Claudia Speciale

Human-Environment Dynamics in the Aeolian Islands during the Bronze Age Claudia Speciale

The book is the result of a three-year investigation on the Aeolian Islands, a volcanic archipelago consisting of seven islands in north-eastern Sicily, Italy. The author provides new information on the use of vegetal resources and exploitation of the insular landscape by human communities between the end of the third and the end of the second millennium BC. Archaeological data from the widely explored Bronze Age hut villages of Filo Braccio, Filicudi and Acropolis, Lipari are examined through the lens of archaeobotanical and paleoenvironmental data, to produce carrying capacity evaluation and propose new paleodemographic estimations. In particular, the diachronic analysis of wood architectural features and agricultural techniques highlights the possible reliance of the archipelago on external resources during some chronological phases. This monograph adds to our broader understanding of island archaeology and demographics of prehistoric communities, offering a new method for interpreting and using archaeobotanical data.