Environmental and economic transformations from late prehistory to late antiquity in Italy: a multi-proxy investigation
The paper draws together evidence for animal management c. 1500 BC – AD 700 to reconstruct livestock management practices, and correlates transformations in species representation and animal body size with environmental, climatic and social dynamics. This examination concludes that human social dynamics rather than climate change were the primary driver to changes in animal management on the regional macro-scale. Building on this, focused strontium isotope analyses of select sites demonstrate evolving patterns of animal management and mobility over this diachrony, with implications animal trade, gene flow, and land use. This talk raises questions on the shifting role of human versus environmental dynamics in shaping production, and reciprocal relationships across different areas of plant and animal production.
