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Managing the Historical Agricultural Landscape in the Sicilian Anthropocene Context. The Landscape of the Valley of the Temples as a Time Capsule

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  • Angela Alessandra Badami

    (Department of Architecture, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

Abstract

The debate over whether we are entering the Anthropocene Epoch focuses on the unequal consumption of the Earth system’s resources at the expense of nature’s regenerative abilities. To find a new point of balance with nature, it is useful to look back in time to understand how the so-called “Great Acceleration”—the surge in the consumption of the planet’s resources—hastened the arrival of the Anthropocene. Some particular places—for various reasons—survived the Great Acceleration and, as time capsules, have preserved more or less intact some landscape features that have disappeared elsewhere. How can we enhance these living archives that have come down to us? Through the analysis of the case study of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento (Sicily, Italy), the article presents several initiatives that have tried to answer this question. For example, the pre-Anthropocene landscape of the Valley of the Temples has preserved rare specimens of some plant species from which living gene banks have been built for the propagation of species, such as the Living Museum of the Almond Tree. In addition, the Kolymbethra, an ancient example of a Mediterranean garden, has been brought back to life revealing finds related to Greek and Arab cultivation and irrigation systems. The research perspectives opened by the “disappeared landscapes” show that the knowledge of the historical landscape, in particular the mechanisms behind its resilience, is indispensable for countering the unsustainable voracity of the Anthropocene and rediscover a renewed synergy between humankind and nature.

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Alessandra Badami, 2021. "Managing the Historical Agricultural Landscape in the Sicilian Anthropocene Context. The Landscape of the Valley of the Temples as a Time Capsule," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-30, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4480-:d:537819
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Giuseppe Bazan & Claudia Speciale & Angelo Castrorao Barba & Salvatore Cambria & Roberto Miccichè & Pasquale Marino, 2020. "Historical Suitability and Sustainability of Sicani Mountains Landscape (Western Sicily): An Integrated Approach of Phytosociology and Archaeobotany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.
    2. Paul J. Crutzen, 2002. "Geology of mankind," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6867), pages 23-23, January.
    3. Giuseppe Bazan & Angelo Castrorao Barba & Antonio Rotolo & Pasquale Marino, 2020. "Vegetation series as a marker of interactions between rural settlements and landscape: new insights from the archaeological record in Western Sicily," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 484-502, May.
    4. Mick Lennon, 2015. "Nature conservation in the Anthropocene: preservation, restoration and the challenge of novel ecosystems," Planning Theory & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 285-290, June.
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    1. Giuseppe Bazan & Angelo Castrorao Barba, 2022. "Historical Ecology, Archaeology and Biocultural Landscapes: Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to the Long Anthropocene," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-4, April.

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