- Ingela M. B. Wiman –
Figure 1.1 A bull of the Maremman Bos taurus. I. Wiman.- in a number of features like the big protruding horns and dark furred bulls and
lighter females. Aurochs were once common throughout the whole Eurasian continent.
To conclude, the Etruscan lithosphere and soils are a mixtum compositum of igneous
and sedimentary geological processes characterized by deep ravines in the south and by
a hilly, metalliferous landscape in the north. The petrifi ed volcanic ash has made the
soils very fertile and their porosity allows rain to permeate the soil and form sources
of excellent drinking water. Metals and other raw materials were abundant. This was a
land favored by the gods “...primis Italiae fertilis” (Livy 12.3). It is no wonder that it has
attracted animals and humans from time immemorial.
CLIMATE AND VEGETATION HISTORYThe Mediterranean region is clearly vulnerable to the combined effects of climate and
human activities. George Perkins March was perhaps fi rst to realize the extent to which
human beings have changed the face of the Earth. He travelled in the Mediterranean
in the middle of the nineteenth century and became the fi rst American ambassador
to the new united Italian Kingdom. He noticed and remarked upon the careless
deforestation that led to erosion, fl ooding and drought and lamented the ruined hills of
the Mediterranean. In his famous book, Man and Nature or, Physical Geography as Modifi ed
by Human Action (1864), he clearly understood the infl uence of forests on vegetation,
soil and water and, hence, their importance for local climatic conditions. He was the
fi rst to develop the thesis that man was himself a geological agent.^17 Since his time
it has been debated whether the disappearance of the formerly large Mediterranean
woods was a result of human activities, due to climate change, or possibly that the
large Mediterranean forests of Antiquity were a mere myth.^18 These questions have
stimulated scientists to systematically investigate the nature of the ancient environment
to trace previous incidents of climate change or heavy anthropogenic impact in order to
get a better understanding of past and present processes. Paleoecology is currently very
important in the study of the history of climate change.