The effects of the Avellino Pumice eruption on the population of the Early Bronze age Campanian plain (Southern Italy)

Palma Campania, the type-site of the Early Bronze Age Palma Campania culture, was covered by the products of the Avellino Pumice eruption, and was thus preserved in a similar way to the Roman sites in Campania covered by the AD 79 eruption. The devastating effects of this Plinian eruption led to the belief that it had killed a large part of the local population and/or caused large-scale emigration and landscape desertification. However, new sites have been found that were established shortly after the eruption and geoarchaeological studies of areas close to the Somma-Vesuvius volcano (Boscoreale, Boscotrecase, Torre Annunziata/Oplontis, Pompeii) and also further away (the Benevento area, Irpinia and the Salerno area) have shown continuity of occupation after the Avellino Pumice eruption and during the later, Middle Bronze Age, AP1 and AP2 eruptions. Palynological analysis also shows great similarity between the environments before and after the Avellino Pumice eruption. The pottery evidence is typologically very similar before and after the eruption, which suggests that the people who resettled the Campanian plain after the eruption were closely related to those living there previously, whose material culture is that of the Palma Campania culture. Radiocarbon dates also suggest a rapid recolonisation of some sites. In this paper we shall show that although the pyroclastic products of the Avellino Pumice eruption certainly had a major impact on the landscape (soils, flora, water resources) and may have killed off a percentage of the population in some areas, this eruption was not the main cause of the socio-economic and political transformations that occurred in this area during the Middle Bronze Age, which we believe to have been mainly caused by the cumulative effect of the later AP1 and AP2 eruption

La protostoria agricola della Campania: nuovi dati archeobotanici

The study of seeds and fruits allow us to extend our knowledge on the various aspects of the ancient agricultural practices, giving the basic information to understand the evolution of the agricultural phenomenon, to determine the level of the food production and, to some extent, the state of the local environment. Only in the end of the last century, Campania has witnessed an increased growth in research focused on highlighting archaeobotany as an aspect of Italian protohistory. In those years, in fact, several archaeobotanical reports were published, focusing on the analysis and the study of plant remains collected in various Bronze age sites. Such investigations have thus filled the gap that has been generated by the special attention that researchers have paid for long time to improve their knowledge on the ancient relationship between man and the environment mainly through the study of the large quantity of data available in the Roman cities buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. This paper presents new archaeobotanical data from three sites of different areas of the Campania region, Italy, dated to the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2200-1600 cal. BC) – Nola, Piazza d’Armi, Nola, loc. Croce del Papa and Ariano Irpino, loc. La Starza. A total of 267 l of sediment has been sampled and 7234 remains retrieved. 33 samples from Croce del Papa and Piazza d’Armi were processed and 40 samples were hand-picked during excavation of Piazza d’Armi and La Starza. The study reveals the presence of cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum dicoccum, Triticum durum/aestivum, Panicum sp.), pulses (Vicia faba, var. minor, Lens culinaris) and wild plants (Cornus mas, Ficus carica, Corylus avellana, Prunus dulcis, Prunus cf. spinosa, Quercus sp., Vitis vinifera). Linum usitatissimum is attested too. Similarities and differences between the agrarian choices of settled human communities, between Early and Middle Bronze Age, in these different areas of the Campania region, are de ned and, in addition, this framework is compared with what is already known of the ancient agricultural history of Campania and south-western Italy. The information obtained improved our knowledge of the agricultural practices, the processing of the harvest carried out during protohistory and offers also a detailed information on the food production and exploitation of the lo- cal plant resources. In particular, at Croce del Papa site, the correlation of data from the study of the archaeobotanical evidence with the sampling context, well related to daily life activities, offers a unique glimpse into the agricultural cycle mainly concerning to various phases of crop processing as never before possible, from transport from the fields to the village, to the threshing process, until the storage prior to food production

Agricoltura, alimentazione e paleoambiente della Jazira siriana tra IV e III mill. a.C. Le evidenze da Tell Mozan

