Pedological and anthracological study of Holocene soils for paleoenvironmental reconstructions: a comparison between two archaeological sites in Calabria, southern Italy

This work focuses on the reconstruction of climatic/environmental changes through a pedostratigraphic and paleobotanical study of Holocene soils in two archaeological sites of Calabria, southern Italy. They were excavated in the surroundings of Palmi and Cecita Lake (SW and north-central Calabria, respectively). The former consists of a pedostratigraphic succession with deep argillic horizons including late Neolithic settlements, with variable amounts of clay coatings in pores, and surface organic-mineral horizons showing repeated ploughing traces of undifferentiated historical times, separated by a late early Bronze Age paleosurface. The soils of Cecita span from late Neolithic/early Eneolithic to Greek and Roman ages. They consist of A horizons, showing repeated traces of prehistoric to modern ploughing. In the Neolithic soil A horizons exhibit rare clay coatings in pores. All the above soils display some Andisol-like features and partly developed on volcanic ash, probably sourced from late Pleistocene/Holocene explosive eruptions of the Aeolian Islands. The occurrence of clay coatings, their relict significance evidenced in thin sections and dominant phyllosilicates in the Neolithic soils from both sites, suggest climatic conditions characterized by high moisture availability and some seasonal contrast, enhanced by a warm-humid climate. These pedofeatures may have formed during the late early-middle Holocene climatic optimum. The post-Neolithic soil horizons show more abundant short-range order minerals than phyllosilicates and no clay coatings, that suggest climatic changes towards prolonged humid conditions. Between these climatic phases a severe land degradation is recorded, testified by human impact (deforestation and agriculture) and soil erosion, well-documented by pedoanthracological data at Cecita. Here, charcoal fragments from Neolithic soils are dominated by deciduous oak-forest, whereas a transition to a mountain pine forest is recorded in the Roman soils.