Bronze Age paleohydrography of the southern Venetian Plain

Abstract

The Bronze Age paleohydrography of the distal Adige and Po alluvial plain (northeastern Italy) is notable for its relations with protohistoric human activities in this area. This paper regards the stratigraphy and petrography of the Saline-Cona alluvial ridge, upon which the Saline, Sarzano, and Cantarana Bronze Age sites lie, and the petrography of Fratta alluvial ridge, upon which the Frattesina complex (Bronze-Iron Age) lies. Sand analyses indicate the Po River as the source for sediments underlying the alluvial ridge that runs through Fratta Polesine, Rovigo, Sarzano, and Cona. Radiometric ages indicate that the branch of the Saline-Cona ridge was formed by the Po River between the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C. and the end of 2nd millennium B.C. This ridge represents the maximum northward expansion of the Po alluvial system, through the same area of coastal plain crossed by the Adige and Brenta paleochannels. This paleohydrographic setting implies that fluvial connections between the Central Po Plain settlements, the Venetian Plain and Alps were relatively less complex in the Early and Middle Bronze Age than in the Late Bronze Age, when the terminal reach of the Po River was separated by the Adige River by hundreds of km 2 of swampy terrain.

High-resolution satellite turbidity and sea surface temperature observations of river plume interactions during a significant flood event

“…Some of the major rivers (e.g. Brenta and Po) also drain mixed river deposits of the floodplain and agricultural soil, while the remaining minor rivers, including trib- utaries from Venice and Marano lagoons, mostly drain these reworked terrains (Piovan et al, 2010). A considerable fraction of the flux from wetland-lagoon systems, constituted of organic particulate and high dissolved matter, also contribute to the dark-brown colour.…”

Inferring the degree of incipient speciation in secondary contact zones of closely related lineages of Palearctic green toads (Bufo viridis subgroup)

“…Cline analyses also showed marked drops in the frequency of balearicus specific alleles, corresponding to these main, current or historic, rivers ( Figure 5). Intriguingly, all hybrid populations showing nuclear introgression (Figure 1) are almost perfectly delimitated to the south by the modern Po river, and to the northeast by the ancient Po and Adige riverbeds, which, some 5 Kya, were situated 20-40 km farther northeast than today (pink in Figures 1 and 2; Piovan et al, 2010). As the Mantel tests supported, the locations of historical riverbeds were only slightly less important than modern ones in accounting for present day population structure (Table 3).…”

“…Distinct tests considered the current major rivers or the paleo-river beds (Bronze Age, ca. 5 Kya, Piovan et al, 2010). Figure S2).…”

The modeling of archaeological and geomorphic surfaces in a multistratified urban site in Padua, Italy

“…In the Iron Age, Padua was an urban settlement, that fully developed as a Roman Municipium, and, after an early Medieval collapse, as a prominent Medieval and Renaissance city. Other cities in the region with a similar history created archaeological mounds, such as Altinum (Mozzi et al., ; Ninfo, Fontana, Mozzi, & Ferrarese, ), Adria (Corrò, & Mozzi, ; Piovan, Mozzi, & Stefani, ), Concordia Sagittaria (Croce Da villa and Di Filippo Balestrazzi, ), and Aquileia (Ghedini et al., ; Maselli Scotti, Degrassi, Franchini, Montenegro, & Pugliese, ). Padua grew vertically as well as laterally from the Iron Age to modern times, resulting in a 1.55 km 2 archaeological mound that is perched several meters above the surrounding alluvial plain (Ferrarese, Mozzi, Veronese, & Cervo, ; Ninfo, Ferrarese, Mozzi, and Fontana, ; Ninfo, Mozzi, & Abbà, ).…”