Landscape versus climate changes at Lake Volvi (Macedonia, Greece) during the Holocene

The present PhD thesis concerns the application of paleopalynology for the study of the human- environment relationship. The research focuses on the reconstruction of the Late-Holocene vegetation dynamics and the interactions between environment and human societies with a strict focus on Macedonian region (Greece) and on a large scale considering the whole Europe. In this thesis, palynological data are used in multidisciplinary studies to understand the evolution of the vegetation, the climate changes and the interaction with past societies, providing high-resolution sequences. The project is linked to a larger research lead by the “Palaeo-Science and History” Independent Max Planck Research Group whose purpose is to develop an interdisciplinary method, involving scientific and humanistic disciplines, to better investigate human history and its relation to environmental changes. Due to the biodiversity richness, Macedonia region is considered one of major hot spots of the Mediterranean basin. Inhabited since the Palaeolithic, it was the cradle of some of the most important societies in human history. Palynological analysis of two sediments cores from the Central Macedonia have been provided: Volvi Lake is the second largest natural lake in Greece and is located on a strategic position for ancient trades; Paliouras lagoon is a coastal site located near the city of Thessaloniki, capital of the ancient Macedonia. The two sites show some analogies in the evolution of the landscape under climatic changes and human pressure but also differences in the environmental composition. Lake Volvi pollen sequence covers the last 2400 years describing an environment characterised by a balance mix of mediterranean taxa, thermophilous and mesophilous forest. Human impact is attested by the presence of cereals pollen and cultivated trees dated since the Hellenistic age (ca. 2300 cal. yr BP). Agriculture is accompanied by animal husbandry as highlighted by the expansion of weed and ruderal taxa and coprophilous fungus. The cultivation of cereals and edible plants increased during the Roman occupation of the region (ca. 1900- 1800 cal. yr BP). Both cultivation and pastoral activities characterised the last centuries with the introduction of the cultivation of the olive tree and chestnut with the Ottomans. The Paliouras lagoon sequence describes the environmental changes of the last 4000 years. Arboreal vegetation is mainly composed by pine and deciduous-semideciduous and evergreen oaks, with a strong reduction in the last millennia. The great expansion of pine between 4000 and 2300 yr cal. BP is probably related to wind transportation from the nearby pine stands along the coast. Signs of human impact are recorded during the colonisation of the Halkidiki peninsula by southern Greek populations (ca. 3000 cal. yr BP). A more intensive land management marks the rise of the Roman empire. In the upper part of the sequence, high percentages of Cichorieae, that colonise arable fields as well as coastal environment, can be ascribed to a combination of human activity and environmental factors. The pollen data of the two Greek sequences have been included in a side project of the PhD research. A big database with a collection of 261 pollen sequences selected among hundreds of pollen records has been built to evaluate the impacts of the Black Death on the demography and consequently on the landscape in different regions of Europe. A new specifical statistical approach called Big-Data Paleoecology (BDP) has been developed based on high-resolution pollen data in order to link big historical events to land-use changes demonstrating strong differences in mortality among the considered regions. Different aspects of the pollen potential have been explored. The palynological records provided a high temporal resolution reconstruction of the Late-Holocene environmental development in Macedonia and allowed consideration on the roles that ecological dynamics, climate changes and human influence have played in determining the vegetational composition of the region. Moreover, pollen data have been successfully applied to shed light on the demographic variabilities and extent of mortality caused by the spread of the Black Death in Europe. This thesis contributed to highlight the natural and anthropic environmental transformations and the development of the societies’ strategies and resilience in a changing human-environment

Uno sguardo al passato della Sapienza. Il paesaggio della città universitaria in età repubblicana e imperiale

