ELEONORA CLO' - personale UniMoRe

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ELEONORA CLO'

Ricercatore t.d. art. 24 c. 3 lett. A
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita sede ex-Scienze Biomediche

Pubblicazioni

2024 - BRAIN - Holocene archaeo-data for assessing plant-cultural diversity in Italy and other Mediterranean regions [Articolo su rivista]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Clò, Eleonora; Zappa, Jessica; Bosi, Giovanna; Furia, Elisa; Ricucci, Cristina; Di Lena, Matteo; Camerini, Federico; Florenzano, Assunta
abstract

2024 - BRAIN archaeobotanical database: pollen datasets for the diachronic study of Italian biodiversity [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', E.; Florenzano, A.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

2024 - Heterocysts of Rivularia as a bioindicator in palaeoenvironmental contexts (Late Quaternary, northern Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, Assunta; Clò, Eleonora
abstract

2024 - Human-induced fires and land use driven changes in tree biodiversity on the northern Tyrrhenian coast [Articolo su rivista]
Furia, Elisa; Clò, Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

2024 - Millennial and centennial pollen records comparison from a mixed fir-beech forest, conservation history of a priority habitat: Insights from Lago del Pesce and STAPE (Pollino National Park, southern Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Ricucci, Cristina; Palli, Jordan; Clò, Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Piovesan, Gianluca; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

2024 - The contribution of past plant biodiversity to conservation and restoration: The case study of two valleys in southern Tuscany, Italy [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clò, Eleonora; Furia, Elisa; Florenzano, Assunta; Buonincontri, Mauro; Bianchi, Giovanna; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

2023 - A Multidisciplinary Study of Wild Grapevines in the River Crati Natural Reserve, South Italy (Calabria): Implications in Conservation Biology and Palaeoecological Reconstructions [Articolo su rivista]
Clo', E.; Torri, P.; Baliva, M.; Brusco, A.; Marchianò, R.; Sgarbi, E.; Palli, J.; Mercuri, A. M.; Piovesan, G.; Florenzano, A.
abstract

Nowadays, wild grapevine populations are quite limited and sporadic mainly due to habitat destruction, land-use change, and the spread of pathogens that have reduced their distribution range. Palaeoecological, archaeobotanical, and genetic studies indicate that modern cultivars of Vitis vinifera are the results of the domestication of the dioecious, and sometimes hermaphrodite, wild species standing in riparian zones and wet environments. Wild grapevine populations have declined as a consequence of various forms of anthropogenic disturbance and were assigned by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to the Least Concern category. The River Crati Natural Reserve (Riserva Naturale Foce del Crati), located in southern Italy, hosts a population of Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris in a rewilding wet forest close to the Ionian Sea. These protected areas are of high scientific, biogeographic, and conservation interest in terms of Mediterranean biodiversity. Dendroecological and pollen morpho-biometric analyses of the wild grapevine are presented in this study. Palaeoecological perspectives for a landscape management strategy aimed at conserving and restoring the relic grapevine population are discussed.

2023 - BRAIN id: CTO46 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Furia, Elisa; Clo’, Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

Vetricella (Tuscany). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from the Roman-Early Middle Age site of Vetricella (CTO46; Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy; 42°56'37"N 10°50'17"E, 14 m asl) within the nEU-Med project (ERC-2014-ADG). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: CTO46).

2023 - BRAIN id: CTO47 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Furia, Elisa; Clo’, Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

Val di Pecora (Tuscany). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from two sediment cores (CTO47a – Pecora 3; CTO47b – Pecora 4) drilled in the Pecora Valley (Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy; 42°55'42"N 10°50'14"E, 11 m asl; chronology: (from ~1250 BC to 1050 AD) within the nEU-Med project (ERC-2014-ADG). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: CTO47).

2023 - BRAIN id: CTO48 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Furia, Elisa; Clo', Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

Val di Cornia (Tuscany). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from two sediment cores (CTO48a – Cornia 3; CTO48b – Cornia 7) drilled in the Cornia Valley (Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy; 42°58'40"N 10°33'16"E, 71 m asl; chronology: from ~5550 BC to 1550 AD) within the nEU-Med project (ERC-2014-ADG). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: CTO48).

2023 - BRAIN id: CTO50 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Mercuri, A. M.; Rattighieri, E.; Clo', E.
abstract

Certosa di Calci (Pisa). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from different friars’ cells gardens (CTO50a, CTO50b, CTO50c, CTO50d, CTO50e, CTO50f) within the monumental monastery of Certosa di Calci (Pisa, 43°43'18" N, 10°31'24" E, 50 m asl; chronology: 14th-18th centuries AD). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: CTO50).

2023 - BRAIN id: NER134 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Clo', E.
abstract

Poviglio - PVG N-S3 (RE, N Italy). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from the near-site core ( 44°52'27" N, 10°34'38" E, 21 m asl; chronology: about 15000 years from the present - chronology under validation) within the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (PRIN-20158KBLNB). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: NER134).

