Food in prehistory of Northern Italy: case studies and investigation methods

This research shows that the use of electron microscopy (SEM) is fundamental to study food remains and to highlight their variety. Three samples of prehistoric bread from the area of Lake Garda (Northern Italy), and precisely from Bande di Cavriana, Lazise and Lake Lucone, were studied with this technique. They consist of products intended for daily meal, but found in the favourable context of underwater sites. The loaf from Cavriana contains dressed barley and wheat (emmer and/or einkorn), carefully dehusked, as demonstrated by the few remains of glumes in the dough; the presence of the bran confirms that it is a wholemeal bread. Emmer is also found in the dough of the flat bread from Lucone, whose study is still at a preliminary stage; in the flat bread from Lazise, the presence of sharp-edged fragments of kernels in the dough indicates perhaps a different way of preparation of this product

The paleonutrition from 500 BC to 500 AD: case studies between the Adda and the Ticino River (Northern Italy)

The paleonutrition from 500 BC to 500 AD: cases studies between the Adda and Ticino river (Northern Italy

LO STUDIO DEI POPOLAMENTI DEL PASSATO NELLE AREE MONTANE IN VAL CAVARGNA (PROVINCIA DI COMO, ALPI LEPONTINE)

Articolo a più mani su vari argomenti archeologici ed ambientali della Val Cavargna presso Com

Climatic and anthropogenic forcing of prehistorical vegetation succession and fire dynamics in the Lago di Como area (N-Italy, Insubria)

Combined pollen, charcoal and modeling evidence from the Insubria Region suggests that fire was a major driver of late Holocene vegetation change. However, the extent and timing of fire response dynamics are not clear yet. We use lacustrine sediments from Lago di Como (N-Italy, S-Alps) to assess if the reconstructed vegetation and fire dynamics were relevant at large scales and if they coincided in time with those observed at smaller sites. The lake, due to its size (142 km2) and economic potential, was very attractive for early land use and human presence in this area is well documented since ca. 10,000 yrs ago (Mesolithic). We used pollen, plant macrofossils and charcoal to reconstruct the vegetation composition and fire activity. During the Younger Dryas and the Early Holocene until ca. 8000 cal BP natural dynamics prevailed. Subsequently, land use and slash-and-burn activities increased at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition and became widespread around ca. 6500 cal BP. Microscopic charcoal and numerical analyses demonstrate that anthropogenic fires had a determinant influence on long-term vegetation dynamics at regional scales in Insubria. Microscopic charcoal and pollen and spores indicative of land use show that human pressure intensified after ca. 5300 cal yr BP and even more since ca. 4300 cal yr BP. Our results suggest that important species which disappeared or were strongly reduced by land use and fire (e.g. Abies alba, Tilia, Ulmus) will potentially reestablish in the Lago di Como area and elsewhere in Insubria, if land abandonment initiated in the 1950s will continue