A survey of the Late Roman period (3rd-6th century AD): Pollen, NPPs and seeds/fruits for reconstructing environmental and cultural changes after the floods in Northern Italy

New trajectories or accelerating change? Zooarchaeological evidence for Roman transformation of animal husbandry in Northern Italy

“…The development of large-scale cereal production within a market-orientated villa economy of Imperial Italy, followed by the emergence of more locally oriented, diverse, and self-sufficient means of food production, would have had a significant impact on cattle husbandry, particularly the exploitation of draught oxen in some areas (Rottoli 2014 ; Salvadori 2015 :92–97; Varro, On Agriculture 1.20). Considering the general continuity in cereal preference in northern Italy, which focused on cultivation of barley and wheats from the late Iron Age through Late Antiquity (Rottoli 2014 ; Bosi et al 2019 ; Bosi et al 2020 ), greater use of large oxen during the Roman period points to a change in how staple crops were produced. For example, cultivation of larger plots compared to prehistoric practices would have incentivised animal over human labour (Bogaard et al 2019 ).…”

“…During Imperial times (first–third centuries AD), intensive land exploitation in northern Italy led to significant deforestation (Marchetti 2002 ; Bosi et al 2011 ). Human activity shaped a landscape in which cereal fields and pasture were punctuated by gardens, orchards, and thin woodland, alongside freshwater marshy areas (Bosi et al 2011 ; Bosi et al 2015 ; Bosi et al 2019 ). Botanical remains demonstrate arable cultivation focused on wheats and barley alongside millets, and the consumption of various legumes and new types of fruits, raised both in fields and garden plots (Bosi et al 2020 ).…”

“…However, while overall numbers of rural sites declined in the fourth century, many surviving villas were rebuilt, some at larger sizes and elaborately refurbished: changes that point to the growth of large estates and consolidation of land holding in the hands of elites (Sfameni 2004 ). Urban areas reduced in size, and forests expanded (Bosi et al 2015 ; Bosi et al 2019 ). Political instability led to greater militarisation of towns and surrounding landscape, reflected both in the construction of walls and other fortifications, as well as a reconfiguration of the regional economy, as state-owned supplying the army operated from northern Italian towns (James 1988 ; Christie 2006 ).…”

“…Alongside this social and political division, the Justinianic Plague and climatic cooling during the Late Antique Little Ice Age (Whittow 2019 ) contributed to a collapse of the agrarian system (Banaji 2012 ; Castrorao Barba 2014 ; Forin 2017 ). Without maintenance of land reclamation systems, climatic deterioration during the sixth century AD (McCormick et al 2012 ; Bruno et al 2013 ) caused large areas of the Po Plain to become marshland, at least periodically (Marchetti 2002 ; Brandolini and Cremaschi 2018 ; Bosi et al 2019 ). Nonetheless, many ‘Roman’ towns continued to be inhabited into medieval times, even if in a form structurally, politically, and economically very different than during earlier periods (La Rocca 1992 ; Ward-Perkins 1997 ; Christie 2006 ).…”

The History of Pastoral Activities in S Italy Inferred from Palynology: A Long-Term Perspective to Support Biodiversity Awareness

“…Microscopic biological remains (pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), such as fungal spores and algal elements) from sedimentary records are meaningful bio-indicators for palaeoecological reconstruction (e.g., [34][35][36][37]). In particular, the combined evidence of pollen and NPPs from archaeological sites is useful for tracing the impact of past human activities on the local ecosystem; these biomarkers can also be used to discriminate past land uses and pastoral/breeding practices (e.g., [38][39][40][41][42]).…”