Geoarcheoturismo urbano e rurale

As is known, archeology is the science that studies human cultures and civilizations of the past, and their relationships with the surrounding environment, through the collection, documentation and analysis of the material traces they have left (architecture, artifacts, biological and human remains). The recently coined term geoarchaeology emphasizes the value and importance of the geological sciences in archaeological studies. Only in recent decades, archaeologists and historians have felt the need to reconstruct the history of the ancient settlements not only through the study of excavated material, but also through the use of specific knowledge relevant to the earth science, particularly to the geology and stratigraphy, and to the paleo-environmental field. Therefore, we can consider geoarcheology as a new field of investigation, with a multidisciplinary approach, which is among classical archeology, geology and geomorphology. It makes use of the methods and techniques of geology and physical geography, but also of the other earth sciences (eg geopedology, geochemistry, geophysics, etc..) in order to enrich the study of the vestiges of the past. In Italy, and generally in all the countries of the Mediterranean basin, both the urban areas with ancient human settlements and the rural areas are characterized by a high density and diversity of archaeological sites, located in geological landscapes of remarkable value. Therefore, geoarchaelogy is a field of research of extraordinary interest, and the experience of the landscape through geotourism or geoarcheotourism, both in urban and rural areas, is decisively worthy. For this reason, as part of the conference, we decided to propose a specific session dedicated to this interesting theme, that is intended to gather increasing interest in the future.