The changing face of the Mediterranean – Land cover, demography and environmental change: Introduction and overview. (May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bevan, Andrew; Palmisano, Alessio; Woodbridge, Jessie; Fyfe, Ralph; Roberts, C Neil; Shennan, Stephen
• Other Names: Roberts C Neil guest-editor.; Fyfe Ralph guest-editor.; Shennan Stephen guest-editor.; Bevan Andrew guest-editor.; Woodbridge Jessie guest-editor.; Palmisano Alessio guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Holocene. Volume 29:Number 5(2019)
• Page Start: 703
• Page End: 707
• Publication Date: 2019-05
• Subjects: archaeology -- demography -- land cover -- pollen -- radiocarbon -- settlement -- vegetation; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Holocene -- Periodicals; Paleoclimatology -- Periodicals; 333.7
• DOI: 10.1177/0959683619826688
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6836

Abstract

This paper introduces a special issue on The Changing Face of the Mediterranean: Land Cover, Demography, and Environmental Change, which brings together up-to-date regional or thematic perspectives on major long-term trends in Mediterranean human–environment relations. Particularly, important insights are provided by palynology to reconstruct past vegetation and land cover, and archaeology to establish long-term demographic trends, but with further significant input from palaeoclimatology, palaeofire research and geomorphology. Here, we introduce the rationale behind this pan-Mediterranean research initiative, outline its major sources of evidence and method, and describe how individual submissions work to complement one another.