2023 - BRAIN id: NER135 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Clo', E.
abstract

Poviglio - PVG C-S1 (RE, N Italy). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from the near-site core (44°52′32″ N, 10°34′42″ E, 21 m asl; chronology: about 15000 years from the present - chronology under validation) within the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (PRIN-20158KBLNB). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: NER135).

2023 - BRAIN id: NER136 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Clo', E.
abstract

Poviglio - PVG F-S2 (RE, N Italy). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from the near-site core (44°52'38" N, 10°34'46" E, 21 m asl; chronology: about 15000 years from the present - chronology under validation) within the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (PRIN-20158KBLNB). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: NER136).

2023 - BRAIN id: NER79 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Clo', E.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

Noceto Vasca Votiva - NER79 (PR, N Italy). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from two sections (NER79a, NER79b) of the archaeological site “Vasca di Noceto”, an artificial wooden basin dating to the Bronze Age (ca. 1420–1320 BC) and discovered in 2004 in the central Po Plain, near Parma (44°48'02.96" N, 10°10'19.35" E, 81 m asl). This research is part of the national-funded interdisciplinary SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (PRIN-20158KBLNB). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: NER79).

2023 - BRAIN id: NER92 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Mercuri, A. M.; Florenzano, A.; Torri, P.; Clo', E.; Zappa, J.; Furia, E.; Montecchi, M. C.
abstract

Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (RE, N Italy). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from five trenches (NER92a - VP-VG Moat, NER92b - VP-VG II Moat, NER92c - VP-VG III Moat, NER92d - Well 2106, NER92e - Well 6170) opened during archaeological excavations at the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (Poviglio, Reggio Emilia, N Italy; 44°52′21″ N 10°34′31’’ E, 21 m asl; site chronology: 1550-1170 BC). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: NER92).

2023 - BRAIN id: NVE71 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Rattighieri, E.; Clo', E.; Mercuri, A. M.; Florenzano, A.
abstract

Colombare di Negrar di Valpolicella (Verona, N Italy). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from 2 trenches (NVE71a, NVE71b) excavated at the Late Neolithic - Bronze Age site of Colombare di Negrar di Valpolicella (Verona, N Italy; 45°32'45.57" N, 10°57'55.73" E, 650 m asl; site chronology: c. 4300-2500 cal BC). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: NVE71).

2023 - BRAIN id: SSI9 – pollen dataset [Banca dati]
Florenzano, A.; Rattighieri, E.; Clo', E.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

Stromboli - San Vincenzo (Aeolian Islands, Sicily). Dataset including pollen counts from sediment samples collected from different contexts at the archaeological site of San Vincenzo-Stromboli (Aeolian Islands; 38°48'05.72" N, 15°14'10.76" E, 55 m asl; chronology: from Bronze Age to late Medieval Ages) during seven fieldwork seasons (2009–2015). The dataset was created as part of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC, Palermo, Italy). The site is included in the BRAIN database (https://brainplants.successoterra.net/; site id: SSI9).

2023 - First archaeobotanical evidence of multiporate Poaceae pollen from early–middle Holocene deposits of the Takarkori rock shelter in the central Sahara [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Rotunno, Rocco; Di Lernia, Savino
abstract

The Takarkori rock shelter, located in the Tadrart Acacus mountains in southwestern Libya (central Sahara), has been the subject of interdisciplinary research that has repeatedly shed light on the complex relationships between humans and plants in prehistory. The preservation of organic matter is so exceptional that well identifiable plant macro- and micro-remains, zoological remains, as well as molecular residues, lipids, and ancient DNA are recovered. Well preserved pollen grains were extracted by sediments and coprolites accumulated into the site. Among them, some multiporate pollen of Poaceae were extracted for the first time, an interesting anomaly that has never been reported in the Holocene Sahara (Mercuri et al. 2022). Poaceae multiporate pollen is known to be an effect of reproductive cycle abnormalities; it is often related to high levels of hybridization, polyploidy and apomixis. The occurrence of this anomaly in Poaceae pollen has been connected to plasticity of the grass species, and to their ability to reply to environmental stresses. Takarkori's multiporate pollen was found in the pollen sequence from the site, mainly concentrated in the Late Acacus foragers (~10,170 - ~8180 cal BP) and Middle Pastoral herders (~7160 - ~5610 cal BP), and in coprolites of ovicaprines dated to ~9500-5700 cal BP (di Lernia et al. 2019). Its presence reveals that Poaceae that lived in central Sahara have tackled several environmental stresses, under climate or anthropogenic change pressures, during the early and middle Holocene. The highest amount of multiporate Poaceae pollen in coprolites was found in samples taken from the area of an enclosure of young Barbary sheep, dated to the Late Acacus (early Holocene) period. This strongly suggests that the fodder collected to feed the animals was repeatedly selected from high stands of weed and wild cereals in the area, like those known by hunter-gatherers and repeatedly visited to gather wild cereals for food, and that this was a form of management strategy originating from a deep knowledge of environmental dynamics.

