“…The landscape has been shaped by frequent changes in geological strata, with the alternation of clayey or marly hills and calcareous reliefs of the Mesozoic period (Sicana facies). The detailed geological framework of the study area was described in Montana et al (2022). This has resulted in a sequence of hills with gentle slopes, irregularly interrupted by isolated mountains with steep, if not abrupt, slopes, which reach the considerable height of 1420 m a.s.l.…”

“…The excavations have confirmed the long occupation of the hill starting from an inhabited area of the 6th-4th century BC with a reoccupation that saw the formation of a settlement during the Early Middle Ages characterized by two macro phases of life between the late 8th-9th century AD and 10th-11th century AD, the centuries of the complex transition between the Byzantine and Islamic periods (Figure 1). The early Medieval occupation of Contrada Castro is a privileged case study to verify the resilience of territorial occupation strategies, of the exploitation of environmental, agricultural, animal and geological resources (Castrorao Barba et al 2021;Montana et al 2022) in an inland area before and after the arrival of the Arabs which in some areas led to the emergence of new agricultural landscapes connected to a systematic use of irrigation systems (Metcalfe 2017;Todaro et al 2020).…”

Historical Ecology, Archaeology and Biocultural Landscapes: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to the Long Anthropocene

“…Recently (2015-2022), a synergy between archeology and landscape ecology, declined as a "middle-earth" between landscape archaeology and historical ecology, has inspired the Harvesting Memories Project [1]. This project concentrates on the Sicani Mountains as a case study, analyzing a schedule of long-term human-environment interactions with an interdisciplinary and multi-methodological approach thanks to: surveys [2]; archaeological excavations [3]; multi temporal land use changes [4]; vegetation dynamic studies [5]; archaeobotanical and archaeozoological analyses [6] and geological raw material catchment area studies [7].…”