The cultural landscape of the Sapienza campus area was reconstructed using archaeopalynology, the study of pollen in soil from archaeological sites. The experimental work concerns the study of the past pollen rain preserved in the drainage system of the Roman Age site of via de Lollis (Rome). The excavation was carried out by Università “La Sapienza” and Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Roma. Despite the well-known difficulty of pollen preservation in archaeological soils, it was possible to characterize the landscape of the site in Republican and Imperial ages, acquiring elements on culture and lifestyle. The area of Sapienza campus was covered by natural arboreal elements typical of deciduous and evergreen vegetation (mainly oaks), ornamental/cultic arboreal elements like fir and beech, and synanthropic plants such as cultivated trees (walnut and chestnut), herbs (cabbages, cereals and legumes), weeds and ruderal plants

The Lake Dojran pollen sequence: a bridge between scientific and humanistic approach to the environmental history in the Balkans

How have the societies of the past afforded climatic changes? How prolonged dryness, exceptionally cold winters, or dramatic increases in annual rainfall had been overcome by past societies? Why some societies were resilient while other vulnerable? Palaeoenvironmental studies have been trying to answer these questions but it is only applying both scientific and historical methodologies in the same project that we can fully understand the past (Izdebski et al. 2016). The Palaeo-Science and History group of the Max Planck Institute of Jena (https://www.shh.mpg.de/1056512/psh) explores the ways in which environmental sciences converges with history as a humanistic discipline that focus on the past. The project focuses on Macedonia and the Peloponnese in Greece, Sicily in Italy, and Western Turkey where evidences suggest the presence of complex societies adapted to a variety of environmental conditions. In this frame, palynology has a primary role reconstructing the past population behaviour, giving essential information on cultivation and land management. Climatic oscillation can be also inferred and contributes in the reconstruction of past events. Here we present a focus on the southern Balkans with a comparison between Lake Dojran (at the border between Greece and Republic of North Macedonia) and Lake Volvi (continental Greece) records. A pollen sequence, covering the last 12000 years with a lower resolution, is already available for Lake Dojran (Masi et al. 2018). The new data consists in the pollen, NPP and charcoal analysis at high resolution for the two lakes. The results give an interesting example of societal and environmental processes that, influencing one each other, left traces in the pollen assemblages. The period taken in consideration spans from the Roman Empire to its collapse and the establishment of Byzantium new equilibrium. Political power and socio-economic structures completely changed, but the Byzantine society was not only able to adjust successfully to dramatic changes. but also became resilient for many centuries. The pollen assemblage of the two lakes shows some similarities related to human exploitation such as the forest cover can be ascribed not only to human impact, but also to an aridification trend. Land use is evidenced by the curves of cereal and olive pollen, and also by other anthropogenic indicators. At Dojran grapevine cultivation is also assessed. The high-resolution pollen data together with the deep knowledge of the historical sources available for the region reveal all the complexity of the historical vs. environmental reconstruction of the Macedonian region, which has always been the connection point between Europe and Asia

Cultural landscape and plant use at the Phoenician site of Motya (Western Sicily, Italy) inferred from a disposal pit

The present study concerns the Phoenician-Punic site of Motya, a small island set in Western Sicily (Italy), in the Marsala Lagoon (Stagnone di Marsala), between Trapani and Marsala. A big disposal pit, datable to between the first half of the 8th and the mid-6th century bc, was identified in Area D. This context was sampled for plant macro-remains through bucket flotation. Palynological treatment and analysis were also performed on soil samples collected from each of the identified filling layers. The combination of the study of macro- and micro-remains has shown to be effective in answering questions concerning introduced food plants and agricultural practices, and native plants, including timber use. Here we investigate if a waste context can provide information about Phoenicians at Motya and their impact on the local plant communities. We found that human diet included cereals (mostly naked wheat), pulses and fruits. A focus was placed on weeds (including Lolium temulentum and Phalaris spp.) referable to different stages of crop processing. This aspect was enriched by the finding of cereal pollen, which suggests that threshing (if not even cultivation) was carried out on site. Palynology also indicates an open environment, with little to no forest cover, characterized by complex anthropogenic activities. Anthracology suggests the presence of typical Mediterranean plant taxa, including not only the shrubs Pistacia lentiscus and Erica multiflora, but also evergreen oaks. The presence of a stone pine nut and of Pinus pinea/pinaster in the pollen rain is noteworthy, suggesting the local occurrence of these Mediterranean pines outside their native distribution range. This represents the first such find in the central Mediterranean. Finally, the present study allows us to compare Motya’s past environment with the present one. The disappearance of Juniperus sp. and Erica arborea from the present-day surroundings of the Marsala lagoon appears to be related to land-overexploitation, aridification or a combination of both processes