2023 - Flora-vegetation history and land use in Medieval Tuscany: The palynological evidence of a local biodiversity heritage [Articolo su rivista]
Clo', Eleonora; Furia, Elisa; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

This paper introduces the high resolution palynological analyses carried out on samples from four cores drilled in the coastal plains of the Cornia and Pecora rivers, southern Tuscany, Italy. This study provides new information on the landscape transformations that the area has undergone over the past 7500 years, with focus on Medieval times when settlement patterns and land use contributed the onset of the current landscape. The study area, considered one of the most important early centres of the European civilization, has been fully investigated by the ERC funded nEU-Med project through an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeological, geomorphological, chemical, and archaeobotanical analyses. Environmental features and resource availability were explored through pollen markers of natural environments and human activities suggesting similarities and dissimilarities between the two valleys. In the Cornia Valley, the high diversity and percentages of woody taxa is connected to agrarian exploitation with arboriculture, while the Pecora Valley had a mostly open landscape, with lower diversity and higher percentages of anthropogenic pollen indicators. In both valleys, the land was mainly exploited for grazing resources: the high presence of pasture indicators suggests that domesticated animals should have been an important local resource especially in Medieval times. Pastoral/breeding activities fit into a larger context of management of the territory with specific vocation (namely, salt and iron in these two valleys). The detailed palynological analysis and the comparison between the two valleys highlight the local character of these activities, probably carried out in a collateral way by the peasant communities between the 7th-12th centuries AD.

2023 - From microscopic biodiversity to flora and vegetation dynamics: Palynology for monitoring, conservation, and enhancement of Italian and Mediterranean ecosystems [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clò, Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Ricucci, Cristina; Bosi, Giovanna; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

2023 - Palynology of Gardens and Archaeobotany for the Environmental Reconstruction of the Charterhouse of Calci-Pisa in Tuscany (Central Italy) [Articolo su rivista]
Gattiglia, G.; Rattighieri, E.; Clo', E.; Anichini, F.; Campus, A.; Rossi, M.; Buonincontri, M.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

In central Italy, the Charterhouse of Calci hosts the Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa. This monumental monastery was founded in 1366 by Carthusian monks. The Charterhouse has experienced various transformations over the centuries, until its abandonment in the 1970s. Since 2018, interdisciplinary archaeological research focused on the monks' gardens (and particularly: the Prior's, the Apothecary's, and the Master's garden) and the green spaces outside the cloister walls, consisting of courtyards and orchards, to determine the individual (gardens) and collective (green spaces and surrounding woods) practices adopted by Carthusians. Palynology and archaeobotany have allowed to reconstruct the plant biodiversity, with flowers and ornamental, aromatic, and medicinal herbs that grew in the gardens, as well as the management of local hilly woods and agricultural practices, including the cultivation of fruit trees, such as chestnut, olive tree, almond tree, and grapevine. Our research has been based on a solid theoretical approach, interpreting archaeological and archaeobotanical data in relation to the intricate network of human and non-human connections. Gardens are seen as a co-creation made together by human and non-human agencies, and their diachronic transformation is read as an expression of personalities of the monks, feelings, and connections with nature and divinity.

2023 - Palynology on reconstructing the long-term dynamics of plant biodiversity: Insights from nature-value areas in Italy – Preliminary analysis from Pollino National Park (southern Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Ricucci, Cristina; Florenzano, Assunta; Clò, Eleonora; Piovesan, Gianluca; Palli, Jordan; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

2023 - Pollen and Molecular Biomarkers from Sedimentary Archives in the Central Po Plain (N Italy): Assessing Their Potential to Deepen Changes in Natural and Agricultural Systems [Articolo su rivista]
Florenzano, A; Clo', E.; Jacob, J
abstract

This paper proposes to improve the information provided by biological indicators from sedimentary archives by integrating biomolecular techniques and botanical skills. This study repre sents a first proposal for combining pollen and biomolecular markers to detect land use and improve knowledge of past environmental change drivers. The specific aim of the research is to verify the relationship between miliacin (a pentacyclic triterpene methyl ether, usually interpreted as a broom corn millet biomarker) and Panicum pollen in three near-site stratigraphic sequences of the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (Po Plain, N Italy). The three cores span the last ~15,000 years and potentially record the beginning of Panicum miliaceum cultivation attested in the area since at least the Bronze Age within the Terramare culture. Despite the fact that Panicum pollen grains were rare in the spectra and miliacin was barely detectable in most of the 31 samples selected for biomolecular analyses, their combined evidence testifies to the local presence of the plant. Panicum pollen and sedimentary miliacin suggest the adoption of millet crops during the Recent Bronze Age by the Terramare culture, when climatic instability led to the diversification of cereal crops and the shift to drought-tolerant varieties.

