The study of turtle remains from archaeological sites: implications for our understanding of mobility, trade and resource use in the Mediterranean.

Research on turtle archaeological remains can be valuable for our understanding of past human societies. Although they had food, craft, and symbolic values and were often traded, turtles are difficult to identify. The aim of this project is to develop a methodology to improve identifications, then, case studies from Greece, Italy, and Iberia, from late Prehistory to Post-medieval times, will be used to reconstruct trade routes in the Mediterranean. In several places, tortoises are severely endangered, and the reconstruction of their native ranges within this project will help to address conservation concerns, as well as historical questions.