Archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit of a tower in the Santi Quattro Corona... more Archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit of a tower in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex (Rome) are presented. The carpological materials, preserved by mummification through desiccation, are roughly dated between the 16th and 17th centuries, with prevalence for the former. Approximately 6,000 well-preserved fragments of seeds and fruits, belonging to 35 taxa, mostly identified at species level and ascribed to 18 different plant families were identified in sediments retrieved in two stratigraphic units. Pastinaca sativa L. (parsnip), Juglans regia L. (walnut) and Vitis vinifera L. (grape) prevail. Many edible cultivated species were found, along with one ornamental species and two wild species. New World species represent the most peculiar findings, representing one of the earliest attestations of such type in Europe, shortly after the America discovery. The plant assemblage gives an overview on plant use during the Renaissance in a high-level residence of Rome.
A sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Late Glacial to Holocene of Lake Dojran, located at the... more A sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Late Glacial to Holocene of Lake Dojran, located at the border between Greece and F.Y.R. of Macedonia, has been investigated to provide a high-resolution pollen and NPPs analysis. Percentage, concentration and influx values have been interpreted to reconstruct the vegetational dynamics of the last 12500 years. Late Glacial is characterized by steppic taxa replaced by Holocene vegetation after 11500 yr BP. Mesophilous plants dominate for the entire Holocene. The first human trace is clear since 5000 yr BP, but the start of a strong human impact is dated at 2600 yr BP. The data have been also compared with other proxies available for the same core to better comprehend the past climatic dynamics. Geochemical data are available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.860791. Biomarkers used in the comparison with pollen have been included in the present repository.
Vegetation patterns during the 1st millennium AD in the central Mediterranean, exhibit a great va... more Vegetation patterns during the 1st millennium AD in the central Mediterranean, exhibit a great variability, due to the richness of these habitats and the continuous shaping of the environment by human societies. Variations in land use, witnessed in the pollen record, reflect the role that local vegetation and environmental conditions played in the choices made by local societies. The interdisciplinary study of off-site cores remains the key evidence for palaeoenvironmental transformations mirroring the ‘semi-natural’ vegetation, and revealing temporal fluctuations and the amount of human impact on a regional scale.
This article deals with past and current archaeobotanical research on plant macroremains recovere... more This article deals with past and current archaeobotanical research on plant macroremains recovered at Arslantepe by the archaeologists of the MAIAO (Missione Archeologica Italiana in Anatolia Orientale) from 1978 onwards. Archaeobotany plays a key role in the integration of archaeological disciplines, especially for complex sites such as Arslantepe. Palaeoenvironmental study provides added value to this because it enriches the information contained in the archaeobotanical data in many ways. This paper aims to describe the state of the art on the knowledge of past agricultural systems and of the environment at Arslantepe for more than one millennium (3350-2000 BC), namely from the Late Chalcolithic 5 to the Early Bronze age III. A short outline of newly developed lines of research are also presented
The Black Death (1347–1352 ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many t... more The Black Death (1347–1352 ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These inter-regional differences in the Black Death’s mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic, societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics.
Archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit of a tower in the Santi Quattro Corona... more Archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit of a tower in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex (Rome) are presented. The carpological materials, preserved by mummification through desiccation, are roughly dated between the 16th and 17th centuries, with prevalence for the former. Approximately 6,000 well-preserved fragments of seeds and fruits, belonging to 35 taxa, mostly identified at species level and ascribed to 18 different plant families were identified in sediments retrieved in two stratigraphic units. Pastinaca sativa L. (parsnip), Juglans regia L. (walnut) and Vitis vinifera L. (grape) prevail. Many edible cultivated species were found, along with one ornamental species and two wild species. New World species represent the most peculiar findings, representing one of the earliest attestations of such type in Europe, shortly after the America discovery. The plant assemblage gives an overview on plant use during the Renaissance in a high-level residence of Rome.
A sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Late Glacial to Holocene of Lake Dojran, located at the... more A sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Late Glacial to Holocene of Lake Dojran, located at the border between Greece and F.Y.R. of Macedonia, has been investigated to provide a high-resolution pollen and NPPs analysis. Percentage, concentration and influx values have been interpreted to reconstruct the vegetational dynamics of the last 12500 years. Late Glacial is characterized by steppic taxa replaced by Holocene vegetation after 11500 yr BP. Mesophilous plants dominate for the entire Holocene. The first human trace is clear since 5000 yr BP, but the start of a strong human impact is dated at 2600 yr BP. The data have been also compared with other proxies available for the same core to better comprehend the past climatic dynamics. Geochemical data are available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.860791. Biomarkers used in the comparison with pollen have been included in the present repository.