2023 - The Fathers' cell gardens of the Charterhouse of Calci-Pisa in Tuscany (Central Italy): pollen and multidisciplinary reconstruction [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clò, Eleonora; Gattiglia, Gabriele; Rattighieri, Eleonora; Anichini, Francesca; Campus, Antonio; Rossi, Marta; Buonincontri, Mauro; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

2022 - Environmental and land-use changes in a Mediterranean landscape: palynology and geoarchaeology at ancient Metapontum (Pantanello, Southern Italy) [Articolo su rivista]
Florenzano, A.; Zerboni, A.; Carter, J. C.; Clo', Eleonora; Mariani, G. S.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

The paper presents the results of palynological and geoarchaeological investigation carried out on the Greek- Roman site of Pantanello – ancient Metapontum – in the Metaponto Plain (southern Italy). This area, archaeologically investigated since the ‘70s, is an example of the long-term interaction between human communities and the environment. A total of 29 pollen samples and 43 bulk samples for sedimentological and mineralogical analyses were collected from three 2-m-deep trenches excavated in the vicinity of the archaeological complex of Pantanello and the alluvial plain of the Basento River. Our multidisciplinary investigation permitted to elucidate the main natural and human-controlled sedimentary processes that took place in the last two millennia. Large part of sedimentation occurred in fluvial environments and led to the accumulation of fine and organic matterrich deposits. This happened in alluvial to swampy environments at the margin of the Basento River plain. Since the Greek occupation of the area, human communities contributed to the sedimentation with different degree of intensity. In fact, human agency (herding and cultivation) tuned the intensity of soil erosion and slope processes, thus activating the colluvial mobilization of coarse sediments into the sedimentary sequence. Pollen analyses allowed exhaustive landscape reconstructions of the site, giving specific details on the land use and its transformations during the Greek and Roman phases. The increased human exploitation of the area altered the intensity of surface processes (erosion and sedimentation) and the evolution of plant cover promoted by natural dynamics.

2022 - Heterocysts of Rivularia Type for Interpreting a Palaeoenvironmental Context of the Late Quaternary in Northern Italy [Articolo su rivista]
Clo', Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta
abstract

This paper presents new results on a quali-quantitative analysis of the heterocysts of the Rivularia type as a key bioindicator informative on local eutrophic conditions. The Rivularia type is usually reported in palynological analyses due to the thick, multilayered envelope that ensures the preservation of heterocysts in sediments. Samples come from two continuous terrestrial cores (N-S3: 77 samples, C-S1: 20 samples) drilled in the area surrounding the Bronze Age site of the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (Po Plain; N Italy) and spanning at least over the last 15 ka years. Concentrations and percentages of the Rivularia type, combined with pollen curves of wet environments, describe local variability and rapid changes in ecological conditions over the millennia of deposition. Given the abundance and diversity of heterocysts of the Rivularia type in the studied samples, this paper attempts to group these cells based on morphology (ellipsoidal or elongated) and the state of preservation of the sheaths (presence or absence). Actually, it is difficult to confirm a relationship between heterocyst morphologies and the presence of different cyanobacteria species. Increasingly accurate identification of heterocysts from biostratigraphical archives may improve the data available on these bioindicators for achieving more detailed decoding of wetland (and terrestrial) transformations. Since the Bronze Age and at the most recent levels, the Rivularia type may be a good indicator of the local presence of agriculture and livestock, which lead to trophic and water changes in the soil.

2022 - LESSONS FROM THE PAST FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: INTERPRETATION OF NEAR-SITE PALYNOLOGICAL DATA [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora
abstract

2022 - Multiporate Pollen of Poaceae as Bioindicator of Environmental Stress: First Archaeobotanical Evidence from the Early–Middle Holocene Site of Takarkori in the Central Sahara [Articolo su rivista]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Clo', Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta
abstract

This paper reports on the most ancient unusual morphological trait of the apertures of Poaceae pollen found in archaeological layers. In Poaceae, high levels of hybridization, polyploidy, apomixis, and multiporate pollen are often related. Multiple genomes in polyploids are critical for the adaptation of plant species to stresses and could be revealed by anomalies in pollen development. Therefore, the paleoenvironmental research can gain great benefits from identifying polyploids in past contexts by observing anomalous pollen morphology during pollen counts. The occurrence of multiporate pollen in Poaceae has also been related to special features of the ecology of the species showing this anomaly, as well as to climatic and environmental stresses experienced by Poaceae living in a given region. Multiporate and bi- or tri-porate instead of monoporate pollen grains have been observed in samples taken from Takarkori rockshelter, an archaeological site in southwestern Libya (central Sahara) that has been occupied between ~10,200 and ~4650 cal BP. Multiporate pollen was found in organic sands and coprolites of ovicaprines. On the basis of archaeobotanical research, this work aims to investigate whether the presence of supernumerary pores in Poaceae pollen may be an effect of both climatic/hydrological changes and continued anthropogenic pressure on the wild grasses living in the region. The presence of multiporate pollen reveals that Poaceae that lived in central Sahara tackled several kinds of stress during the early and middle Holocene. The Takarkori pollen record suggests that climate change could have played a major role in the early Holocene, while human pressure became stronger during the middle Holocene. The change in environmental conditions determined adaptive responses of polyploid grasses even in the form of multiporate pollen.

