Nuovi approcci allo studio del paesaggio storico: il progetto ERC nEUMed e le indagini multidisciplinari condotte nella bassa Val di Cornia

Between 2017 and 2018 the lower Val di Cornia was involved in systematic multidisciplinary (archaeological, topographical and geochemical) investigations aimed at reconstructing the historical landscape. The surveys are part of the Erc-Advanced project: Origins of a new economic union (7th-12th centuries): resources, landscapes and political strategies in a Mediterranean region (nEU-Med), coordinated by the University of Siena (p.i. Prof. Richard Hodges, team co-ordinator Prof. Giovanna Bianchi). The study area includes the inland plains of Piombino and Scarlino, currently two intensely cultivated areas, and extends to the heights of the Colline Metallifere. The consistent previous archaeological indications have allowed a targeted selection of areas to investigate through new surveys. The combined use of several techniques (in particular archaeological fieldworking and geochemical analyses carried out with the use of portable XRF instrument) has produced a multidisciplinary mapping of the area of great impact (to date over 8300 measurements have been acquired). From the overlapping of geochemical, geoarchaeological and archaeological data, significant elements have emerged to support the geomorphological, environmental and anthropic characterization of this portion of territory and new operational protocols have been defined to test the reliability of XRF diagnostic techniques in archaeology, with particular reference to the reconstruction of the historical landscape.