Vegetation patterns during the 1st millennium AD in the central Mediterranean, exhibit a great va... more Vegetation patterns during the 1st millennium AD in the central Mediterranean, exhibit a great variability, due to the richness of these habitats and the continuous shaping of the environment by human societies. Variations in land use, witnessed in the pollen record, reflect the role that local vegetation and environmental conditions played in the choices made by local societies. The interdisciplinary study of off-site cores remains the key evidence for palaeoenvironmental transformations mirroring the ‘semi-natural’ vegetation, and revealing temporal fluctuations and the amount of human impact on a regional scale.
This article deals with past and current archaeobotanical research on plant macroremains recovere... more This article deals with past and current archaeobotanical research on plant macroremains recovered at Arslantepe by the archaeologists of the MAIAO (Missione Archeologica Italiana in Anatolia Orientale) from 1978 onwards. Archaeobotany plays a key role in the integration of archaeological disciplines, especially for complex sites such as Arslantepe. Palaeoenvironmental study provides added value to this because it enriches the information contained in the archaeobotanical data in many ways. This paper aims to describe the state of the art on the knowledge of past agricultural systems and of the environment at Arslantepe for more than one millennium (3350-2000 BC), namely from the Late Chalcolithic 5 to the Early Bronze age III. A short outline of newly developed lines of research are also presented
The Black Death (1347–1352 ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many t... more The Black Death (1347–1352 ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These inter-regional differences in the Black Death’s mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic, societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics.
Humans and environmental sustainability: Lessons from the past ecosystems of Europe and Northern Africa. CEA2018 Abstracts book. Modena, Italy., 2018
Archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit of a tower in the Santi Quattro Corona... more Archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit of a tower in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex (Rome) are presented. The carpological materials, preserved by mummification through desiccation, are roughly dated between the 16th and 17th centuries, with prevalence for the former. Approximately 6,000 well-preserved fragments of seeds and fruits, belonging to 35 taxa, mostly identified at species level and ascribed to 18 different plant families were identified in sediments retrieved in two stratigraphic units. Pastinaca sativa L. (parsnip), Juglans regia L. (walnut) and Vitis vinifera L. (grape) prevail. Many edible cultivated species were found, along with one ornamental species and two wild species. New World species represent the most peculiar findings, representing one of the earliest attestations of such type in Europe, shortly after the America discovery. The plant assemblage gives an overview on plant use during the Renaissance in a high-level residence of Rome.
Today, coastal cities worldwide are facing major changes resulting from climate change and anthro... more Today, coastal cities worldwide are facing major changes resulting from climate change and anthro-pogenic forcing, which requires adaptation and mitigation strategies to be established. In this context, sedimen-tological archives in many Mediterranean cities record a multi-millennial history of environmental dynamics and human adaptation, revealing a long-lasting resilience. Founded by the Phoenicians around 3000 years ago, Cádiz (south-western Spain) is a key example of a coastal resilient city. This urban centre is considered to be one of the Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the IODP and the ICDP. 36 F. Salomon et al.: High-resolution sedimentary cores from Cádiz first cities of western Europe and has experienced major natural hazards during its long history, such as coastal erosion, storms, and also tsunamis (like the one in 1755 CE following the destructive Lisbon earthquake). In the framework of an international, joint archaeological and geoarchaeological project, three cores have been drilled in a marine palaeochannel that ran through the ancient city of Cádiz. These cores reveal a ≥ 50 m thick Holocene sedimentary sequence. Importantly, most of the deposits date from the 1st millennium BCE to the 1st millennium CE. This exceptional sedimentary archive will allow our scientific team to achieve its research goals, which are (1) to reconstruct the palaeogeographical evolution of this specific coastal area; (2) to trace the intensity of activities of the city of Cádiz based on archaeological data, as well as geochemical and palaeoecological indicators; and (3) to identify and date high-energy event deposits such as storms and tsunamis.
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Papers by Alessia Masi
Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative
agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in
medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering
new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s
mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring
sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis
to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large
portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm
that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These
inter-regional differences in the Black Death’s mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic,
societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these
factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics.
Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative
agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in
medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering
new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s
mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring
sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis
to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large
portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm
that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These
inter-regional differences in the Black Death’s mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic,
societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these
factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics.