“Nomi dei luoghi” ed eventi calamitosi: proposta per un approccio storico alla toponomastica applicato al caso toscano

PLACE NAMES AND CALAMITOUS EVENTS: A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO HISTORICAL TOPONYMY AND THE CASE STUDY OF TUSCANY – Place names are the outcome of a social process, the interpretation of the local space by inhabitants and cartographers. In many cases, toponyms survives changes in local landscape, becoming historical sources of past dynamics and phenomenons. However, as historical documents they need to be analysed and interpreted. This paper has two goals: firstly, it deals with the usefulness of GIS programs for historical research in order to manage big geo-referred database; secondly, to verify the potentiality of place names as historical sources to identify areas subject to calamitous events. The outcome of the research carried out on the Toponimy Database of the Regione Toscana (Italy) has been compared with other historical documents, digitalized with a GIS software. This work confirms the usefulness of place names as historical sources, and present a reseach method applicable in other contexts.