Effects of natural events on ancient Benevento, Southern Italy

- Integration between geologica} and archaeological stratigraphy and historical data has allowed the reconstruction of the environmental history of the site where the town of Benevento (Campania,. Southern Italy) was founded and developed. Benevento is located within the Campanian Apennine, at the confluence of the Calore and Sabato rivers and it is built on a Quaternary hill encircled by alluvial terraces. lts history may be divided in four major time­ intervals: (i) Pre-Quaternary geologie history of the region, (ii) Late Pleistocene continental evolution of the town site, (iii) development of the Present fluvial environment and (iv) Roman and Longobardic geologic/geomorphologic events. During the last of these steps, the lo\ver part of Benevento \Vas severa! times damaged or almost destroyed by earthquakes and buried by floods. Only the events that occurred during periods of economie decadence left traces in the geologica! record, due to lack of restoration. This study evidences the importance of an integrated geological/human approach in the understanding of the Holocene stratigraphy, underlining the influence of geologica! events on human life and of the role of the anthropic activity on the stratigraphic record.