Persistence of the cultural landscape in Campania (Southern Italy) before the AD 472 Vesuvius eruption: archaeoenvironmental data

Allevato, Emilia; Buonincontri, Mauro Paolo; Vairo, Maren; Pecci, Alessandra; Cau, Miguel Ángel; Yoneda, Minoru; Simone, Girolamo Ferdinando De; Aoyagi, Masanori; Angelelli, Claudia; Matsuyama, Shin-ichi; Takeuchi, Kazuhiko; Pasquale, Gaetano Di

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.026

Cited by 33 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…; Allevato et al. ). Kuniholm (), using dendrochronological investigations, hypothesized that A. alba timber in the Vesuvius area came from the eastern Alps.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Late Holocene persistence of Abies alba in low‐mid altitude deciduous forests of central and southern Italy: new perspectives from charcoal data

Pasquale

Allevato

Cocchiararo

et al. 2014

J Vegetation Science

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Questions: Pollen data for Abies alba Mill., a key European tree species, show broad occurrence in the Italian peninsula in the early to mid-Holocene diffusion (until ca. 6000 yr ago) along the Italian peninsula and a strong decline/local extinction starting ca. 5000 yr ago. This decline has been attributed to climate change. Recently, high-resolution pollen studies, mainly in northern Italian sites claim that A. alba disappearance was mainly due to human impact. We examined the presence of A. alba in archaeological sites of southern and central Italy in order to trace the late Holocene history (last 3000 yr) of this tree and enhance understanding of its role in pre-anthropic vegetation and of human involvement in its decline.Location: Central and southern Italy.Methods: Anthracological analysis was conducted in six archaeological layers at the archaeological site of Trebbio-Spinellina (800-600 BC, Sansepolcro, Tuscany). A critical analysis of wood/charcoal literature relevant to Abies in central and southern Italy was used to corroborate the results of Trebbio-Spinellina. Charcoal records from archaeological sites have been compared with the current distribution of A. alba.Results: At Trebbio-Spinellina, A. alba charcoal is present in all contexts examined, together with mesophilous broad-leaf taxa (Quercus deciduous, Carpinus betulus, Ostrya carpinifolia, Corylus avellana). A low charcoal percentage of Fagus sylvatica and Taxus baccata is also found; evergreen taxa are mainly represented by Quercus ilex with occasional shrubs (i.e. Viburnum, Cistus, Erica). In the literature, we identified several peninsular and insular Italian archaeological sites showing charcoal evidence of Abies, accompanied by deciduous oaks, mainly Q. cerris, and other broad-leaf mesophilous trees, dating from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages. All sites, except one, lie at less than 600 m a.s.l., and far from present-day A. alba communities. Conclusion:Results call for a reworking of the prevailing paradigm of A. alba as a relic mountain species. Indeed, A. alba once grew at lower altitudes than currently and was associated with deciduous oaks, mainly Q. cerris, and other mesophilous broad-leaf trees. This evidence calls into question the suitability of the Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) concept usually applied in the floristic approach. The recent population decline is attributable to human activity rather than to climate change. Finally, the persistence of A. alba until the late Holocene calls into question the assumptions that it is a relic species with no potential to expand its spatial range.

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“…; Allevato et al. ). Kuniholm (), using dendrochronological investigations, hypothesized that A. alba timber in the Vesuvius area came from the eastern Alps.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Late Holocene persistence of Abies alba in low‐mid altitude deciduous forests of central and southern Italy: new perspectives from charcoal data

Pasquale

Allevato

Cocchiararo

et al. 2014

J Vegetation Science

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“…Both proxies yield an extremely weak signal, even if we know that in the immediate neighbourhood on the Metalliferous Hills, less than 100 km from our study area, chestnut was present at least from the 7th century ad , where it was essentially used for timber (Buonincontri et al, 2014; Di Pasquale et al, 2008). The use of timber has been clearly inferred by means of charcoal data in central and southern Italy at least until the Early Middle Ages (Allevato et al, 2012a; Di Pasquale et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-derived landscape changes on the northern Etruria coast (western Italy) between Roman times and the late Middle Ages

