Climate change versus land management in the Po Plain (Northern Italy) during the Bronze Age: New insights from the VP/VG sequence of the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio

Cremaschi, Mauro; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Torri, Paola; Florenzano, Assunta; Pizzi, Cinzia; Marchesini, Marco; Zerboni, Andrea

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.08.011

Cited by 65 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Among the possible causes for the adoption of C 4 crops, environmental changes which led to increasing aridity of the soils is still a valid option (cf. Cremaschi et al, 2006Cremaschi et al, , 2016Valsecchi et al, 2006). The isotopic dataset from Arano further defines, in time and space, the pattern of diffusion of C 4 plants in Italy, while opening new avenues of investigations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary continuity vs. discontinuity in Bronze Age Italy. The isotopic evidence from Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona, Italy)

Varalli

Moggi‐Cecchi

Dori

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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This paper explores dietary practices in Bronze Age northern Italy through the isotopic investigation of human and animal collagen from the Early Bronze Age (EBA) necropolis of Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona). An earlier study had recently dated to the Bronze Age the introduction of C4 crops in the Po Plain in a way that makes this region of Europe a key area to explore Bronze Age economic strategies. Our study shows that diet at Arano was based on the consumption of C3 cereal-type plants, with isotope values clustered in a narrow range: this distribution would indicate a rather homogeneous diet with only slight differences in accordance to sex of the individuals. The evidence from Arano seems to suggest that during the EBA, food consumption was strongly rooted in earlier traditions likely going back to the Neolithic, either in terms of type of crops consumed or relative contribution of plants and animal proteins to the diet. Thanks to the evidence from Arano, we are now able to firmly place the shift in crop use in the region at a transition phase between the late phases of the EBA and the beginning of the MBA. When comparing Arano's results with those from EBA Mediterranean sites similar isotopic patterns are identified. A general uniformity of dietary practices for the south of Europe could be advocated, so that the consumption of C4 plants identified in the Po Plain during the MBA might have been limited to very specific sites

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary continuity vs. discontinuity in Bronze Age Italy. The isotopic evidence from Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona, Italy)

Varalli

Moggi‐Cecchi

Dori

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…Since the Middle and Late Bronze age (1550-1170 years BC) this plane was characterized by intensive agriculture, pastoralism and the demand of large amounts of wood for building sites. This lead to a heavy deforestation of the whole Po plain and converting it into an artificial steppe devoted to cereal crops38. Furthermore, paleoclimate records of lake sediments and speleothems show trends towards a drier climate, or alternating wet and dry climates, between 2500 and 2000 BP3940.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable C & N isotopes in 2100 Year-B.P. human bone collagen indicate rare dietary dominance of C4 plants in NE-Italy

Laffranchi

Huertas

Brobeil

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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C4 plants (e.g. maize, millet), part of our current diet, are only endemic of reduced areas in South-Europe due to their need of warm climates. Since the first vestiges of agriculture in Europe remains of C4 plants were recorded but their overall proportion in the human diet remains unknown. Therefore, isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) composition of bone collagen from the skeletal remains (human and animals) of a Celtic population, Cenomani Gauls, from Verona (3rd to 1st century BC) in the NE Italy provide a new perspective on this matter. The δ13C collagen values of 90 human skeletal individuals range between −20.2‰ and −9.7‰ (V-PDB) with a mean value of −15.3‰. As present day C4 plants have δ13C values around −11‰, which is equivalent to −9.5‰ for samples of preindustrial age, the less negative δ13C values in these individuals indicate a diet dominated by C4 plants. This palaeodietary study indicates that some European populations predominantly consumed cultivated C4 plants 2100 year B.P. This is supported by the paleobotanical records and ancient Roman sources (e.g. Pliny the Elder), which indicate that millet was a staple food in South-Europe.

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“…4) shows a drop in inferred population at the beginning of the Bronze Age (~4000 Cal yr BP) and again this matches more general expectations. Nevertheless, the low inferred population of this period contrasts with the situation registered in the Po Plain with the Terramara culture (Cremaschi et al 2016), and may also be an effect of the selection of sites based on the presence of radiocarbon dates. However, these demographic trends had a less evident impact on the vegetational landscape than the longer term trends responding to the clearance for agriculture.…”

Section: Comparative Regional Analysis For Tyrrhenian Central Italymentioning

confidence: 60%

Tyrrhenian central Italy: Holocene population and landscape ecology

et al. 2019

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This paper compares changes in vegetation structure and composition (using synthetic fossil pollen data) with proxy data for population levels (including settlements and radiocarbon dates) over the course of the last ten millennia in Tyrrhenian central Italy. These data show generalised patterns of clearance of woodland in response both to early agriculturalists and urbanism, as well as the specific adoption of tree crops and variations in stock grazing. The results provide a comprehensive understanding of the development of the

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Climate change versus land management in the Po Plain (Northern Italy) during the Bronze Age: New insights from the VP/VG sequence of the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio

Cited by 65 publications

References 56 publications

Dietary continuity vs. discontinuity in Bronze Age Italy. The isotopic evidence from Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona, Italy)

Dietary continuity vs. discontinuity in Bronze Age Italy. The isotopic evidence from Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona, Italy)

Stable C & N isotopes in 2100 Year-B.P. human bone collagen indicate rare dietary dominance of C4 plants in NE-Italy

Tyrrhenian central Italy: Holocene population and landscape ecology

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