Patterns of land-use and human mobility in a time of climate changes (Italy, 6th to 10th cc.)

The period from the sixth- to eleventh- century in Italy is one of the most profound political and social laboratories in European history.

Centered on this region and period, the primary goal of the In&Around project is to chart the effects of climate change on human behaviour.

By focusing on early and high medieval Italy, the project aims at exploring the interaction between climate variability and human agency with a lens towards management of the environment and in the light of shifting political regimes, while capturing details on past issues of contemporary significance like human mobility and workforce relocation.

Within the area of Italy, two micro-regions with distinct medieval histories are targeted for specific investigation: Lucca and Rieti.

The project will generate new long-duration and high-resolution climate records from recently cored lake sediments combined with data derived from written sources and already extant climate reconstructions.

By way of its innovation-through-interdisciplinary approach, the project will offer important opportunities for expanding the applicant’s expertise through integrating different kind of datasets, while contributing enormously to an expanding field of study in i) determining how data drawn from historical archives, natural proxies and modelling may inform respectively one another; ii) filling in a gap in research both chronologically (the first millennium of the Common Era) and geographically (the Italian peninsula) and iii) producing two new research tools useful for future studies, i.e. a repertory of 'reclaimed lands' and climatic extremes and a statistical model for climate reconstructions.

Through its foci on the human responses to climate and environmental change, the project responds directly to the Horizon 2020 Work Programme to understand “the causes of climate change and to pave the way for pathways and solutions to address them”.