Da paesaggio marginale a centro di produzione: paludi litoranee e coltivazione del sale a Trapani (Sicilia occidentale)

In the human imagination, wetlands represent an unhealthy place, located on the edge of the civilized world; yet they are able to offer a very high number of natural resources, which have made the so-called “marshy economy” an important part of the productive sector of a territory. In this paper, the Tra- pani district in western Sicily is proposed as a case study: a coastal landscape in which the wetlands adjacent to the city were exploited since ancient times mainly for the salt production. This activity has led to numerous transformations in the natural landscape, influencing the settlement pattern of the entire area. In this scena- rio, in fact, true wealth does not come only from agriculture, but from that system of marshes and internal basins, not far from the city, which have allowed the salt industry to flourish, also fueling in parallel the eco- nomic circuit linked to fishing activities. And here’s how a landscape apparently placed on the edge of urban reality and fertile countryside, in certain contexts, can be transformed into the epicenter of the production of one of the most precious and wanted goods of the ancient world.