**6. Conclusions**

We believe that it is possible to reflect on the potentialities of this type of approach in the interpretation of current High Nature Value (HNV) farmlands.

In fact, the knowledge of the historical modes for the selection and exploitation of forest resources turns out to be a fundamental element in validating the characteristics and potentialities observable in the current landscape from geobotanical and phytosociological perspectives. It is necessary to return to the concept of the series of vegetation as an indicator of the dynamics of human–environment interactions. The passages between di fferent stages of the succession of a series are, as a matter of fact, a direct e ffect of anthropic activities (the cutting of the forest, fires, exploitation of pastures, agricultural activities). The comparison with the archaeobotanical data not only confirms various types of exploitation of wood resources but provides an insight into the past associations of plant communities and dynamics of the anthropic impact, which is observable even today. Basically, the window on the past opened by the archaeobotanical record allows us to envision a dynamic relationship between the suitability of this territory and the sustainability of its e ffective anthropic use into the last millennium. In this area of the Sicani Mountains, the anthropic exploitation has not altered the composition of the plant communities, maintaining a high degree of biodiversity, which favors the conservation of this landscape and therefore its designation as HNV farmland. For the designation of a certain landscape within the HNV farmland category, we believe it is necessary to evaluate its historical value, which is only defined by an integrated approach of historical ecology and environmental archaeology and can help us to identify the maintenance of geobotanical characteristics, biodiversity and the sustainability of exploitation of environmental resources over the long term.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3201/s1, Table S1: Phytosociological tables of associations of Sicani Mountains used as a data source.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, G.B., A.C.B.; methodology, G.B., C.S.; archaeological investigation, A.C.B., R.M.; archaeobotanical investigation, C.S.; phytosociological investigation, G.B., P.M., S.C.; GIS mapping, G.B; writing—review and editing, G.B., A.C.B., C.S., S.C.; project administration, G.B., P.M.; funding acquisition, P.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This work was supported by the "Harvesting Memories: Ecology and Archaeology of Monti Sicani landscapes (Central-Western Sicily)" project, funded by Bona Furtuna LLC.

**Acknowledgments:** This study was supported by funds provided by Bona Furtuna LLC. The archaeological excavation has been carried out under the scientific direction of the Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. of Palermo. A. C. B. thanks the Spanish MINECO for a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación research fellowship (IJCI-2017-31494).

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
