Incendi naturali ed uso del fuoco nella Preistoria: metodi di indagine e prospettive di ricerca
Wild fire and fire use in Prehistory: methods of analysis and prospective research
17 dicembre 2015 ‐ Sala Strozzi
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Via G. La Pira 4 Firenze
Coordinatori Adele Bertini e Vincent Lebreton
During the last five millennia, vegetation fires related to human activities have significantly marked the dynamics of the Mediterranean ecosystems. Very little is known on this issue for older periods, namely the Middle Pleistocene, when fires, occurring repeatedly, could have been ignited by natural sources (e.g. lightning and volcanic activity) and by Homo, once he developed the ability to control fire. To investigate the ancient fire signals, and to discern between the natural and anthropic origin of fires, a protocol for the microcharcoal quantification was applied to the Middle Pleistocene sedimentary successions of intramontane basins and prehistoric fills in central-southern Italy. Results, which are a part of the Galileo project G14-138, will be discussed in the light of climate variability and Human/environment relationship.