[Italiano]: Il volume presenta nuove informazioni sul rapporto che la comunità antica insediata nella regione attraversata dall’Alto Khabur, nella Siria nordorientale, instaurò con l’ambiente nel quale era inserita. A tal fine, ci si è avvalsi di un approccio interdisciplinare che ha consentito di tracciare una parte dell’evoluzione del mondo vegetale, mediante lo studio dei resti di semi e frutti provenienti dagli scavi archeologici di Tell Mozan, diretti da Giorgio Buccellati e Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati dell’IIMAS – The International Institute of Mesopotamian Area Studies. I livelli indagati da questa ricerca sono riferibili a due fasi cronologiche distinte, Late Chalcolithic 3 (prima metà del IV mill. a.C.) e Early Jazirah IV (seconda metà del III mill. a.C.). I campioni analizzati hanno restituito un assemblaggio carpologico costituito per la maggior parte da un complesso di cariossidi di cereali, perlopiù frammentarie, scarsissimi resti di spighetta e di spiga, una gran quantità di piante infestanti, soprattutto graminacee e, in misura minore, infestanti leguminose e infestanti relative ad altre famiglie. Le piante coltivate maggiormente attestate nel sito di Tell Mozan sono rappresentate dai cereali quali orzo, dicocco e grani nudi; di gran lunga inferiori sono le attestazioni di legumi, in particolare la lenticchia, e dei frutti, tra i quali un interessante presenza è quella della vite nei livelli del III mill. a.C. Molto numerosa è la documentazione delle piante infestanti, soprattutto graminacee, in molti casi Aegilops e, in misura minore, infestanti leguminose e di altre famiglie. Nei modelli elaborati, mediante studi etnografici, per la ricostruzione delle fasi di lavorazione dei cereali, il complesso vegetale rinvenuto nei livelli di IV mill. a.C. potrebbe essere correlato alla fase della trebbiatura, mentre quello ritrovato nei campioni di III mill. a.C. potrebbe essere collegato a uno degli stadi finali della lavorazione, compreso tra la setacciatura fine dei grani e il loro primo stoccaggio. Il prodotto di questo stoccaggio, rinvenuto nell’area identificata come magazzino reale, poteva essere destinato all’alimentazione animale piuttosto che a quella umana. Una delle prime deduzioni di carattere ecologico che lo studio di questi resti consente di trarre è che la caratteristica comune a gran parte delle infestanti identificate è quella di potersi insediare in habitat aperti, come campi coltivati o margini di campi coltivati. Inoltre, la presenza di piante tipiche di aree incolte umide, come stagni o corsi d’acqua ha permesso di definire aspetti del paesaggio naturale. La ricerca, quindi, integrando le informazioni provenienti da fonti archeologiche e archeobotaniche, ha consentito di ricostruire il quadro del paesaggio ecologico e culturale di una parte della Jazira siriana sul finire della protostoria. La definizione dell’archivio biologico del sito di Tell Mozan potrà, inoltre, fornire un apporto fondamentale per la realizzazione di una riserva di biodiversità, nella quale custodire la storia del rapporto della comunità che popolava la Jazira siriana del passato con l’ambiente. / [English]: The volume presents new information about the peculiar relationship between the ancient communities settled the Upper Khabur region, in northern Syria and their own environment. In order to achieve this goal, an interdisciplinary approach has been adopted, which has shed light on the evolution of the plant world, through the study of the archaeological plant remains from the excavation carried out at the site of Tell Mozan, under the auspice of IIMAS – The International Institute of Mesopotamian Area Studies by Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati. The samples here investigated belong to two different chronological periods, Late Chalcolithic 3 (the first half of the 4th millennium BC) and Early Jazira IV (the second half of the 3rd millennium BC). The carpological record is mainly made up of mostly fragmentary cereal grains, few spike and spikelet remains, a large number of weeds, especially of graminaceous family, and, in a smaller amount, of leguminous family and of other families. Crops are characterized by whole and fragmentary grains and by few spike remains of barley, einkorn, emmer, and free threshing wheat. The pulse remains, mainly lentil, and fruit remains are far fewer and among the latter grapevine remains from 3rd millennium BC levels are remarkable. Weeds were found in all samples in high percentages; among the most representative families, the graminaceous family (Poaceae) is to be noticed, in particular Aegilops. Leguminous weeds (Fabaceae) and other weed families have been found in lower percentages. According to ethnographic studies of various cereal-processing stages, plant complex from 4th millennium BC levels may be related to threshing waste, while that from 3rd millennium BC levels may be linked to a final phase of processing, between the fine sieving of grains and their first storage. This product, retrieved from the area identified as the royal storehouse, seems to be also connected to the phase of food preparation for animal feed rather than for human consumption. As far as the ecological perspective is concerned, the study of these remains leads to the conclusion that most of the weeds found here can grow in open habitats such as cultivated fields or margins of cultivated fields and, to a lesser extent, in uncultivated areas, among which wet areas, such as ponds or watercourses are to be found. Thus, the ecological and cultural landscape of a part of the past Syrian Jazira during the late prehistory has been reconstructed, by integrating the information coming from the archaeological contexts and archaeobotanical remains. The definition of the biological archive of the site can also provide an important contribution to the realization of a biodiversity reserve in which to preserve the history of the man-environment relationship in this area

Agricoltura, alimentazione e paleoambiente della Jazira siriana tra IV e III mill. a.C. Le evidenze da Tell Mozan

