Trasformazioni ambientali in età storica del territorio di Oria (Brindisi)

Abstract

During excavations carried out by the Apulian office of the Archeoiogical Bureau of Italy, a stratigraphicai study of various sites in the Oria area (a small town in the Brindisi district, Apulia, S Italy), was conducted to understand the landscape evolution during historical times. The studied area stretches along the northern margin of an ancient dune bar of Middle Pleistocene age. The geological study, based on site and areal stratigraphicai data, has shown the presence of a detritic-alluvial sequence overlying a man-made circular structure. The upper portion of the sequence is made up of backfill lying over sand and clay with fragments of calcareous rocks and bricks. A "post quern"date of the sequence is given by buried wails and pottery fragments ranging in age from the 4th to 3rd centuries B.C. The deposition of the alluvial sequence is interpreted as the consequence of an erosive stage, with mobilisation of slope materials coinciding with the highly rainy climatic stage which occurred between the 5th and 6th centuries A.D.