Terraced chestnut and hazelnut groves in the Sturla Valley: historical patterns of local management.

This contribution illustrates some case studies related to the analysis of terraced cultural landscapes linked to the practices of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) and hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) cultivations present in Sturla valley and lower Fontanabuona valley, the hinterland of the Tigullio Gulf (province of Genoa). The methodology used during these researches - developed, over the years, by the Laboratory of Environmental Archaeology and History (LASA - University of Genoa) – comes from the meeting of different disciplinary fields and the consequent combined use of archaeology, geographical-historical sciences and applied natural sciences with a microanalytical approach. The result is a method that integrates and leads to dialogue different disciplines and type of sources: documentary (land registries, notarial deeds, deeds of sale, etc.), cartographic, oral environmental and ground sources (archaeological, sedimentary, geological). By comparing and cross-referencing data derived from these sources, it is possible to reach a higher definition of the processes that generated the landscapes: in particular «through the historical and archaeological reconstruction of historical actions and practices it’s possible to reach the social groups that were actors in this environmental history». Using the same sources (sometimes the same cadastres or cartography) in different ways, it is possible to describe the two landscapes - although rather common - as two complex system of management of environmental resources and full of social tensions.