Mediterranean perennial agrosystems are the results of long-term entanglements between humans and nature, playing a crucial role for local livelihood but today critically under pressure due to global market forces and climate change.
Sicily represents a unique case for its position, geomorphology and biological diversity of endemic species. The island has been the crossroad of diverse cultures for millennia, which have brought to an extraordinary melting pot of different traditional ecological knowledges. Olive cultivation is the non-discursive result of the long cultural negotiation process among all these different ecological practices crossing the island and the local environment, over the centuries.
Before too late, we need to secure the biocultural heritage represented by ancient olive orchards since, thanks to their extraordinary longevity, these long-lasting agrosystems may offer insights on how to tackle adaptation challenges and manage agrobiodiversity sustainably in the future.
In this seminar, I present the new transdisciplinary research project “The Biocultural Heritage of Sicilian Olive Trees” (2021-2024), funded by Vetenskapsrådet (the Swedish Research Council).
Early results will be presented, following the three main integrated components of our research:
1) Spatial analysis with contextual remote sensing techniques to reconstruct land-use dynamics of historic olive agrosystems;
2) Local-scale historical-ecological analysis of individual olive trees/stands and archaeobotanical analysis of microfossils (phytoliths);
3) Collection of local ecological memory from unconventional archives (i.e. ecological calendars and plant phenology) and disentangling of land-use dynamics through geonarratives.
How far we can ensure the olive biocultural continuity today and in the future in Sicily, as elsewhere, depends on how much we can learn from our own past.
24, avenue des Diables Bleus
06300 Nice

Rencontres scientifiques à venir
Consulter toutes les rencontresSéminaire de recherche ouvert du Consortium Hisinum (Académie5)
9h30-12h30. Journée organisée par Muriel DAL PONT, Catherine FARON, Mélanie PLOUVIEZ et Arnaud ZUCKER
6ᵉ édition du Séminaire des jeunes chercheur.e.s Antiquité - Moyen Âge
Organisé par Lisa ABRAM et Jade BOLOGNESI Master 2 - Histoire, Civilisations et Patrimoine (Archéologie, Histoire, Histoire des images)
Colloque | Ancient and Medieval Greek Etymology as heuristic and pedagogic tool. The case of common words
4th Etygram Conference in Siena (Italy)
appel à communication | Etonnement naturaliste et merveilles naturelles
Colloque international du réseau international de recherche Zoomathia, par Pascaline LE GOUAR (Université Rennes 1), Nelly MÉNARD (Université Rennes 1), Sébastien DEREGNAUCOURT ¬(Nanterre Université), Arnaud ZUCKER (Université Côte-d’Azur)
CAA | Digital horizons: embracing heritage in an evolving world
52nd Symposium of Computer Applications in Archaeology 2025
Appel à contributions | Océans, littoraux, îles et sociétés : fluctuations environnementales, activités humaines et défis socio-environnementaux à travers le temps
45es Rencontres internationales d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de Nice Côte d’Azur, organisées par Tatiana Theodoropoulou (CEPAM, CNRS-Université Côte d’Azur), Alexandra Bivolaru (CEPAM, CNRS-Université Côte d’Azur), Nicolas Naudinot (MNHN, UMR 7194 HNHP, Paris)