## 5 Results
As a good example of such geoarchaeological research, the Palo coastal pond (Figure 2a) in the southern part of the eastern plain of Corsica was recently investigated for both palaeogeography and pollen reconstruction [71]. It is the fourth largest coastal wetland of the island, covering an area of ca. 212 ha. The most ancient traces of a site are situated further west, on a hilltop some distance from the shore, and date back to medieval times (Covasina Castle) [107]. Interestingly, there was much speculation around an earlier occupation, dating from Roman times [108], but the negligible archaeological material found in the NW part of the Palo brackish pond could not attest to clear site development. A decision was then made to reconstruct the landscape evolution for the northern part of this coastal wetland and to investigate the existence of possible human presence and land use during Roman times and earlier periods. A borehole was drilled in the northern part of the Palo pond, where surficial archaeological material had previously been identified [108], and pollen studies were conducted on this 3000-year sedimentary sequence [71]. Pollen grain studies together with NPP identification (Figure 7) highlight pastoral activities during the first half of the 1 st millennium BCE (corresponding to Iron Age I) as well as intensive livestock breeding during medieval times and under the occupation of the Genoese from the 15 th to the 18 th c. CE. Figure 7: Synthetic pollen diagram established for the Palo pond sequence [61]. A period of cereal cultivation is dated to Late Roman times and also corresponds to an increase of ruderal plants and to a decrease in the arboreal taxa. Note the high representation of coprophilous fungi, suggesting intense pastoral activities during the Late Middle Ages and under the administration of the Genoese Republic. This information is in good agreement with archaeological and historical evidence derived from the occupation of the nearby Covasina castle. However, the idea of a possible human presence during the Iron Age is a novel feature. The most interesting finding was the discovery of crop cultivation during Late Roman times in the northern part of the Palo pond, where archaeological material was discovered a short distance (about 1 km) away to the NW. Very recently, in 2020, archaeological surveys were conducted at the Chiarata site (situated 3 km to the NW of the coring site), and the associated excavations revealed the presence of buildings made of rounded cobbles and the bases of two earthenware dolia (Figure 8), which have been dated to Mid-to Late Roman times. This discovery suggests the storage of goods associated with agriculture. On this point, archaeological findings confirm palynological results. Gearchaeology as a Tool for Debating the Role of Climate Changes and Associated Environmental and Societal Impacts: A Case Study from the Holocene RCC Events  
The Holocene spans the last 11,700 years and is regarded as a period of generally warm climate conditions following the last glacial and late-glacial periods. However, a series of abrupt climate changes known as the Rapid Climate Changes (RCCs) [109] or Bond [110, 111] events are associated with increased aridity and/or colder temperatures and have been evidenced notably in the Eastern Mediterranean. During the last decades, these \"abrupt\" climatic alterations were thought to be a major cause of the collapse of ancient civilizations, leading to the development of the concept of collapsology [112, 113]. Environmental and climatological determinism has since been widely adopted and is strongly based on the over-interpretation of geosciences data. By definition, little consideration is given to human resilience strategies by collapsologists, despite the important research done by Human Sciences specialists (archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, etc.) to point out the adaptation of past human societies to changing environmental crises.