Archaeobotanical evidence of food plants in Northern Italy during the Roman period

Bosi, Giovanna; Castiglioni, Elisabetta; Rinaldi, Rossella; Mazzanti, Marta; Marchesini, Marco; Rottoli, Mauro

doi:10.1007/s00334-020-00772-4

Cited by 26 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Some crops, e.g., citrus fruits (Citrus medica and Citrus limon -the citron and lemon respectively) known from texts, pictorial representations and preserved seeds and fruits (Zech-Matterne and Fiorentino 2017) to have been present in other parts of the Roman State, e.g., the Italian Peninsula, did not arrive in the Iberian Peninsula in Roman Period according to current data (Peña-Chocarro et al 2019). The same is true for black pepper (Piper nigrum), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), sesame (Sesamun indicum), and rice (Oryza sativa) (Bakels and Jacomet 2003;Bosi et al 2020;Jacomet and Vandorpe 2011;Livarda 2011;Wiethold 2003).…”

Section: Archaeological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…The O Areal site presents an assemblage of species with numerous parallels across Europe (Bakels and Jacomet 2003;Bosi et al 2020;Jacomet and Vandorpe 2011;Livarda 2011;Lodwick 2017;Vandorpe 2010). Within the Iberian Peninsula, similarities can be seen in and detected specimens very similar to seeds of the current grape variety 'Albariño' (Boso et al 2020).…”

Section: Roman Towns As Centres For the Introduction Of Cropsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant Economy in the Westernmost Territory of the Roman State Through Waste: The Wet Site of O Areal (Vigo, Spain)

Teira-Brión¹

2021

Preprint

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The Roman economy of the Iberian Peninsula has habitually been characterised in terms of prestige goods and economic activities such as trade, mining and metallurgy. The analysis of plant-based foods –less prestigious but more essential in everyday life– has commonly been marginalised in state-of-the-art reviews. The O Areal saltworks is exceptional in terms of the large number of organic materials it preserves, and the excellent state of that preservation. After its abandonment (end of the 3rd/4th century AD), the saltworks was briefly used as a dumping ground for the surrounding area. The site's archaeobotanical remains, preserved under anoxic, waterlogged conditions, consist of the building materials used at the saltworks, tools and other artefacts, organic objects employed in activities such as fishing, and refuse. The assemblage suggests a wide diversity of species to have been introduced into northwestern Iberia during the Roman Period, including the mulberry, peach, fig, plum, grapevine, and melon. The notable presence of other edible fruit species that normally grew wild during this period, such as chestnut, walnut, stone pine, and cherry trees, might be related to the start of their cultivation.

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Section: Archaeological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Roman Towns As Centres For the Introduction Of Cropsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant Economy in the Westernmost Territory of the Roman State Through Waste: The Wet Site of O Areal (Vigo, Spain)

Teira-Brión¹

2021

Preprint

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“…The development of large-scale cereal production within a market-orientated villa economy of Imperial Italy, followed by the emergence of more locally oriented, diverse, and self-sufficient means of food production, would have had a significant impact on cattle husbandry, particularly the exploitation of draught oxen in some areas (Rottoli 2014 ; Salvadori 2015 :92–97; Varro, On Agriculture 1.20). Considering the general continuity in cereal preference in northern Italy, which focused on cultivation of barley and wheats from the late Iron Age through Late Antiquity (Rottoli 2014 ; Bosi et al 2019 ; Bosi et al 2020 ), greater use of large oxen during the Roman period points to a change in how staple crops were produced. For example, cultivation of larger plots compared to prehistoric practices would have incentivised animal over human labour (Bogaard et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Human activity shaped a landscape in which cereal fields and pasture were punctuated by gardens, orchards, and thin woodland, alongside freshwater marshy areas (Bosi et al 2011 ; Bosi et al 2015 ; Bosi et al 2019 ). Botanical remains demonstrate arable cultivation focused on wheats and barley alongside millets, and the consumption of various legumes and new types of fruits, raised both in fields and garden plots (Bosi et al 2020 ). Agricultural strategies also impacted livestock, and biometric studies have demonstrated that cattle in northern Italy became even larger during the Roman period (Riedel 1994b ; MacKinnon 2004a , 2010 ).…”

