ASH Project

ASH project, led by Prof. M. Pacciarelli and funded by PRIN 2022 PNRR, will examine the role of volcanic ash soils within four case-studies, located in central and southern Italy, investigating their capability to support the spreading and the development of ancient settlement systems and their agricultural-based economy from Prehistory to the Medieval Age. As highlighted for the Poro highplain (Calabria), in each case study area the link between the volcanic soils and the spreading of agriculture will be investigated through pollen cores, pedological analyses and archaeological field surveys. Moreover, the project aims to focus the attention on the crucial problem of the degradation of these volcanic soils – due mainly to climatic change, erosion, huge urban expansion – as well as on the relationship between andosols and hydrogeological risk related to their intrinsic pedological properties. ASH aims at developing a new high-impact research strategy, based on archaeological records (new surveys, cores, legacy data), pedological and archaeobotanical studies, remote sensing based on satellite images and NDVI mapping and sampling. All the collected datasets will be implemented in a web-based IT infrastructure for collecting, modelling, visualizing and understanding agricultural landscapes’ resilience, with a FAIR data policy and organization. In two years, we will provide the basis for further research on the landscape archaeology of Italy, but also for the planning of transdisciplinary projects linking together archaeology, pedology, urban planning and environmental research. ASH will contribute to the knowledge of past human societies, mainly on their relationship with natural subsistence resources. Furthermore, the collected geodata will contribute to a conscious management of soil and landscape heritage, in order to avoid the destruction of this primary natural resource, fundamental for human subsistence in both ancient and contemporary times.