Luisa Dallai

Colline Metallifere (Tuscany, Italy). Research and landscape enhancement of a mining district

Since the 1980s, in Italy, and Tuscany in particular, considerable experience has been developed in research on the mining landscape in relation to the geography of population, with particular attention to the Medieval period. Numerous research projects carried out in the Colline Metallifere areas of Livourne and Grosseto by the Archaeology Department of the University of Sienna (Prof. Riccardo Francovich) have revealed the huge potential offered by this territory for the study of the population, extraction and production dynamics of the pre-industrial period as well as the necessity for rigorous surveillance of the remains of these activities which have been progressively eroded by recent and massive extraction activities and by the current development of housing and infrastructure. In the Livourne Colline Metallifere area, we have already advanced from the research phase to the creation of a fully operational Archaeo-mining Park which has made it possible to protect an extensive territory containing a wealth of pre-industrial and industrial archaeological evidence, including the mining village of Rocca San Silvestro. In the Grosseto province, the Colline Metallifere grossetane Technological and Archaeological Park was recently created. The aim of this institution is to preserve and enhance historical and archaeological heritage of prime importance which twenty years of research have contributed to uncover across a vast territory.

WITH ARSENIC ON THE ETRUSCANS' FOOTPRINTS

In this article, the results of a study in which a convincing link emerged between geochemistry and archaeology are discussed. Research into the origins of strong arsenic anomalies in southwest Tuscany helped in realising the correlation between ancient mining activities and higher levels of the element. Besides an indication about the source of arsenic pollution in this area, these results indicate that arsenic can be used to trace major archaeoindustrial settlements. This research can provide precious information about the medieval period, when land use and ore extraction were regulated, for the first time, by a mining code. Interesting data can also be obtained about the Etruscan population and their ability to extract and work various metals, which confirmed their predominance in central Italy in the pre-Roman period. This kind of study could also be extended to other substances.