Archaeology of Uplands on a Mediterranean Island

Vincenza Forgia is an archaeologist specialized in prehistoric studies and expert of Ancient Topography and Landscape Archeology. After graduating in Ancient Topography at the University of Palermo, she achieved her specialization in Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and obtained her PhD in Cultural Heritage Knowledge and Valorization at the Second University of Naples. Since the first years of academic formation, she has taken part in several Italian and international research activities (for example the excavation campaigns at Grotta Sant'Angelo di Saracena and Mangiapane di Scurati, in Italy, at Atapuerca, Trinchera Dolina, and Mirador in Spain or at Mesolithic researches on the field in Finland), having developed a wide range of interests in the Prehistory and Landscape Archeology of Europe and the Mediterranean area. After a period of formation at University Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona and IPHES, she enhanced her skills in use wear analysis of stone tools and started a collaboration with different interdisciplinary research groups, engaged in archaeological Italian missions. Her scientific work, mainly focused on Neolithic times and the origin and development of production economy in the Mediterranean area, has been published in relevant journals (Quaternary International, CR Palevol). Trekking and caving interests (as an active member of Club Alpino Italiano), together with her scientific formation, contributed to the ideation of the archaeological research line on the Highlands of the Mediterranean area. Currently Vincenza Forgia coordinates (for the Department Culture e Società of the Università di Palermo) the second step of the research project on the Madonie mountains: HUMAnS (Human Upland Mobility in Ancient Sicily).

1. Introduction.- 2. Methods.- 3. The Madonie: Highlands in Sicily.- 4. Targeted Survey.- 5. The GIS Platform and the Spatial Analyses.- 6. Conclusions and Research Perspectives.