Cristina Bellini

The Holocene landscape history of the NW Italian coasts.

Cores from four coastal plains of the Mar Ligure Sea in N Tuscany and E Liguria (Italy) were investigated by means of pollen analysis to delineate the Holocene landscape history of the NW Italian coasts. In the first half of the Holocene (c. 9800—7000 cal. yr BP) all four sites show elevated percentages of Abies pollen which suggest the local presence of fir woods (with Ulmus, Tilia, etc.). In the second half of the Holocene (from 7000 cal. yr BP), Abies becomes locally extinct along the coasts leaving space for the development of mosaic landscapes formed by open meso-thermophilous woods (with deciduous Quercus, Alnus , Corylus) and Mediterranean maquis (with Erica cf. arborea). The new data represent a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the landscape history of the NW Italian coasts and of the history of fir in Italy. Along all examined cores discontinuous pollen records show that initially the coastal areas were characterized by retrodunal wetlands; after c. 6000 cal. yr BP only the larger plains in N Tuscany remained extensively damp while the smaller plains in E Liguria were buried (and/or drained). Thus, these buried deposits of ‘fossil’ coastal wetlands proved to be only partially useful for high-resolution environmental archaeology and history studies. Nonetheless they are unique traces of ecosystems that provided important local economic resources for millennia and formed elements of the coastal cultural landscapes which have almost totally disappeared today.

Palaeovegetational reconstruction based on pollen and seeds/fruits from a Bronze Age archaeological site in Tuscany (Italy)

Abstract A reconstruction of the vegetation surrounding the Bronze Age archaeological site of San Lorenzo a Greve (Florence) based on pollen and seed/fruit records is presented. Pollen analysis suggests the presence of prevailingly open and damp landscapes, typically occurring on alluvial soils. Patches of woodland, mostly formed by deciduous Quercus, Ulmus, Salix, were alternated to the grasslands. Vitis also probably grew in these damp thickets together with Alnus and Hedera. The forests on the hilly slopes included deciduous Quercus, Carpinus betulus, Corylus, Cornus mas, and Sambucus nigra. Where the soil was well drained, Ostrya carpinifolia and Mediterranean evergreen elements such as Q. ilex and Viburnum tinus grew. In the landscape scenario reconstructed by pollen analysis, seeds/fruits indicated the presence of specific plants which produce a low amount of pollen: they are seldom recorded in pollen spectra but their fruits were commonly gathered in prehistory.

A palynological contribution to the environmental archaeology of a Mediterranean mountain wetland (North West Apennines, Italy)

Within the framework of a regional research project on wetlands as cultural heritage sites, an attempt was made to examine the natural and anthropogenic causes driving the vegetation dynamics and exploitation of a small mountain wetland. To assess its potential use as an archive of the landscape history, an environmental archaeology approach was used: palaeoenvironmental data from traditional pollen sampling by coring were matched with stratigraphic information from an excavation area of several square metres, and plant micro- and macroremain analyses (e.g. pollen assemblages, micro- and macrocharcoal, morphological and dendrochronological features of waterlogged tree trunks) were compared in order to evaluate them as effects of different environmental factors and to pinpoint these factors. In this paper, the focus is set mainly on the results originating from pollen analyses of a core drilled in the peat-bog, a few metres from the stratigraphic excavation. The start of peat deposition, sometimes coinciding with human activity, was dated around 10,000 cal. BP. The impact on the vegetation surrounding the site is clearly recorded in the pollen assemblages only from the Roman period (2010–1820 cal. BP) even though a long history of human presence is archaeologically documented in the area since the Palaeolithic. Since that time, the abrupt decline of fir favoured the final spread of beech which, in turn, in the Middle Ages (1180–790 cal. BP) leaves space to grassland exploitable for pasture and for agro-silvi-pastoral activities. This site has proven to be of great importance for the Holocene history of the silver fir.

Archaeobotany in Florence (Italy): Landscape and urban development from the late Roman to the Middle Ages

Archaeological excavations in Florence (Italy) offered the opportunity of collecting archaeobotanical data along stratigraphic sequences and pits from late Roman to Middle Ages; until now, no archaeobotanical data of this range of time were available for Florence. To achieve a more comprehensive reconstruction of the antique landscape and of the plant uses in the city, the results of plant micro- and macro-remain analyses were compared. During the late Roman Period, mixed oak forests covered the surrounding hills, while only scattered riverine thickets grew in the Arno river plain, which was mostly open. In the city, the increase in richness of cultivated plants, weeds and ruderals follows the advancement of urbanization from the late Roman to the Middle Ages when the abundance of remains of cereals, figs, grapevines and other fruits showed that cultivation and/or food processing were performed close to and even within the town wall. Peaks of heather (Erica spp.) pollen suggested that its flowering branches were introduced in the site and possibly used as building material or for the maintenance of the Arno river bank. Thus, this integrated archaeobotanical approach provided new insights into the environmental and ethnobotanical history of Florence, highlighting the occurrence of horticulture within the city wall.

Palaeoenvironmental signals in ancient urban setting: The heavy rainfall record in Sumhuram, a pre-Islamic archaeological site of Dhofar (S Oman)

A case study of an archaeological section in the pre-Islamic town of Sumhuram (third century bc–fifth century ad; Dhofar, S Oman) is presented. Sedimentological and palynological data have been integrated with the aim of finding signals of natural processes within an urban context. Two main types of deposits alternate in the section: anthropogenic (AD) and waterlain (WD). The presence of laminated sediments within the WD deposits, suggesting short-term street flooding from heavy rainfall, encouraged the development of a targeted palynological sampling strategy. The results of the pollen analysis in these laminated sediments, e.g. high pollen concentrations (particularly of wet environment plants), clumped pollen grains, long distance pollen grains, and overall good state of preservation, suggest a stronger monsoonal influence than the present and high precipitation in S Oman between 204 bc and ad 130.

Floods, Mudflows, Landslides: Adaptation of Etruscan–Roman Communities to Hydrogeological Hazards in the Arno River Catchment (Tuscany, Central Italy)

Since the Neolithic, large fluvial catchments of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean favored the onset and development of complex human communities that adopted significantly different socio-economic practices from those of the nomadic, hunter-gatherer cultures of early Prehistory (Redman 1978; Bellwood 2004). Alluvial soil fertility triggered the onset of agriculture that in turn favored permanent settlements, conservation and trade of excess harvest. The natural environment, thus, stimulated human creativity in exploiting, managing and reshaping the land surface. This interdependence between humankind and the environment has significantly changed over time.

Investigating the present vegetation to understand the past one: “modern analogues” in the Sultanate of Oman

The study of the present-day pollen rain in modern sites reveals the relationship between vegetation and relative pollen spectra, and provides a useful key for the interpretation of the past pollen records resulting from palaeoenvironmental researches. The modern sites, or “modern analogues”, are accurately selected and considered paradigmatic models. In this paper the first results of two archaeobotanical studies carried out in two different areas of the Sultanate of Oman are presented: Salut (northern Oman) and the ancient town of Sumhuram (southern Oman, Dhofar).