Is There Anybody Up There? The Human Presence on the Madonie Mountain Range (Sicily, Italy): From the Last Hunter-Gatherers to the Early Pastoralists

The Madonie Mountains, located in the northwestern part of Sicily, a central mountainous chain in the Mediterranean basin, offer an excellent case study to the investigation of the relationship among human peopling, environment, and consequent transformation of landscape over the millennia. The earliest direct evidence for the exploitation of the mountainous territories of Sicily is dated to 9450±50 BP (9120–8565 cal BCE). After a gap, the Neolithic communities that were the first to push inland and into mountainous territories were involved in economic practices that mainly included the breeding of sheep and goats. At the Vallone Inferno rock-shelter a long and complete sequence of more than 1,000 years, beginning at the end of the third millennium BCE, shows the development of pastoral activities carried out on the mountain territories by human communities coming from the central and southern part of the island. The historical occupation of the Madonie was largely influenced by the Greek colony of Himera and the subsequent Roman settlement. The exploitation of medium- and high-altitude areas (above 700 m asl) is linked to activities related to pastoralism, in connection/combination with rural settlements in the plains. Specialized activities carried out on the mountains, such as breeding of pigs, have been recognized during the seventh and ninth centuries CE.