Proposals for rural landscape and archaeological site flora management: the contribution of archaeobotany through the BRAIN network research

Archaeobotanical data suggest that models of a multiple land use have always contributed to the fruitful management of environmental resources, and this is among the most interesting results obtained from the reconstructions of past landscapes in the Mediterranean. The development of Historical Ecology, an historical approach that promotes interdisciplinary studies involving several research fields (like botany, archaeobotany, history, archaeology, geography, cartography, forestry, geology, climatology, landscape genetics), is carrying out proposals for applications in agricultural management and environmental conservation based on rigorous land use reconstructions. Several members of the BRAIN community are involved in these topics thanks to the interdisciplinary plant-based studies carried out on archaeological sites and other human-influenced contexts (Environmental Archaeology).