Economy and environment of Bronze Age settlements – Terramaras – on the Po Plain (Northern Italy): first results from the archaeobotanical research at the Terramara di Montale

Mercuri, Anna Maria; Accorsi, Carla Alberta; Mazzanti, Marta; Bosi, Giovanna; Cardarelli, Andrea; Labate, Donato; Marchesini, Marco; Grandi, G. Trevisan

doi:10.1007/s00334-006-0034-1

Cited by 94 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Nitrophilous and ruderal pollen taxa, such as Convolvulus, Plantago lanceolata type, Urticaceae type, and Polygonum aviculare type, are often proxies for human impact (Riera et al, 2004), and abundant Amaranthaceae has also been used (Sadori et al, 2013). Some species of Cichorioideae have been described as nitrophilous taxa (AbelSchaad and López-Sáez, 2013) and as grazing indicators (Mercuri et al, 2006;Florenzano et al, 2015;. At the same time, NPP taxa such as some coprophilous fungi, Sordariales, and thecamoebians are also used as indicators of anthropization and land use (van Geel et al, 1989;Riera et al, 2006;Carrión et al, 2007;Ejarque et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Holocene climate aridification trend and human impact interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale climate fluctuations from a new sedimentary record from Padul (Sierra Nevada, southern Iberian Peninsula)

et al. 2018

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8). The stronger increase in Cichorioideae has also been described as an indicator of animal grazing in areas subjected to intense use of the territory (Mercuri et al, 2006). Interestingly, these taxa began to decline around 400 cal yr BP (∼ 1550 CE), coinciding with the higher increase in detritic material in the basin.…”

Section: Human Activitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Holocene climate aridification trend and human impact interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale climate fluctuations from a new sedimentary record from Padul (Sierra Nevada, southern Iberian Peninsula)

et al. 2018

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“…This suggests that at least part of the flood activity and/or the repetition of intense events, as shown by the increase of mean thickness increase of flood deposits, is linked with human activities. At the regional scale, pollen data provide strong evidence for regional anthropogenic influence, such as forest clearings and agricultural activity (Mercuri et al, 2006;Valsecchi et al, 2006). In the western Swiss Alps, changes in Holocene vegetation are characterised by continuous landscape denudation that begins at ca.…”

Section: Variability Of Flood Frequency During the Mid-to Late-holocementioning

confidence: 99%

Orbital changes, variation in solar activity and increased anthropogenic activities: controls on the Holocene flood frequency in the Lake Ledro area, Northern Italy

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Two lacustrine sediment cores from Lake Ledro in northern Italy were studied to produce chronologies of flood events for the past 10 000 yr. For this purpose, we have developed an automatic method that objectively identifies the sedimentary imprint of river floods in the downstream lake basin. The method was based on colour data extracted from processed core photographs, and the count data were analysed to capture the flood signal. Flood frequency and reconstructed sedimentary dynamics were compared with lake-level changes and pollen inferred vegetation dynamics. The results suggest a record marked by low flood frequency during the early and middle Holocene (10 000–4500 cal BP). Only modest increases during short intervals are recorded at ca. 8000, 7500, and 7100 cal BP. After 4500–4000 cal BP, the record shows a shift toward increased flood frequency. With the exception of two short intervals around 2900–2500 and 1800–1400 cal BP, which show a slightly reduced number of floods, the trend of increasing flood frequency prevailed until the 20th century, reaching a maximum between the 16th and the 19th centuries. Brief-flood frequency increases recorded during the early and middle Holocene can be attributed to cold climatic oscillations. On a centennial time scale, major changes in flood frequency, such as those observed after ca. 4500/4000 and 500 cal BP, can be attributed to large-scale climatic changes such as the Neo-glacial and Little Ice Age, which are under orbital and possibly solar control. However, in the Bronze Age and during the Middle Ages and modern times, forest clearing and land use probably partially control the flood activity.

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“…3000 yr BP). During the Bronze Age a number of perilacustrine settlements in the Italian peninsula were present, and the Terramare culture bloomed in the Po plain (Cremaschi et al, 2006;Mercuri et al, 2006Mercuri et al, , 2012 probably because water in that period became a less available resource (Sadori et al, 2004;Magny et al, 2007Magny et al, , 2009Magny et al, , 2011Magny et al, , 2012Zanchetta et al, 2012a).…”

Section: Vegetation History: Climate Versus Human Forcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The last 7 millennia of vegetation and climate changes at Lago di Pergusa (central Sicily, Italy)

et al. 2013

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The aim of this study is to investigate climate changes and human activities under the lens of palynology. Based on a new high-resolution pollen sequence (PG2) from Lago di Pergusa (667 m a.s.l., central Sicily, Italy) covering the last 6700 yr, we propose a reconstruction of climate and landscape changes over the recent past in central Sicily. Compared to former studies from Lago di Pergusa (Sadori and Narcisi, 2001), this work provides a reconstruction of the evolution of vegetation and climate over the last millennia in central Sicily, indeed completing previous results with new pollen data, which is particularly detailed on the last 3000 yr.

Joint actions of increasing dryness, climate oscillations, and human impact shaped the landscape of this privileged site. Lago di Pergusa, besides being the main inland lake of Sicily, is very sensitive to climate change and its territory was inhabited and exploited continuously since the Palaeolithic. The lake sediments turned out to be a good observatory for natural phenomena that occurred in the last thousands of years.

Results of the pollen-based study are integrated with changes in magnetic susceptibility and a tephra layer characterization. The tephra layer was shown to be related to the Sicanians' event, radiocarbon dated at 3055 ± 75 yr BP (Sadori and Narcisi, 2001).

We performed palaeoclimate reconstructions by MAT (Modern Analogues Technique) and WAPLS (Weighted Average Partial Least Square). Palaeoclimate reconstructions based on the core show important climate fluctuations throughout the Holocene. Climate reconstruction points out four phases of cooling and enhanced wetness in the last three millennia (2600-2000, 1650-1100, 850-550, 400-200 cal BP, corresponding to the periods between 650-50 BC, and 300-850, 1100-1400, 1550-1750 AD, respectively)

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Economy and environment of Bronze Age settlements – Terramaras – on the Po Plain (Northern Italy): first results from the archaeobotanical research at the Terramara di Montale

Cited by 94 publications

References 33 publications

Holocene climate aridification trend and human impact interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale climate fluctuations from a new sedimentary record from Padul (Sierra Nevada, southern Iberian Peninsula)

Holocene climate aridification trend and human impact interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale climate fluctuations from a new sedimentary record from Padul (Sierra Nevada, southern Iberian Peninsula)

Orbital changes, variation in solar activity and increased anthropogenic activities: controls on the Holocene flood frequency in the Lake Ledro area, Northern Italy

The last 7 millennia of vegetation and climate changes at Lago di Pergusa (central Sicily, Italy)

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