New insights about economic plants during the 6th–2nd centuries bc in Sardinia, Italy

Sabato, Diego; Peña‐Chocarro, Leonor; Ucchesu, Mariano; Sarigu, Marco; Vais, Carla Del; Sanna, Ignazio; Bacchetta, Gianluigi

doi:10.1007/s00334-018-0680-0

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The palynomorphs characterized in this study, given their good state of preservation, were tentatively ascribed to the Pinus L. species. With respect to these findings, written sources and archaeological data evidence the Phoenician merchants’ interest in exporting and using coniferous wood for temple decoration and shipbuilding, and Pinaceae resins for pottery waterproofing, wine flavoring, and avoiding the conversion of wine into vinegar [ 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 ]. However, the application of gymnosperms by this civilization was not limited to our bioarchaeological micro-remains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Plant Micro-Remains Embedded in Dental Calculus of the Phoenician Inhabitants of Motya (Sicily, Italy)

D’Agostino

Canini

Marco

et al. 2020

Plants

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant records reveal remarkable evidence about past environments and human cultures. Exploiting dental calculus analysis and using a combined approach of microscopy and gas chromatography mass spectrometry, our research outlines dietary ecology and phytomedicinal practices of the ancient community of Motya (Sicily, eight to sixth century BC), one of the most important Phoenician settlements in the Mediterranean basin. Micro-remains suggest use or consumption of Triticeae cereals, and animal-derived sources (e.g., milk and aquatic birds). Markers of grape (or wine), herbs, and rhizomes, endemic of Mediterranean latitudes and the East, provide insight into the subsistence of this colony, in terms of foodstuffs and phytotherapeutic products. The application of resins and wood of Gymnosperms for social and cultural purposes is hypothesized through the identification of Pinaceae secondary metabolites and pollen grains. The information hidden in dental calculus discloses the strong human-plant interaction in Motya’s Phoenician community, in terms of cultural traditions and land use.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Plant Micro-Remains Embedded in Dental Calculus of the Phoenician Inhabitants of Motya (Sicily, Italy)

D’Agostino

Canini

Marco

et al. 2020

Plants

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Pinus pinea/pinaster wood was found in a Bronze Age context in Sardinia (Sabato et al 2015), a region where native populations of Pinus pinaster still occur (Caudullo et al 2017). Archaeobotanical remains of the Mediterranean stone pine have in fact been found in numerous Phoenician-Punic sites, such as Santa Giusta in Sardinia (Sabato et al 2019), where it was believed to be added for meat preservation and spicing (Ucchesu et al 2017), 6th-5th century bc layers on the Balearic Islands (Pérez-Jordà et al 2018) and in Punic Carthage (van Zeist et al 2001), where the find is considered as testifying to the contacts with the western Mediterranean. As far as we know, the finding of Motya is the oldest Italian site, corroborating the hypothesis that Phoenicians played a major role in the spread of Pinus pinea.…”

Section: Human Impact On the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Its current distribution is the result of human action that favoured its spread from east to west along the Mediterranean (Pérez-Obiol and Sadori 2007). It appears in Sardinian pollen spectra from at least 5,300 bp (Di Rita and Melis 2013) and its endocarps are present in the Phoenician-Punic site of Santa Giusta (Sabato et al 2019). In Sicily, Juglans pollen appears in the 8th-7th century bc (Sadori 2013).…”

Section: Human Impact On the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Cultural landscape and plant use at the Phoenician site of Motya (Western Sicily, Italy) inferred from a disposal pit

Moricca

Nigro

Masci

et al. 2021

Veget Hist Archaeobot

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study concerns the Phoenician-Punic site of Motya, a small island set in Western Sicily (Italy), in the Marsala Lagoon (Stagnone di Marsala), between Trapani and Marsala. A big disposal pit, datable to between the first half of the 8th and the mid-6th century bc, was identified in Area D. This context was sampled for plant macro-remains through bucket flotation. Palynological treatment and analysis were also performed on soil samples collected from each of the identified filling layers. The combination of the study of macro- and micro-remains has shown to be effective in answering questions concerning introduced food plants and agricultural practices, and native plants, including timber use. Here we investigate if a waste context can provide information about Phoenicians at Motya and their impact on the local plant communities. We found that human diet included cereals (mostly naked wheat), pulses and fruits. A focus was placed on weeds (including Lolium temulentum and Phalaris spp.) referable to different stages of crop processing. This aspect was enriched by the finding of cereal pollen, which suggests that threshing (if not even cultivation) was carried out on site. Palynology also indicates an open environment, with little to no forest cover, characterized by complex anthropogenic activities. Anthracology suggests the presence of typical Mediterranean plant taxa, including not only the shrubs Pistacia lentiscus and Erica multiflora, but also evergreen oaks. The presence of a stone pine nut and of Pinus pinea/pinaster in the pollen rain is noteworthy, suggesting the local occurrence of these Mediterranean pines outside their native distribution range. This represents the first such find in the central Mediterranean. Finally, the present study allows us to compare Motya’s past environment with the present one. The disappearance of Juniperus sp. and Erica arborea from the present-day surroundings of the Marsala lagoon appears to be related to land-overexploitation, aridification or a combination of both processes.

show abstract

“…Evidence of Vitis vinifera in Phoenician sites is also found in association with animal bones (e.g. Moricca et al, 2020;Portas et al, 2015), as it is believed that the waste from winemaking was used by Phoenicians for meat preservation thanks to the antioxidant capacity of grapes (Sabato et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grapes and vines of the Phoenicians: Morphometric analyses of pips from modern varieties and Iron Age archaeological sites in the Western Mediterranean

Moricca

Bouby

Bonhomme

et al. 2021

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study aims to contribute to the investigation of the role of Phoenicians in the spreading and trade of the grapevine through the morphometric analysis of grape pips. Waterlogged and charred samples were selected from three Iron Age sites in the Western Mediterranean: Motya (Sicily, Italy), Nuraghe S'Urachi (Sardinia, Italy) and Huelva (Andalusia, Spain). While only Motya is a Phoenician foundation, all three were nevertheless associated with Phoenician expansion and cultural interaction. Ten cultivars from the "Vivaio Federico Paulsen" in Marsala (western Sicily) were chosen as modern reference material.The key challenge was the comparison of archaeological pips preserved through different fossilization processes, which was overcome using two reference datasets of the same modern cultivars, one uncharred and one charred.Statistical analyses of pip outlines show that archaeological remains from these sites is morphologically comparable to that of modern varieties, suggesting that the archaeological finds represent domesticated grapevines.PCA analyses allowed an inter-site comparison, showing that samples from the three sites are clearly distinguishable based on their morphology. This indicates the use of different varieties which may be due to different factors.Our analysis represents a first step towards a better understanding of diachronic and synchronic relationship between vines grown in the ancient West Mediterranean, which could be expanded by analysing grape pips from more contexts and more sites, compared against a wider selection of modern cultivars.

show abstract

New insights about economic plants during the 6th–2nd centuries bc in Sardinia, Italy

Cited by 13 publications

References 28 publications

Investigating Plant Micro-Remains Embedded in Dental Calculus of the Phoenician Inhabitants of Motya (Sicily, Italy)

Investigating Plant Micro-Remains Embedded in Dental Calculus of the Phoenician Inhabitants of Motya (Sicily, Italy)

Cultural landscape and plant use at the Phoenician site of Motya (Western Sicily, Italy) inferred from a disposal pit

Grapes and vines of the Phoenicians: Morphometric analyses of pips from modern varieties and Iron Age archaeological sites in the Western Mediterranean

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About