Modifying landscape: quarries and infrastructures in the Middle Age Mediterranean area

In this paper there are some case-studies, highlighting the different intensity of the landscape changes between 11th and 14th in Mediterranean mountains. They are in Apennines and Monte Amiata in Italy and in Petra region, in Jordan. The methodology is related to the Light Archaeology, i.e. a kind of environmental archaeology with particularly attention to the stratigraphy os upstanding buildings. The case- studies in Italy put in light different forms of environmental exploitation in the same period (different types of quarry, for size and form, in Monte Amiata; and different infrastructures, like fluvial or terrestrial roads, in Apennines). The case- studies in Jordan, where the research is still underway, show exploitation on site. The main goal of the paper will be analyze these different cases-studies to propose a possible interpretative model of the quarries like a key to understand ancient and actual landscape.