Section: Archaeological and Historical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greater connectivity brought new tastes (Rowan 2019 ), and wider exchange networks transformed food production, allowing greater specialisation and the long-distance transport of an agricultural surplus (Mattingly and Aldrete 2000 ; Ward-Perkins 2006 ). New plants and animals were introduced (Witcher 2013 ; Bosi et al 2020 ), and both rare species and common foods circulated with greater intensity (Orengo and Livarda 2016 ). Although different regions followed distinct trajectories, zooarchaeological studies document a suite of changes in livestock production across the Western Empire.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New trajectories or accelerating change? Zooarchaeological evidence for Roman transformation of animal husbandry in Northern Italy

Trentacoste

Nieto-Espinet

Guimarães

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Throughout the Western provinces of the Roman Empire, greater economic and political connectivity had a major impact on agricultural production, which grew in scale and specialisation after integration with the Roman state. However, uniquely in Western Europe, farming strategies in Italy began to evolve centuries before the Roman conquest, and many ‘Roman’ patterns associated with livestock size and the relative proportions of different taxa first emerged during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium BC. These changes imply a significant reorganisation of production strategies well before Roman hegemony, even in relatively marginal areas of Italy. Zooarchaeological studies have documented further significant changes to livestock production in Roman times, but the relationship between these developments and earlier trends remains unclear. Through analysis of zooarchaeological data for species representation and livestock biometry from lowland northern Italy (Po–Friulian Plain), this study investigates animal exploitation between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity in order to characterise the influence of Roman political and economic organisation on animal husbandry. Results demonstrated subregional variation in species representation, and different trajectories in the biometric evolution of cattle, sheep and goats, compared to pigs. Initial steps established in the Iron Age towards a more complex and dynamic livestock economy were accelerated and further reconfigured in Roman times, facilitated by Roman economic organisation and the specialised and large-scale production systems within it. Zooarchaeological trends continued to progress over the Roman period, until further changes at the very end of the chronology considered here—around the sixth century AD—suggest another wave of change.

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Orphan crops of archaeology‐based crop history research

Fuks,

Schmidt,

García‐Collado

et al. 2024

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact StatementAgrobiodiversity is central to sustainable farming worldwide. Cultivation, conservation and reintroduction of diverse plant species, including ‘forgotten’ and ‘underutilized’ crops, contribute to global agrobiodiversity, living ecosystems and sustainable food production. Such efforts benefit from traditional and historical knowledge of crop plants' evolutionary and cultural trajectories. This review is a first attempt at systematically gauging species representativeness in studies of archaeological plant remains. Results indicate that, in addition to discipline‐specific methodological sources of bias, modern agricultural biases may replicate themselves in crop history research and influence understandings of ‘forgotten crops’. Recognizing these biases is an initial stride towards rectifying them and promoting agrobiodiversity in both research and practical applications.SummarySo‐called ‘forgotten’ or ‘orphan’ crops are an important component of strategies aimed at preserving and promoting biodiversity. Knowledge of historical cultivation, usage, and geographic and evolutionary trajectories of plants, that is, crop history research, is important for the long‐term success of such efforts. However, research biases in the crops chosen for study may present hurdles. This review attempts to systematically identify patterns in crop species representativeness within archaeology‐based crop history research. A meta‐analysis and synthesis of archaeobotanical evidence (and lack thereof) is presented for 268 species known to have been cultivated for food prior to 1492 CE from the Mediterranean region to South Asia. We identified 39 genera with known crop plants in this geographical and historical context that are currently absent from its archaeobotanical record, constituting ‘orphan’ crops of archaeobotany. In addition, a worldwide synthesis of crop species studied using geometric morphometric, archaeogenetic and stable isotope analyses of archaeological plant remains is presented, and biases in the species represented in these disciplines are discussed. Both disciplinary methodological biases and economic agenda‐based biases affecting species representativeness in crop history research are apparent. This study also highlights the limited geographic diffusion of most crops and the potential for deeper historical perspectives on how crops become marginalized and ‘forgotten’.

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Archaeobotanical evidence of food plants in Northern Italy during the Roman period

Cited by 26 publications

References 32 publications

Plant Economy in the Westernmost Territory of the Roman State Through Waste: The Wet Site of O Areal (Vigo, Spain)

Plant Economy in the Westernmost Territory of the Roman State Through Waste: The Wet Site of O Areal (Vigo, Spain)

New trajectories or accelerating change? Zooarchaeological evidence for Roman transformation of animal husbandry in Northern Italy

Orphan crops of archaeology‐based crop history research

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