Plant use in a city in Northern Italy during the late Mediaeval and Renaissance periods: results of the archaeobotanical investigation of “The Mirror Pit” (14th–15th century a.d.) in Ferrara

Seeds/fruits, pollen and parasite remains as evidence of site function: piazza Garibaldi – Parma (N Italy) in Roman and Mediaeval times

“…The interpretation of data for archaeobotanical inferences was essentially based on several assumptions (Bandini Mazzanti et al, 2005;Faegri et al, 1989;Mercuri, 2008b): (a) in open sites (both on-site and off-site) the deposits formed under natural and human transport, but we must take in consideration that in archaeological contexts (on-site), as in the study case, human transport prevails on natural seed/fruit and pollen rains and therefore environmental reconstructions can only partially be possible; (b) the plant landscape can be inferred by the floristic list and the assemblage of taxa rather than by their quantities, i.e., environmental reconstructions are mainly based on qualitative data; palaeo-and archaeobotanical data from other sites of the region are reference points to complete the interpretations; (c) the exploitation and uses of plants can be mainly inferred by seeds/fruits and pollen accumulated in high quantities at the site, which are indicators of human activities; therefore, paleoethnobotanical observations are mainly hypothesised on the basis of quantitative data. In addition, the state of preservation and the comparison between micro-and macroremains greatly improve the knowledge on the relationships between humans and plants.…”

“…During the Late Middle Ages, purslane was cultivated in urban areas, and the abundance of seeds in domestic rubbish dumps supports its importance in human diet (Bosi et al, 2009b). Findings from a mug from a Benedictine monastery near Ferrara also attest to its medicinal use (Bandini Mazzanti et al, 2006).…”

“…In Mediaeval samples, high concentrations of food plants suggested the presence of waste from different actions (Bandini Mazzanti et al, 2005): wine-production or preparation of other food with grapevine, cooking, preparation of jams and syrups, extraction of colours to dye food (for example from Rubus and Fragaria), or, differently, presence of faecal remains (Ballerini and Parzen, 2001;Scully, 1998). In the pits of Piazza Garibaldi, food plants were associated with other organic remains such as animal bones suggesting that some table waste was present.…”

“…While, commonly, seeds and fruits give clear evidence of the presence of granaries and other storage facilities as well as latrines or rubbish pits in general (Bandini Mazzanti et al, 2005), there are few but interesting examples of pollen signals that shed light on the use of particular structures/places (Mariotti Lippi et al, 2009). Amongst micro-remains, many interesting inferences can arise also from Non Pollen Palynomorphs (NPPs) which include fungi, algae, various plant and animal remains, helping for example to detect, the presence of human and animal faeces in contexts subject to human influence (Bouchet et al, 2003;Miras et al, in press;van Geel et al, 2003).…”

Estudio palinológico del yacimiento romano de La Vereda (Burguillos, Sevilla): de la reconstrucción paleoambiental a la funcionalidad de las estructuras

“…Mientras que los macrorrestos vegetales, particularmente semillas y frutos carbonizados, ofrecen una clara evidencia sobre la presencia de graneros y otras instalaciones de almacenamiento, así como letrinas o basureros de una manera generalizada (Bandini Mazzanti et al 2005), existen muy pocos pero en cambio interesantísimos ejemplos que muestran cómo la señal polínica puede arrojar luz sobre el uso particular dado a ciertas estructuras o lugares (Mariotti Lippi et al 2009;Bosi et al 2011).…”