Human-environment interactions at the central Mediterranean site of Motya (Sicily, Italy)

The island of Motya, found in the Marsala lagoon in western Sicily, has been the object of archaeological excavations by “Sapienza” University of Rome for over 60 years. Known for its Phoenician occupation (8th century – 397 BC), the small island (ca. 40 ha) was inhabited since the 17th century BC. Systematic archaeological studies have been integrated with multi-analytical approaches in the fields of archaeozoology, petrography and metallurgical techniques. The more recent introduction of archaeobotanical and palynological studies has allowed to expand our knowledge of the use of plants by the past inhabitants of Motya, complementing archaeological information with data concerning diet, food and flower offerings, land exploitation, past vegetation, environmental changes, and the introduction of plants from other areas of the Mediterranean. Pollen data describe an open environment, with scarce tree cover and characterized by complex anthropic activities. Anthracology shows a prevalence of Mediterranean taxa, such as Quercus evergreen, Pistacia lentiscus, and Olea europaea throughout the studied period. In terms of land exploitation, both disciplines support the archaeological hypothesis that Vitis vinifera was cultivated on site, also suggesting an abundance of olive trees. Furthermore, the presence of chaff and different sized weeds, as well as cereal pollen indicate local crop processing. As far as diet is concerned, a preference for barley can be seen in pre-Phoenician Motya, gradually integrated with naked wheats from the 8th century onwards. Interesting is the introduction of Punica granatum (pomegranate) from the East, previously hypothesized based on the find of a globular pottery vessel with an indented rim resembling the fruit, which was confirmed by the retrieval of six exocarp fragments in a disposal pit (8th - mid-6th century BC). Other plants likely introduced to Motya by Phoenicians include Juglans regia and Pinus pinea. Additional considerations can be done concerning grapes and wine. While the vast repertoire of Phoenician and Proto-Corinthian drinking vessels indicates wine consumption at Motya, and tartaric acid has been detected in dental calculus of 6th century BC Phoenician inhabitants of the island, morphometric analyses of V. vinifera seeds allowed to obtain preliminary results concerning the consumed grape varieties