2022 - Palaeoenvironment, settlement and land-use in the Late Neolithic –Bronze Age site of Colombare di Negrar di Valpolicella (N Italy, on-site) [Articolo su rivista]
Tecchiati, U.; Salzani, P.; Gulino, F.; Proserpio, B.; Reggio, C.; Putzolu, C.; Rattighieri, E.; Clo', E.; Mercuri, A. M.; Florenzano, A.
abstract

Palynological and archaeobotanical analyses have been carried out as part of the interdisciplinary project of Colombare di Negrar, a prehistoric site in the Lessini Mountains (northern Italy). The palaeoenvironmental and economic reconstruction from the Late Neolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age was based on 16 pollen samples and three samples of macroremains taken from two contiguous trenches. The landscape reconstruction shows the presence of natural clearings in the wood. Forest cover was characterised by oak wood, with Ulmus and Tilia. The intermediate morphol ogy of size and exine of Tilia cordata/platyphyllos pollen may be regarded as the first palynological evidence of lime hybrids in palaeorecords. Hygrophilous trees and Vitis vinifera testify to the presence of riparian forests and moist soils. Among trees supplying fruits, in addition to the grapevine, hazel nut (Corylus avellana) and walnut (Juglans regia) were present. A mixed economy based on animal breeding and cultivation of cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, T. timopheevii) emerged from the data. The combined analysis of pollen and plant macroremains suggests that different activities were carried out simultaneously in Colombare and a relationship between natural resources and the socio-economic and cultural evolution of the territory.

2022 - Palynology for Sustainability: A Classical and Versatile Tool for New Challenges [Curatela]
Florenzano, A.; Clo', E.; Servera-Vives, G.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

Palynology is a bridge between different research fields. This centenary discipline studying fossils and modern pollen and spores represents a landmark in multidisciplinary studies on both past and current environmental issues. Palynology plays an important role not only in ‘basic research’ on botanical taxonomy, phylogeny, reproductive biology, and phenology but also in ‘applied research’ focused on the measurement of environmental variables, including the quality of food and air. Aerobiology is one of the main fields, together with palaeoecology, which demonstrates the great power of pollen as a methodological approach to add details and information to other methods. In addition, paleoenvironmental studies are based on the analysis of pollen from sediments and archaeological layers, which provides a long-term perspective to understand ecosystem responses to different human and climate triggers. In this sense, recent palynological research has repeatedly demonstrated that past cultures adopted cultural choices to tackle environmental and climate changes to ensure social resilience by using multi-functional land uses to exploit nature without compromising the environment. Starting from the MedPalynoS-2021 meeting, this issue aims to collect groundbreaking papers using palynology as a cornerstone for their research, including some papers awarded during the conference. Pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, and sedimentary charcoal are excellent bioindicators for detecting human impact and landscape development. For this reason, interdisciplinary bio-geo-archaeo investigations on on-site/off-site integration and Holocene contexts and palynology in studies on phylogeny, reproductive strategy, melissopalynology, and forensic sciences are welcomed. We encourage submissions of research articles from the palynological community on all aspects of the discipline, especially reporting the latest updates to face future challenges.

2022 - POLLEN AND LIPID BIOMOLECULES FROM SEDIMENTARY ARCHIVES: A CASE STUDY FROM THE NEAR-SITE CORES OF THE TERRAMARA S. ROSA DI POVIGLIO (PO PLAIN, N ITALY) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Jacob, Jérémy
abstract

2022 - Sustainability in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age through the lens of archaeobotany [Capitolo/Saggio]
Mercuri, A. M.; Florenzano, A.; Clo', E.
abstract

Sustainability has played an important role in human cultures since prehistoric times. People shaped the environment to assure stability to settlements and crop fields, and to allow survival and wellness to generations. Changes of land use and plant selection were evident at any climate change across the Lateglacial and Holocene periods. The Mediterranean Basin as the cradle of western civilization has been a witness of adaptive strategies of prehistoric people living in many territories in past millennia. Most economies of prehistoric people are revealed by palynology and archaeobotany which give plant evidence of past environmental conditions. During Neolithic and the Bronze Age, the relationships of humans with Nature have probably started to change. The Bronze Age is emblematic as important technical and cultural skills were achieved that triggered the evolution of complex agro-sylvopastoral systems, as in the case of the land management adopted by the Terramare culture in the Po Plain. The shaping of the environment has resulted in different cultural landscapes that still today tell tales of struggle for survival and challenges fought in search of a sustainable development.

2021 - A palynological approach to the reconstruction of medieval landscape in Tuscany, Central Italy (nEU-Med project) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Furia, Elisa; Clo', Eleonora; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Paolo BUONINCONTRI, Mauro; Bianchi, Giovanna; Hodges, Richard
abstract

Part of the nEU-Med project, these palynological analyses on cores taken from Tuscany aim to help the reconstruction of the landscape and land use to better understand the processes of economic growth that took place between the 7th and 12th centuries AD.

2021 - Environmental And land use changes in a Mediterranean landscape: the case study of the Ancient Metapontum (Pantanello, S Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, Assunta; Zerboni, Andrea; Coleman CARTER, Joseph; Clo', Eleonora; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

The paper presents the results of palynological and geoarchaeological investigation carried out on the Greek-Roman site of Pantanello (Metapontum, S Italy). The combined bio-geoarchaeological approach provides information for palaeoenvironmental and economical reconstructions of the ancient Metapontum area, suggesting that human impact have locally prevailed over climate influence on environmental changes.

