Conference Posters by Assunta Florenzano
Modern biodiversity is the result of the long-term shaping that humans and climate made on vegeta... more Modern biodiversity is the result of the long-term shaping that humans and climate made on vegetation, soils and landforms. This is especially evident in the Mediterranean area, crowd of civilizations since ancient times.
Most of the biological archives, including pollen, upon which past environmental reconstructions are based, are known to respond to both climate change and human impact. Throughout the Holocene, human activities were fairly synchronous with climatic oscillations, and today it is difficult to disentangle the relative roles of climate and humans in palaeobiological records. In general, the passage from wild to human environments is evident by new flora input and by modification of vegetation cover (e.g., reduction in wild species and increase in the cultivated/synanthropic plants). Changes in flora and vegetation cover may have occurred earlier near settlements and in the places that today we call ‘archaeological sites’. The weak anthropogenic influence on the environment firstly occurred in the vicinity of the settlements. Then, human impact became evident at a larger regional scale depending on the chronological and cultural variables, and on the distance and intensity of activity performances.
A set of palynological / archaeobotanical research has been carried out in the last decades by the members of BRAIN - Botanical Records of the Archaeobotany Italian Network. The research joins multidisciplinary archaeological study to palaeoenvironmental – ecological approach, with focus on the Italian peninsula and its impressive prehistoric and historic archaeological heritage (Mercuri AM, et al. 2015. Rev Palaeobot Palyno 218:250-266).
Plant remains - including pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, seeds and fruits, woods and charcoals ... more Plant remains - including pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, seeds and fruits, woods and charcoals - are among the most important biological archives upon which past environmental reconstructions are based. From one hand, plants are known to respond, in fact, to both climate change and human impact. From the other hand, humans collected plants that were available in the territory they explored, and even involuntary they shaped the landscape. As humans lived in a region, ‘cultural transformations of natural habitats’ began, and were the inevitable consequence of human presence in lands. Consequently, changes in flora and vegetation cover may have occurred earlier near settlements and in the places that today we call ‘archaeological sites’. The weak anthropogenic influence on the environment firstly occurred in the vicinity of the settlements, and then became a true local impact. Then, human impact became evident at a larger regional scale depending on the chronological and cultural variables, and on the distance and intensity of activity performances.
In archaeological contexts, humans and their animals largely bring plant micro- and macro- remains to the site and thus cultural variables strongly influence the pollen spectrum and the archaeobotanical record. Far from being a problem, this taphonomical peculiarity is crucial to explore human behaviour and cultural aspects of plant exploitation. A set of palynological / archaeobotanical research has been carried out in the last decades by our research team (www.palinopaleobot.unimore.it). In Italy, investigations cover most of the regions from Northern (especially Emilia Romagna), Central (especially Tuscany) and Southern Italy (especially Basilicata and Sicily). Chronology ranges from the Middle Bronze age (e.g. Terramara di Montale), to the Roman and Medieval ages (e.g. Modena; Parma; Villa del Casale), to Renaissance ages (e.g. Ferrara). The research joins multidisciplinary archaeological study to palaeoenvironmental–ecological approach, with focus on the Italian peninsula and its impressive prehistoric and historic archaeological heritage.
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Conference Posters by Assunta Florenzano
Most of the biological archives, including pollen, upon which past environmental reconstructions are based, are known to respond to both climate change and human impact. Throughout the Holocene, human activities were fairly synchronous with climatic oscillations, and today it is difficult to disentangle the relative roles of climate and humans in palaeobiological records. In general, the passage from wild to human environments is evident by new flora input and by modification of vegetation cover (e.g., reduction in wild species and increase in the cultivated/synanthropic plants). Changes in flora and vegetation cover may have occurred earlier near settlements and in the places that today we call ‘archaeological sites’. The weak anthropogenic influence on the environment firstly occurred in the vicinity of the settlements. Then, human impact became evident at a larger regional scale depending on the chronological and cultural variables, and on the distance and intensity of activity performances.
A set of palynological / archaeobotanical research has been carried out in the last decades by the members of BRAIN - Botanical Records of the Archaeobotany Italian Network. The research joins multidisciplinary archaeological study to palaeoenvironmental – ecological approach, with focus on the Italian peninsula and its impressive prehistoric and historic archaeological heritage (Mercuri AM, et al. 2015. Rev Palaeobot Palyno 218:250-266).
In archaeological contexts, humans and their animals largely bring plant micro- and macro- remains to the site and thus cultural variables strongly influence the pollen spectrum and the archaeobotanical record. Far from being a problem, this taphonomical peculiarity is crucial to explore human behaviour and cultural aspects of plant exploitation. A set of palynological / archaeobotanical research has been carried out in the last decades by our research team (www.palinopaleobot.unimore.it). In Italy, investigations cover most of the regions from Northern (especially Emilia Romagna), Central (especially Tuscany) and Southern Italy (especially Basilicata and Sicily). Chronology ranges from the Middle Bronze age (e.g. Terramara di Montale), to the Roman and Medieval ages (e.g. Modena; Parma; Villa del Casale), to Renaissance ages (e.g. Ferrara). The research joins multidisciplinary archaeological study to palaeoenvironmental–ecological approach, with focus on the Italian peninsula and its impressive prehistoric and historic archaeological heritage.