QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION OF THE CHUDDIA RIVER VALLEY WESTERN SICILY

This geologic research complements the Sicilian-Scandinavian Archaeological Research Project by describing changes in slope, vegetative cover, fluvial sedimentation, and identifying key paleosol layers within the stratigraphic record. Current fieldwork is investigating the geomorphic and stratigraphic interrelationships of massive, up to 35m thick, Pliestocene coarse grained limestone clast supported alluvial fan deposition followed by Holocene fluvial disection and sediment redistribution. The purpose of this research is to delinate the probable environmental advantages and restrictions inherent to western Sicily and also to identify possible anthropogenic landscape manipulations throughout the Holocene. Geologic aspects such as tectonics, fluvial sedimentation, and soil formation as related to archaeological and climate change data should produce valuable information regarding settlement patterns, agricultural development, and the anthropogenic modification of the Sicilian landscape. Stratigraphic alluvial fan and fluvial sections will provide the context for sedimentation rates, archaeological artifacts, charcoal, soil development, and well preserved land snail shells. Dating and isotopic (C,O) analyses of land snail shells and local speleothems should aid in the temporal investigation of sedimentation rates, vegetative types, and climatic variations. Once data analyses are complete a comparison with previous western Mediterraean geologic studies and current site specific archaeological investigations will be made. This comparison should add a significant new component to the Mediterranean geomorphic database, possibly indicating spatially and temporally concurrent periods of soil degradation as a result of intensive farming practices, climate change,or a combination.