Terra, Silva et Paludes. Assessing the Role of Alluvial Geomorphology for Late-Holocene Settlement Strategies (Po Plain – N Italy) Through Point Pattern Analysis

Filippo Brandolini and Francesco Carrer

Environmental Archaeology, 2021, vol. 26, issue 5, 511-525

Abstract: Fluvial environments represent complex human-water systems, as floodplains have always been among the most suitable environments for human subsistence. In this paper, we present one of the first attempts to investigate human adaptation to fluvial environments in the past using spatial statistics (Point Pattern Analysis). In particular, the paper addresses the influence of alluvial geomorphology on the settlement strategies in the Po plain (Northern Italy) during the Roman and the Medieval Period. The transition from Roman to the Middle Ages represented a crucial phase for the reorganisation of human settlement strategies in the Po Valley. The collapse of Roman hydrological systems in association with a cooling climate phase triggered waterlogging process in a large portion of the farmland: swamps became the typical features of the Medieval landscape. This paper aims to assess if the different water management strategies in the Roman and Medieval periods influenced the spatial distribution of sites, and to evaluate the relative importance of agricultural suitability over flood risks in the two historical phases. This research contributes to quantifying how the socio-political factors of past societies played a key role in human resilience to geomorphological hazards related to alluvial contexts and exceptional floods triggered by climate changes.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14614103.2020.1740866 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:yenvxx:v:26:y:2021:i:5:p:511-525

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/yenv20

DOI: 10.1080/14614103.2020.1740866

Access Statistics for this article

Environmental Archaeology is currently edited by Tim Mighall

More articles in Environmental Archaeology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().