2021 - Long-term environmental changes in the Central Po Plain: inferences from palynological analysis on three terrestrial cores [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora
abstract

This contribution presents a pollen-based reconstruction of flora and vegetation characterizing the central Po Plain for at least the last 15,000 years. Pollen samples were collected from three terrestrial cores drilled at different distances N from the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio, as part of the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (PRIN-20158KBLNB).

2021 - Mediterranean Palynology Societies Symposium 2021. Abstracts Book. [Curatela]
Florenzano, A.; Clo', E.
abstract

2021 - Paesaggio vegetale sulla base delle analisi del riempimento dei pozzi al margine del Villaggio Grande della Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio [Capitolo/Saggio]
Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Zappa, Jessica; Chiara Montecchi, Maria; Furia, Elisa; Torri, Paola; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

L’ indagine palinologica del riempimento dei pozzi fornisce informazioni puntuali sulle modalità di formazione dei depositi ad integrazione del dato stratigrafico, testimoniando le varie fasi successive all’ utilizzo dei pozzi fino al loro completo riempimento in seguito a crolli o alla rifunzionalizzazione come rifiutaie. Inoltre, i dati pollinici danno indicazioni su flora e vegetazione nei pressi dei pozzi, nei momenti del loro utilizzo e nelle fasi di riempimento. Il confronto/integrazione dei dati ottenuti dalle analisi dei pozzi con quelli dalle sequenze dei fossati (in particolare con le serie polliniche prelevate nei Vertisuoli) consente una ricostruzione del paesaggio e dell’ uso del suolo, dettagliando i cambiamenti della vegetazione nelle fasi di vita e abbandono dell’ abitato. Tali informazioni sono fondamentali per investigare tempo e cause della crisi idrica e della concomitante azione antropica.

2021 - Palynology to investigate environmental transformations on a long‑term perspective in the Po Plain: the case study of the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clò, E.; Furia, E.; Torri, P.; Mariani, G. S.; Zerboni, A.; Mercuri, A. M.; Cremaschi, M.
abstract

2021 - Pollen and molecular biomarkers from sedimentary archives: complementary tools to improve knowledge on the introduction of broomcorn millet in the central Po Plain (N Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Jacob, Jérémy
abstract

2021 - Rivularia heterocystis as indicator of long-term changes of moisture and nutrients in soils: a quali-quantitative study at the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (Reggio Emilia, Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Zini, Valentina; Taglini, Francesco; Torri, Paola; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Clo', Eleonora
abstract

This work is part of the constantly updated research on non-pollen palynomorphs (NPP). The study was focused on the identification of Rivularia, a cyanobacterium that is an excellent bioindicator as it requires certain trophic, climatic and environmental conditions at different stages of the life cycle (Whitton and Mateo 2012).

2021 - Sharing the Agrarian Knowledge with Archaeology: First Evidence of the Dimorphism of Vitis Pollen from the Middle Bronze Age of N Italy (Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio) [Articolo su rivista]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Torri, Paola; Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Mariotti Lippi, Marta; Sgarbi, Elisabetta; Bignami, Cristina
abstract

The recovery of inaperturate pollen from functionally female ﬂowers in archaeological layers opens the question of a possible pollen-based discrimination between wild and domesticated Vitis vinifera in prehistoric times. Pollen analysis applied to archaeology has not routinely considered the existence of pollen dimorphism in Vitis, a well-known trait in the ﬁeld of agrarian studies. Therefore, the inaperturate shape of grapevine pollen is ignored by studies on the archaeobotanical history of viticulture. In this paper we investigate pollen morphology of the domesticated and wild subspecies of V. vinifera, and report the ﬁrst evidence of inaperturate Vitis pollen from an archaeological site. We studied exemplar cases of plants with hermaphroditic ﬂowers, belonging to the subspecies vinifera with fully developed male and female organs, cases of dioecious plants with male or female ﬂowers, belonging to the wild subspecies sylvestris and cases of V. vinifera subsp. vinifera with morphologically hermaphroditic but functionally female ﬂowers. The pollen produced by hermaphroditic and male ﬂowers is usually trizonocolporate; the pollen produced by female ﬂowers is inaperturate. This paper reports on the inaperturate pollen of Vitis found in an archeological site of the Po Plain, Northern Italy. The site dated to the Bronze Age, which is known to have been a critical age for the use of this plant with a transition from wild to domesticated Vitis in central Mediterranean. Can the inaperturate Vitis pollen be a marker of wild Vitis vinifera in prehistoric times? Palynology suggests a possible new investigation strategy on the ancient history of the wild and cultivated grapevine. The pollen dimorphism also implies a different production and dispersal of pollen of the wild and the domesticated subspecies. Grapevine plants are palynologically different from the other Mediterranean “cultural trees”. In fact, Olea, Juglans and Castanea, which are included in the OJC index, have the same pollen morphology and the same pollen dispersal, in wild and domesticated plants. In contrast, the signal of Vitis pollen in past records may be different depending on the hermaphroditic or dioecious subspecies.