Questo lavoro ha reso possibile ottenere nuove informazioni sul rapporto che la comunità antica insediata nella regione attraversata dall’Alto Khabur, nella Siria nordorientale, ha instaurato con l’ambiente nel quale era inserita. A tal fine, ci si è avvalsi di un approccio interdisciplinare che ha consentito di tracciare una parte dell’evoluzione del mondo vegetale, mediante lo studio dei resti di semi e frutti provenienti dagli scavi archeologici di Tell Mozan. La ricerca, quindi, integrando le informazioni provenienti da fonti archeologiche e archeobotaniche, ha consentito di ricostruire il quadro del paesaggio ecologico e culturale di una parte della Jazira siriana sul finire della protostoria.Prefazione Matteo Delle Donne’s research on the archaeobotanical remains from the Urkesh/Mozan excavations carried out under the auspice of IIMAS – The International Institute of Mesopotamian Area Studies is the result of his long interest in our project and his on site analysis of the materials carried out during the excavations. Because his research came during the excavation seasons he was able to familiarize himself first hand with the stratigraphic and architectural contexts from where the samples came. It was particularly helpful for all of us to be able to discuss in person issues relating to the material and its context just as it was being excavated: the collaboration that ensued was exemplary and this book is also the fruit of that collaborative experience. The results of his research on the Urkesh/Mozan data are of great significance for what they tell us about the local environment in the region and for the care with which he points out the coherence with the data analyzed from nearby sites, located in modern-day northeastern Syria. For instance, he points out, along with others, that northern Mesopotamia is an ideal area for the cultivation of grapes because in antiquity both wild grape vines as well as cultivated grapes existed there. In fact, the data from Mozan/Urkesh indicate that the domestication of the grape in all likelihood occurred in this area because at our site Delle Donne found evidence of an intermediate stage in the long process of development from wild to cultivated grapes. The consumption of grapes as food and the processing of grapes to produce wine is a topic of much current debate. In the third millennium seal impressions dating to the Akkadian period, we have found a large amount of iconographic data showing elites holding up a conical cup, from which they are presumably drinking. From our excavations we have a very large number of these cups and have attempted to determine what these cups contained through residue analysis. Unfortunately these analyses were negative for any type of residue so we can only speculate that the iconography indicates a special type of drink, perhaps including wine. The results of his research on the plants grown in the fourth and third millennium near the city of Urkesh interestingly reflect the modern situation with which we are very familiar. Delle Donne reconstructs the local environment around the ancient city as open fields with few areas of trees and some water stagnant or running. Until the advent of a large number of dams in southeastern Turkey there was much more water present in the Mozan area than today. The crops grown in the Mozan area today are primarily wheat, some barley and some lentils. There are no fruit trees or grape vines as these are an entirely different type of cultivation activity. The other major crop is cotton which of course was introduced much later. An extensive English rendering of the main argument will be published in the excavation's website (www.urkesh.org), where the data of Delle Donne's analysis will also be included in the Urkesh Global Record format. For this, too, we are grateful to the author, who has always been keen about integrating his work with that of the project as a whole. The final inclusion of the results of his research in the wider digital framework of the Urkesh record will bring to a successful conclusion our intense and productive scholarly collaboration, which we hope to be able to continue in full force once it becomes possible to resume excavations at Tell Mozan. Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati - Giorgio Buccellati, Directors, Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Projec

The Historical Botanical Collection of the Società Africana d’Italia: Study and Revaluation for the Rediscovery of Ancient Vegetal Biodiversity

An important component of the museum of the Società Africana d’Italia (SAI) is the botanical collection, including raw materials, processed and derived objects of plant origin collected between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, mostly during expeditions to Africa, financed by the SAI. On the other hand, part of these vegetal products were bought from private owners, or were do- nated by corresponding members from Africa, especially from Italian colonies and other parts of the continent. Within the collection of SAI, the vegetal world is repre- sented by 224 samples of diverse categories like grains/seeds, fruits, leaves, roots, wood and fibers, besides some textile products and woven materials, related to more than 60 species of plants, possibly used as food, medicine or for industrial purposes. Collected for commodity purposes, it has now come to represent a rare testimony of the cross-section of a vegetal world, which is partly no longer existent. The study of this collection, through the reconstruction of the acquisition of ma- terials by SAI, and their identification using the botanical nomenclature, could help in widening the core of the permanent exposition of the Museo della Società Africa- na d’Italia, housed by “L’Orientale”. Moreover, the botanical collection represents a precious reference for the study of vegetal remains from African archaeological con- texts, in order to reconstruct food habits, agriculture and the environment in pre- protohistoric times

L'abitato protostorico di Nola, via Polveriera, loc. Croce del Papa. Studio preliminare del villaggio più antico.

Questa nota rappresenta un'analisi preliminare dele evidenze archeologiche relative alla frequentazione più antica (villaggio 2) dell'abitato protostorico di Nola, loc. Croce del Papa (NA) (AA.VV. 2002). Il sito occupa un'area pianeggiante posta ad un'altitudine media di ca. 31 m s.l.m., ai confini territoriali dei comuni di Nolae Saviano. L'indagine condotta nel 2001-2002 dalla Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Caserta ha interessato un'area di 1500 mq , a ca. 6 m dal piano di campagna, ed ha messo in luce un ampio settore di un abitato (villaggio 1), inquadrabile nel Bronzo antico finale (facies di Palma Campania), seppellito dall'eruzione vesuviana delle Pomici di Avellino che, sulla base di datazioni radiometriche calibrate, è stata datata tra il 1782-1686 a. C. (3451±60 BP) (Albore Livadie e Vecchio 2005)

La zona artigianale (Fase B)

International audienc