Crop changes from the XVI century to the present in a hill/mountain area of eastern Liguria (Italy)

BACKGROUND: Chronological information on the composition and structure of agrocenoses and detailed features of land cover referring to specific areas are uncommon in ethnobotanical studies, especially for periods before the XIX century. The aim of this study was to analyse the type of crop or the characteristics of soil cover from the XVI century to the present. METHODS: This diachronic analysis was accomplished through archival research on the inventories of the Parish of St. Mary and those of the Municipality of Pignone and from recent surveys conducted in an area of eastern Liguria (Italy). RESULTS: Archival data revealed that in study area the primary means of subsistence during the last five centuries, until the first half of the XX century, was chestnuts. In the XVIII and XIX centuries, crop diversification strongly increased in comparison with previous and subsequent periods. In more recent times, the abandonment of agricultural practices has favoured the re-colonisation of mixed woodland or cluster-pine woodland. CONCLUSION: Ancient documents in the ecclesiastic or municipal inventories can be a very useful tool for enhancing the knowledge of agricultural practice, as well as of subsistence methods favoured by local populations during a particular time and for reconstructing land use change over time.