Communities on the Move in Coastal Apulia (Southern Italy), 10th Century BCE to 17th Century CE: 2,600 Years of Human-Environment Coevolution at Salapia

The Gulf of Manfredonia, on the northern Adriatic coast of Apulia, has been the site of many settlements over nearly three millennia. In this article, we write the environmental history of the south-facing Salapia Lagoon and three towns—Salpia vetus, Salapia, and Salpi—bringing together archaeological, paleoenvironmental, climatological, and textual evidence. Each town manifested strategies to thrive in a wetland environment as a center for trade, administration, and logistics. Each also experienced periods of progressive decline caused by the overexploitation of lagoon resources and environmental challenges. We argue that the micromobility of these settlements served as a repeated and productive strategy to overcome insalubrity and precarity, ensuring the continuity of lagoon life. This case study reveals patterns informative for expanding current conversations around climate migration and how best to manage dynamic wetland environments.1