Ricerc@Sapienza

In Central Tyrrhenian Italy and more precisely in Etruria, a region inhabited by the Etruscans, rapid and important changes, part of a process of urbanization, have been documented from the 10th to the 6th centuries BCE (3000 to 2500 BP). They led to the emergence of large cities with complex political, economic and social structures. This period seems to be punctuated by diverse climatic events which could have influenced the annual precipitations and temperatures but also their seasonality. This climate instability cannot be sidelined as a parameter that could have triggered these societies transformations. However, because of the strong anthropic impact on the environment and the lack of resolution of the climatic studies, it is complicated to assess the relationships between these factors. To improve the comprehension of these interactions this project will focus on the study of agricultural practices, which can reflect socio-economic characteristics of a society, as well as climatic variations occurring during this period at the archaeological site of Tarquinia in Etruria, an ancient region situation north of the Tiber. Forty samples having charred archaeobotanical material dated between the 10th to the 7th cent. BCE are already available for this study. The principal method used is carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis (¿13C and ¿15N) of carbonized cereals and woods remains found in these samples. The results will be completed with an ecological study of the weeds which are plants growing in association with cultivated cereals. The study of an Etruscan site provides a useful comparanda for the interpretation of the data that is part of my PhD project, which focuses on the Latium vetus region. The presence of diverse archaeological cultures and environmental differences between the two regions permits to better discriminate the anthropic impact from the climatic influence.