et al. 2014

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Anthracological analysis has been carried out in three sites located on the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy (ancient northern Etruria: the castle of Donoratico, the town of Populonia and the port of Alberese), spanning between the Roman Republican Period and the Late Middle Ages (3rd century BC???13th century AD). The integrated comparison of three different local charcoal data with the regional pollen and microcharcoal data available from northern Etruria showed well that vegetation changes are completely independent of climate and strictly connected to economic and social dynamics characterising the history of this part of central Italy. Indeed, Quercus ilex forests progressively retracted from the 3rd century BC in favour of open macchia formations just during the growing human impact of the Romanisation when intensive agriculture and livestock grazing characterised the economic system. The transition from macchia to deciduous Quercus forest at the end of the Roman Period from the mid-4th to the mid-5th centuries AD and long lasting until the 9th???10th centuries AD was related to economic and cultural factors which led to a phase of land abandonment. Finally, between the 11th and 13th centuries AD, the vegetation cover shifted again towards an open macchia environment at the same time of a re-settlement phase well evidenced also by intensive orcharding. Charcoal data also showed that the expansion of olive and chestnut in central Italy only began in the Late Medieval Period (11th century AD) and not in the Roman Period. This means that extensive cultivation of chestnut and olive has very recent origins and should be attributed to one and the same macro-factor such as the set-up of the economic establishment of the feudal system and the later political organism of the Medieval town

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“…Vesuvius (Mt. Somma), in the so-called Villa of Augustus, olive is scarcely sampled (collected or detected) both in the charcoal and in macroremains (Allevato et al, 2012). Here, the highly fertile andic Vesuvius soil was probably intended to cultivate higher-income crops like the grapevine (Allevato et al, 2012).…”

Section: Orchardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Somma), in the so-called Villa of Augustus, olive is scarcely sampled (collected or detected) both in the charcoal and in macroremains (Allevato et al, 2012). Here, the highly fertile andic Vesuvius soil was probably intended to cultivate higher-income crops like the grapevine (Allevato et al, 2012). To sum up, although selection and cultivation of the olive by the Romans are well documented by numerous historical sources (see Meyer, 1988), the archaeobotanical evidence seems scarce.…”

Section: Orchardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of archaeological plant remains in tracing the cultural history of Mediterranean trees: The example of the Roman harbour ofNeapolis

et al. 2015

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In this paper, we present a detailed record of the plant remains recovered on the palaeo-seafloors of Neapolis harbour, spanning ≈700 years, between the\ud 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD, thus intersecting the entire Roman Imperial Age. The site preserved many cultivated or cultivable plant remains,\ud especially from food related trees. This particular feature provided the opportunity to reconstruct the puzzling history of planting them and the Roman\ud economy, especially with respect to food production, the market and to dietary habits. The evidence suggests that Prunus persica, Castanea sativa, Juglans\ud regia and Pinus pinea were locally grown all along the investigated period, testifying for a well advanced arboriculture. A broad presence of P. pinea cones\ud could be related to their large use as stoppers for amphorae which probably was among the driving force for planting it actually influencing its original\ud range. The seafarers had extensive access to dry fruit such as walnut, hazelnut and chestnut that for its imperishable nature and the high energy density,\ud would probably have been part of the food-stocks of the galleys. Chestnut consumption, attested throughout the entire period in the harbour, represents\ud the first strong archaeobotanical evidence of chestnut as food in the Western Mediterranean in Roman time. This evidence shed light on the cultural-social\ud significance of these fruits that was probably eaten mainly or almost exclusively by low social classes. The exceptional find of Hyphaene thebaica for the\ud first time outside its native range is also reported

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Persistence of the cultural landscape in Campania (Southern Italy) before the AD 472 Vesuvius eruption: archaeoenvironmental data

Cited by 33 publications

References 24 publications

Late Holocene persistence of Abies alba in low‐mid altitude deciduous forests of central and southern Italy: new perspectives from charcoal data

Late Holocene persistence of Abies alba in low‐mid altitude deciduous forests of central and southern Italy: new perspectives from charcoal data

Human-derived landscape changes on the northern Etruria coast (western Italy) between Roman times and the late Middle Ages

The contribution of archaeological plant remains in tracing the cultural history of Mediterranean trees: The example of the Roman harbour ofNeapolis

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