2021 - The dimorphism of Vitis pollen: a different palynological imprint of wild and domesticated V. vinifera L. [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Torri, Paola; Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Mariotti Lippi, Marta; Sgarbi, Elisabetta; Bignami, Cristina
abstract

The dimorphism of Vitis pollen is a well-known feature in agrarian studies and a practically ignored characteristic in the archaeobotanical/palaeoenvironmental field of research. Trizonocolporate and inaperturate pollen grains are common in the wild subspecies of Vitis but can occur in some ancient cultivars of the subspecies vinifera.

2020 - Cambiamenti climatici, gestione sostenibile delle risorse, salute delle società e dell’ambiente: il caso studio della Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', E.; Zerboni, A.; Cremaschi, M.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

È sempre più evidente come la salute della nostra specie sia strettamente legata alla salute degli ecosistemi a livello globale (“One Health”). Solamente rispettando questo rapporto sinergico, sarà possibile gestire le risorse naturali in modo responsabile, limitando gli effetti del cambiamento climatico, la perdita di biodiversità e di servizi ecosistemici e il diffondersi di nuove pandemie favorite dalla crescente globalizzazione. Si è appena concluso il progetto SUCCESSO-TERRA (PRIN-20158KBLNB; coord. Mauro Cremaschi - Andrea Zerboni, Università degli Studi di Milano; https://www.successoterra.net), basato sulla sistematica collaborazione tra diverse competenze in ambito palinologico e geoarcheologico, con lo scopo di indagare il legame imprescindibile tra le popolazioni terramaricole, presenti in Pianura Padana durante l’Età del Bronzo, e l’ambiente in cui esse erano inserite. Lo studio della civiltà delle Terramare (1550 - 1170 a.C.) si collega a temi estremamente attuali quali le variazioni ambientali, l’impatto antropico e lo sviluppo sostenibile. Infatti, questa società avanzata dal punto di vista tecnologico e culturale trasformò profondamente il paesaggio e, dopo anni di intenso sviluppo, subì un declino improvviso probabilmente causato dallo sfruttamento eccessivo delle risorse accentuato da una concomitante crisi idrica e climatica. Partendo dall'analisi pollinica già effettuata su campioni raccolti all’interno della Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (RE) che mostrano la presenza di attività umane, si è deciso di implementare gli studi di ricostruzione paleoambientale analizzando tre carotaggi posti a Nord del sito per ottenere un riferimento sui cambiamenti a scala regionale nel corso dell’Olocene, identificando le risposte adattative delle società umane. Le carote sedimentologiche studiate sono state campionate a distanza progressivamente maggiore dal sito archeologico, sia per indagare eventuali variazioni di impatto antropico sia per analizzare l'uso del suolo durante e dopo l'Età del Bronzo. È in corso l’analisi palinologica di circa 300 campioni, utile ad ottenere dettagli sulle aree dedicate alle coltivazioni e al pascolo e sulla presenza di piante sinantropiche nel territorio, la copertura arborea e lo sfruttamento delle risorse boschive, gli ambienti umidi e la relazione con la risorsa idrica. Lo studio del passato può aiutare a comprendere i cambiamenti in atto a livello ambientale. L’analisi pollinica è un ottimo strumento per ricostruire le trasformazioni indotte da cause climatiche e/o antropiche, con la potenzialità di orientare scelte politiche future, basate sulla conoscenza di dinamiche a lungo termine, riguardanti il benessere delle popolazioni.

2020 - Geoarchaeological evidence of multiple climatic and anthropic triggers driving the breakdown of the Terramare civilization (Bronze Age, Northern Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Zerboni, A.; Mercuri, A. M.; Florenzano, A.; Clo', E.; Zanchetta, G.; Regattieri, E.; Isola, I.; Brandolini, F.; Cremaschi, M.
abstract

The Terramare civilization included hundreds of banked andmoated villages, located in the alluvial plain of the Po River of northern Italy, and developed between the Middle and the Recent Bronze Ages (XVI-XII cent. BC). This civilization lasted for over 500 years, collapsing at around 1150 years BC, in a period marked by a great societal disruptionin the Mediterranean area. The timing and modalities of the collapse of the Terramare Bronze Age culture are widely debated, and a combined geoarchaeological and palaeoclimatic investigation – the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project –is shading new light on this enigma. The Terramare economy was based upon cereal farming, herding, and metallurgy; settlements were also sustained by a well-developed system for the management of water and abundant wood resources. They also established a wide network of commercial exchange between continental Europe and the Mediterranean region.The SUCCESSOTERRA Project investigated two main Bronze Age sites in Northern Italy:(i) the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio, and (ii) the San Michele di Valestra site, which is a coeval settlement outside the Terramare territory, but in the adjoining Apennine range. Human occupation at San Michele di Valestra persisted after the Terramare crisis and the site was settled with continuity throughout the whole Bronze Ages, up to the Iron Age. The combined geoarchaeological, palaeoclimatic, and archaeobotanical investigation on different archaeological sites and on independent archives for climatic proxies (offsite cores and speleothems) highlights the existence of both climatic and anthropic critical factors triggering a dramatic shift of the landuse of the Terramare civilization. The overexploitation of natural resources became excessive in the late period of the Terramare trajectory, when also a climatic change occurred. A fresh speleothem record for the same region suggests the occurrence of a short-lived period of climatic instability followed by a marked peak of aridity. The unfavourable concomitance between human overgrazing and climatic-triggered environmental pressure, amplified the on-going societal crisis, likely leading to the breakdown of the Terramare civilization in the turn of a generation.

