Waterscapes Archaeology

This volume explores human-environment interactions in coastal lagoons through case studies from the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Persian Gulf. Using methods like GPR and archaeobotany, it examines settlement, resource use, and landscape change, revealing ancient strategies for managing dynamic waterscapes.

Waterscapes Archaeology: Multi-scalar Human-Environment Interactions in Coastal Lagoons presents papers from a session of the 7th International Landscape Archaeology Conference (Ia?i-Suceava, Romania, and online 2022). It brings together a series of interdisciplinary studies that investigate the historical, ecological, and socio-economic significance of coastal lagoons across various regions and time periods. The chapters delve into long-term human-environment interactions within these dynamic ecosystems, focusing on themes such as resource exploitation, settlement patterns, and paleo-environmental reconstructions. The volume highlights diverse case studies, including the historical and cultural roles of lagoons in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, the socio-economic interdependencies revealed by prehistoric coastal settlements in the Persian Gulf, and diachronic changes in Italy’s Apulian wetlands. Innovative non-invasive techniques, such as magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar, are also examined for their contributions to marshland archaeology, offering new insights into previously hidden archaeological landscapes. Additionally, the volume explores the evolution of landscapes in the Venetian lagoon through archaeobotanical analyses and the complexities of lagoon management in the Roman world, addressing the challenges of resource control and ownership in shifting environments. Each chapter contributes to a comprehensive understanding of how ancient societies adapted to environmental changes and managed waterscapes, while also emphasizing the contemporary relevance of these findings for sustainable management and conservation of these vulnerable anthropo-ecological systems.

Introduction – A. Bivolaru, D. Cottica, C. Morhange

Waterscapes: long term human-environment interactions in the lagoons from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea – A. Bivolaru

Archaeological evidence for the socio-economical interdependency of coast and hinterland based on the discovery of new prehistoric sites on the Persian Gulf’s northern coasts – E. Rashidian, A. Moghaddam

Diachronic Human-Wetland Interactions on the Salpi Lagoon (Apulia, Italy): From the Daunian Period to the Early Middle Ages, G. Fiorentino, R. Goffredo – I. Mazzini, D. Susini

Liminal historical landscapes in southern Tuscany: a multidisciplinary approach for a new narrative – L. Dallai, V. Volpi, G. Poggi

Historical landscape analysis on marshlands of the Bay of Cádiz. A non-invasive theoretical approach and experimental experience – E. Aragón Núñez, I. Rondán Sevilla, L. Lagóstena Barrios

Landscape evolution in the Venetian lagoon reconstructed through archaeobotanical analyses – S. Marvelli, M. Marchesini

Coastal lagoons, shifting environments, and control of natural resources – A. Marzano

Alexandra Bivolaru is a geoarchaeologist and Marie Sklodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Ca’Foscari University of Venice. With a PhD in Archaeology, she specializes in the diachronic study of human-environment interactions in riverine and coastal environments, conducting research across the Western Black Sea, Northern Adriatic, and Western Mediterranean. Christophe Morhange is Professor of Physical Geography at Aix-Marseille University and Director of the Archaeosciences Chair at EPHE-PSL-AOROC. A leading expert in geoarchaeology, his research focuses on ancient harbors across diverse historical periods and geographical regions around the Mediterranean. Daniela Cottica is Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, specializing in the archaeology of production and consumption, including marine resource exploitation and archaeometric pottery analysis. She is the scientific director of the excavation and research project Aquileia porto romano: sponda orientale and co-director of the research project Vivere d’Acqua Archeologie fra Lio Piccolo e Altinum.

• Edited by Alexandra Bivolaru
• Edited by Daniela Cottica
• Edited by Christophe Morhange