Landscape 3: una sintesi di elementi diacronici. Uomo e ambiente nel mondo antico: un equilibrio possibile?

The conference series ‘Landscape: una sintesi di elementi diacronici’ was born in 2019 within the PhD programme in Ancient Sciences and Archaeology, involving three universities: University of Pisa, University of Florence, and University of Siena. The third edition, entitled Uomo e ambiente nel mondo antico: un equilibrio possible? was held in collaboration with the University of Bologna from 5 to 6 May 2022. This book collects the proceedings of these two days, during which the participants were invited to address a highly topical issue that increasingly permeates the present and future of humanity. The proposed research approached the topic by attempting to historicise it, by projecting the challenges of the present into the societies of the past, and by attempting to respond to the provocative invitation inherent in the title of the conference: has there ever been a balance between man and nature? The main objective was to determine the level of ecological awareness inherent in ancient societies and to identify the possible solutions implemented, trying to answer two questions in particular: what were the choices (political, economic, social) implemented during climatic variations, and how were they perceived by ancient societies? Were these choices linked to ‘environmentalist’ awareness, or did a purely utilitarian purpose prevail?