Beech and stone Pine, the Italian landscape modelled by valuable ritual trees

Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) are quite different trees, at present widespread in Italy, the first often in primeval forests, the second in monospecific artificial coastal woods. The modern Italian beech population can be distinguished genetically from the north European one, and spread from few refugia located in central and southern Italy (Magri et al., 2006, New Phytologist, 199-221). In contrast, the genetic variability of stone pine is extremely low, making the reconstruction of its spread in the Mediterranean region quite complicated (Viñas et al., 2016, European Atlas of Forest Tree Species, 130- 131). The archaeobotanical record indicates the arrival of stone pine early in the Iron Age, while beech seems to have been preserved outside its natural distribution area. Besides the economic importance of the two trees, the ritual meaning of both plants must be taken into account. According to available data, the oldest recovery of stone pine is at the Phoenician site of Motya (Sicily) where macroremains date back to the period between the mid-8th cent. and the mid-6th cent. BC (Moricca et al., 2021, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 1-15). The hypothesis that Phoenicians and Punics played a major role in the spread of stone pine is confirmed by the recovery of pine cones and shells at Santa Giusta (Sardinia) during the 6th–2nd cent. BC, and later on in 3rd–2nd cent. BC (Sabato et al., 2019, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 9-16). Pine pollen probably ascribable to stone pine is found since Roman times at Pompeii (Vignola et al., 2021, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 1-16) from the 1st half of the 1st cent. BC, and in the city of Rome at the Horti Lamiani since the end of the 1st cent. BC (Masi and Vignola, unpublished data), and at the Roman villa in via De Lollis (Sadori and Masci, Palladium, 2019) in the 4th cent. BC and in the 3rd cent. AD. Stone pines are well known to have been important as ritual, votive and funerary plants. The presence of beech in the Italian peninsula is widespread, being this tree a component of the altitudinal forest. In Tuscany, pollen and macroremain records indicate a spread of Fagus at low altitude, possibly from the late Bronze to early Iron Age (Sadori et al., 2015, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 217-230). Coeval attestations arrive from Umbria, Marche and Latium regions with recoveries from Lago Trasimeno (Angelini et al., 2014, Plant Biosystems, 713-722) Monte Croce-Guardia (Arcevia) and Casale Rocchi (Rome; Vignola et al., unpublished data). At Gabii between the end of the 8th and the end of the 6th cent. BC fragments of beech charcoal have also been recovered. In all these sites, beech timber was found outside its present distribution area. Quite interesting, is the finding of both pollen and macroremains in the city of Rome. Charcoals have been recognized in the open area of the Horti Lamiani since the end of the 1st cent. BC. The tree was probably present among other taxa planted in the gardens. A single beech pollen grain was recovered at the Roman villa in via de Lollis in Rome, dated to the 4th century BC, in an area sacred to Jupiter. At the moment this is the oldest evidence of beech pollen in Rome and a confirmation of written sources that reported the presence of sacred beech groves, named by Latins Lucus Fagutalis

Landscape Response to Dynamic Human Pressure in the Paliouras Lagoon, Halkidiki Peninsula, Macedonia, Greece

High-resolution pollen analysis of a sediment core recovered from Paliouras lagoon (Greece) allowed us to reconstruct the environmental dynamics of the Halkidiki peninsula during the last 4000 years. Palynological results have been interpreted and compared with detailed historical data, showing distinct phases of human-landscape interactions from the Bronze Age until recent times. Pollen spectra revealed an environment characterized by Mediterranean vegetation, mixed deciduous forest, and pine stands from the Late Bronze Age until the 11th century CE. The first signs of human impact were attested during the Archaic period with the cultivation of Olea, Castanea, and Vitis in the inland of the study area. An intensive land management was highlighted by arboriculture and cereal cultivation (Secale and Hordeum group) in Roman times. Late Antique-Early Medieval times coincided with less human pressure due to warfare-related crises, leading to the expansion of the forest and the abandonment of fields colonized by Amaranthaceae. A massive increase in pastoral activities, suggested by the high percentages of Cichorieae during the Ottoman period, is possibly linked to the significant demographic growth of the nearby city of Thessaloniki in the 16th century CE

Landscape Response to Dynamic Human Pressure in the Paliouras Lagoon, Halkidiki Peninsula, Macedonia, Greece

High-resolution pollen analysis of a sediment core recovered from Paliouras lagoon (Greece) allowed us to reconstruct the environmental dynamics of the Halkidiki peninsula during the last 4000 years. Palynological results have been interpreted and compared with detailed historical data, showing distinct phases of human-landscape interactions from the Bronze Age until recent times. Pollen spectra revealed an environment characterized by Mediterranean vegetation, mixed deciduous forest, and pine stands from the Late Bronze Age until the 11th century CE. The first signs of human impact were attested during the Archaic period with the cultivation of Olea, Castanea, and Vitis in the inland of the study area. An intensive land management was highlighted by arboriculture and cereal cultivation (Secale and Hordeum group) in Roman times. Late Antique-Early Medieval times coincided with less human pressure due to warfare-related crises, leading to the expansion of the forest and the abandonment of fields colonized by Amaranthaceae. A massive increase in pastoral activities, suggested by the high percentages of Cichorieae during the Ottoman period, is possibly linked to the significant demographic growth of the nearby city of Thessaloniki in the 16th century CE