Theme:
2. Net Zero Archaeologies – Sustainability in the Past, Present and Future
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Terraces as Sustainable Historic Landscapes
Content:
Terraced landscapes of the Mediterranean produce diverse crops, and contribute significantly to soil and water management. Despite their widespread occurrence, the history and archaeology of Mediterranean terraces has been obscure, largely due to problems in dating their construction and use. Current research is showing that terraces were built all around the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and before. However, the assumption that terraces are generally young means their importance over the longer term is not appreciated. This has many implications for our understanding of historic Mediterranean landscapes, from past soil development and ecologies to economic strategies and social organisation.
Terraces provide a unique window for understanding long-term environmental impacts of land-use and for evaluating long-term sustainability in agricultural practice and policy. Contributions to this session will consider whether terraces enabled greater resilience to economic or ecological instability in the past, and whether they played a role in mitigating the impacts of past climate change. The session will also reflect on the potential of terrace history to inform future land use, considering both increasing climatic instability and changing needs for food production.
Keywords:
agricultural terraces, sustainability, historic landscapes, geoarchaeology
Session associated with MERC:
yes
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Sam Turner (United Kingdom) 1
Co-organisers:
Jose Maria Civantos (Spain) 2
Tim Kinnaird (United Kingdom) 3
Lisa-Marie Shillito (United Kingdom) 1
Affiliations:
1. Newcastle University
2. University of Granada
3. University of St Andrews
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