Jordan Palli , Sabina Fiolna , Monica Bini , Federico Cappella , Adam Izdebski , Alessia Masi , Scott Mensing , Lorenzo Nigro , Gianluca Piovesan , Laura Sadori , Giovanni Zanchetta
{"title":"The human-driven ecological success of olive trees over the last 3700 years in the Central Mediterranean","authors":"Jordan Palli , Sabina Fiolna , Monica Bini , Federico Cappella , Adam Izdebski , Alessia Masi , Scott Mensing , Lorenzo Nigro , Gianluca Piovesan , Laura Sadori , Giovanni Zanchetta","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109313","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The olive grove is a globally recognized symbol of the Mediterranean landscape, yet its origins, ecology, and linkage to different cultures remain inadequately understood, especially in the Central and Western Mediterranean. To fill this gap, we provide new insights into the early exploitation of olive trees in Eastern Sicily (Italy) since the Early-Middle Bronze Age (18th cen. BCE, 3700 BP), through the integration of novel high-resolution palynological analyses of lake sediments at Pantano Grande (a.k.a. Lago di Ganzirri), paleoclimate proxies, and descriptions of socio-cultural changes from historical and archaeological sources. The study site is located along the Messina Strait: a trade and transit route used by seafarers to enter the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Eastern Mediterranean since prehistory. Vegetation changes, including the propagation of olive trees and other forms of land-use or rewilding, are found to be coincident with changing socio-cultural patterns over the last 3700 years. Our results suggest anthropogenic propagation of olive trees coinciding with three cultural stages: (i) Early-Middle Bronze Age (Castelluccio and Thapsos cultures); (ii) Roman times; (iii) Late Modern times (Kingdom of Sicily). This paper establishes an earlier date than previously recognized for the beginning of landscape transformations driven by olive tree exploitation in Italy, representing the second oldest evidence in the Central Mediterranean. We hypothesize that cultural exchanges between Sicily and the Aegean in the Early-Middle Bronze Age have promoted the use of wild olive trees in the Messina area. At that time, olive trees could have been used for various purposes, including fruit production, but also wood and forage for animals. The development of olive groves followed a gradual, multi-stage process in the Central Mediterranean, with large-scale cultivation appearing only in modern times. Although human impacts have contributed to the decline and local extinction of wild olive tree populations, it has also ensured the success of selected genotypes, enabling their adaptation to a wider range of environmental conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"356 ","pages":"Article 109313"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Quaternary Science Reviews","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379125001337","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The olive grove is a globally recognized symbol of the Mediterranean landscape, yet its origins, ecology, and linkage to different cultures remain inadequately understood, especially in the Central and Western Mediterranean. To fill this gap, we provide new insights into the early exploitation of olive trees in Eastern Sicily (Italy) since the Early-Middle Bronze Age (18th cen. BCE, 3700 BP), through the integration of novel high-resolution palynological analyses of lake sediments at Pantano Grande (a.k.a. Lago di Ganzirri), paleoclimate proxies, and descriptions of socio-cultural changes from historical and archaeological sources. The study site is located along the Messina Strait: a trade and transit route used by seafarers to enter the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Eastern Mediterranean since prehistory. Vegetation changes, including the propagation of olive trees and other forms of land-use or rewilding, are found to be coincident with changing socio-cultural patterns over the last 3700 years. Our results suggest anthropogenic propagation of olive trees coinciding with three cultural stages: (i) Early-Middle Bronze Age (Castelluccio and Thapsos cultures); (ii) Roman times; (iii) Late Modern times (Kingdom of Sicily). This paper establishes an earlier date than previously recognized for the beginning of landscape transformations driven by olive tree exploitation in Italy, representing the second oldest evidence in the Central Mediterranean. We hypothesize that cultural exchanges between Sicily and the Aegean in the Early-Middle Bronze Age have promoted the use of wild olive trees in the Messina area. At that time, olive trees could have been used for various purposes, including fruit production, but also wood and forage for animals. The development of olive groves followed a gradual, multi-stage process in the Central Mediterranean, with large-scale cultivation appearing only in modern times. Although human impacts have contributed to the decline and local extinction of wild olive tree populations, it has also ensured the success of selected genotypes, enabling their adaptation to a wider range of environmental conditions.
期刊介绍:
Quaternary Science Reviews caters for all aspects of Quaternary science, and includes, for example, geology, geomorphology, geography, archaeology, soil science, palaeobotany, palaeontology, palaeoclimatology and the full range of applicable dating methods. The dividing line between what constitutes the review paper and one which contains new original data is not easy to establish, so QSR also publishes papers with new data especially if these perform a review function. All the Quaternary sciences are changing rapidly and subject to re-evaluation as the pace of discovery quickens; thus the diverse but comprehensive role of Quaternary Science Reviews keeps readers abreast of the wider issues relating to new developments in the field.