POLLEN EVIDENCE OF VEGETATION CHANGES AND LAND USE ON THE TROPEA PROMONTORY (CALABRIA, ITALY) DURING PREHISTORY

Abstract

Pollen analysis was undertaken on a sediment core drilled at the top of the Tropea Promontory (Calabria), an area rich in archaeological evidence from the Eneolithic up to the Iron Age. Human impact is clearly detected in the basal portion of the core through deforestation, fires, crops and pasturage activities. The anthropic pressure seems to generally reduce around the core site in the second half of the core, when a significant forest recover is recorded. These local vegetation changes and land use could be ascribed to both a gradual closure of the marsh and a possible abandonment of this area for pastoral and agricultural practices.