Archaeobotanical interpretation of a Middle Bronze Age (1914-1641 cal BC) cave site in south-western Sardinia (Italy)

The Monte Meana karst cave is located in the Sulcis region, 5 km far from Santadi (SW Sardinia, Italy). The cave opens at 168 meters on the south-western side of Meana Mt. and the Murrecci river flows below. From the Middle Neolithic to the Middle Bronze age the cave has been inhabited. In the 1960s an alabaster quarry destroyed several archaeological strata. In the northern side of the cave, a small opening, here called ‘grottino’, was discovered under 1.50 m. of quarry's debris. Within it, an undamaged stratigraphy 1 m. depth and a sequence of four layers has been excavated in a 4mq area. At the top, a sandy layer, originated by quarrying activity, was also identified. Below, a dark brown deposit of 15-20 cm of thickness, characterized by several archaeological remains as pottery fragments, obsidian, copper slags, burnt bones, shells and a large amount of charcoals and carbonized seeds, has been investigated as well. In the underlying layers no archaeological remains have been found. The dark brown deposit (SU22) was protected and sealed by a recent sandy layer thus its sediment was uncontaminated. This fact has represented a lucky opportunity to identify some palaeoenvironmental features. Therefore, palynological and carpological analysis and characterization of palynofacies have been performed. The results bear out the presence of an open area around the site that included herbaceous plants and shrublands. Different agriculture practices as cereals and legumes cultivations are attested as well. The limited presence of pollen grains that are representative of arboreal plants during Middle Bronze Age is probably climate induced and linked to anthropic activities: for example, deforestation, burning for the cultivation of cereal crops, and the development of grazing areas

A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Middle Jurassic of Sardinia (Italy) based on integrated palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies data assessment

During the Jurassic, Sardinia was close to continental Europe. Emerged lands started from a single island forming in time a progressively sinking archipelago. This complex palaeogeographic situation gave origin to a diverse landscape with a variety of habitats. Collection- and literature-based palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies studies were carried out on the Genna Selole Formation for palaeoenvironmental interpretations. They evidence a generally warm and humid climate, affected occasionally by drier periods. Several distinct ecosystems can be discerned in this climate, including alluvial fans with braided streams (Laconi-Gadoni lithofacies), paralic swamps and coasts (Nurri-Escalaplano lithofacies), and lagoons and shallow marine environments (Ussassai-Perdasdefogu lithofacies). The non-marine environments were covered by extensive lowland and a reduced coastal and tidally influenced environment. Both the river and the upland/hinterland environments are of limited impact for the reconstruction. The difference between the composition of the palynological and palaeobotanical associations evidence the discrepancies obtained using only one of those proxies. The macroremains reflect the local palaeoenvironments better, although subjected to a transport bias (e.g. missing upland elements and delicate organs), whereas the palynomorphs permit to reconstruct the regional palaeoclimate. Considering that the flora of Sardinia is the southernmost of all Middle Jurassic European floras, this multidisciplinary study increases our understanding of the terrestrial environments during that period of time

Late Paleozoic flora of Montarbu (central Sardinia)

Late Palaeozoic successions bearing plant macrofossils are located in different areas of Sardinia, and each plant assemblage is characterized by a different composition and state of preservation. According to published data the Carboniferous age is assigned only to one plant assemblage that comes from San Giorgio locality (southwestern Sardinia). New collected material from Montarbu locality (Seui territory, central Sardinia) shows another putative Late Carboniferous plant assemblage with typical taxa recorded only for this interval of time. This collection, composed of about 300 specimens includes seed ferns such as Mixoneura, Neurocallipteris, Callipteridium, Autunia, conifers (e.g. Ernestiodendron, Culmitzchia), several fragments of large taeniopterid leaves and ferns (Acitheca, Pecopteris, Remia). Other rare Sobernheimia sp. fragment is recorded. Especially two species, Callipteridium pteridium and Remia pinnatifida indicate a Late Carboniferous age to the deposit. A statistical analysis based on a presence‐absence index (Sørensen‐Dice: IS) was performed between paleogeographycally Carboniferous and Pemian closest floras. Then, the combination of stratigraphical, sedimentological and paleobotanical data will help to reconstruct this ancient paleoenvironment