2020 - L’ambiente delle terramare: territorio e vita di una popolazione dell’età del bronzo ricostruiti tramite la palinologia [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Zappa, J.; Clo', E.; Florenzano, A.; Torri, P.; Furia, E.; Montecchi, M. C.; Mercuri, A. M.; Zerboni, A.; Cremaschi, M.
abstract

Lo studio palinologico e geoarcheologico di due strutture per la captazione dell’acqua (pozzi) rinvenute durante gli scavi nella Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio (Fig. 1) ha permesso di ottenere dettagli sull’ambiente, l’uso del suolo e lo sfruttamento del territorio di una civiltà che occupò la Pianura Padana approssimativamente tra 3600 e 3200 anni fa. Quest’indagine rientra nell’ambito del progetto interdisciplinare SUCCESSO-TERRA (PRIN- 20158KBLNB; coord. Mauro Cremaschi - Andrea Zerboni, Università degli Studi di Milano) volto ad indagare i cambiamenti ambientali e culturali avvenuti nell’area Padana nell’Età del Bronzo. I pozzi campionati (UUSS 2106 e 6170) sono situati rispettivamente nella recinzione dell’abitato e al margine settentrionale del fossato che separa i due villaggi costituenti la Terramare. Sono stati prelevati e analizzati 25 campioni pollinici di cui 15 dal pozzo US 2106 (datato dal BM3 al BR1) e 10 dalla struttura US 6170 (datato BR2/BR1). I risultati ottenuti dall’analisi pollinica (Fig. 2) hanno fornito informazioni sulle condizioni di vita e l’uso di risorse vegetali durante le fasi di vita della Terramare e la fase ad essa immediatamente successiva. In accordo con il quadro generale delle ricerche palinologiche sulle Terramare e in particolare sulla base di quanto noto presso Santa Rosa, è emersa una diminuzione brusca del bosco, in particolare boschi igrofili, nella fase finale del Bronzo Recente. Il calo di polline di piante igrofile accompagna questa fase indicando un incremento locale di aridità. Questo evento è registrato in diversi archivi biostratigrafici, idrologici e sedimentari dell’arco alpino e permette, quindi, di supporre che un calo nella disponibilità di acqua nei suoli deve aver avuto ripercussioni sugli ecosistemi e sulle condizioni di vita degli abitanti della Pianura Padana. Il calo di polline di piante arboree denota, inoltre, un impatto delle attività antropiche nell’area, dovuto all’aumento demografico della popolazione e al conseguente aumento della richiesta di materie prime per la costruzione e di spazi da dedicare all’agricoltura. Le analisi polliniche mostrano anche una variazione nella tipologia di cereali coltivati in queste fasi, con il passaggio da specie a maggiore esigenza idrica (ad esempio, il frumento) a specie meno esigenti (ad esempio, orzo e miglio), confermando l’avvento di una fase più arida. Questa fase di aridità, unita a una minore fertilità del terreno dovuta al sovra-sfruttamento, deve aver favorito l’espandersi di aree dedicate a pascolo piuttosto che a coltivazioni. Il caso delle Terramare risulta pertanto un riferimento per la nostra condizione attuale in cui lo sfruttamento non sostenibile sta modificando gli ecosistemi in cui viviamo, con ripercussioni sul nostro stile di vita, sulla nostra salute e sulle nostre abitudini.

2020 - Palinologia del sito di San Vincenzo-Stromboli (Eolie): una prospettiva di lungo termine sulle trasformazioni ambientali di un’isola mediterranea [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, A.; Mercuri, A. M.; Clo', E.; Rattighieri, E.; Levi, S. T.
abstract

Lo studio interdisciplinare palinologico e archeologico del sito di San Vincenzo-Stromboli (Isole Eolie, Sicilia; Fig. 1) ha fornito importanti evidenze delle trasformazioni ambientali dell’isola in prospettiva diacronica, testimoniando inoltre la lunga relazione tra l’ambiente naturale e i suoi abitanti. Stromboli è un vulcano attivo che è stato abitato – non continuativamente – negli ultimi 6 millenni. L’indagine palinologica condotta su 60 campioni del principale insediamento dell’isola, situato su un vasto pianoro alle pendici nordorientali del vulcano, ha permesso la ricostruzione paleoambientale in un peculiare contesto dove non si sono conservati altri reperti vegetali. I dati per una dettagliata ricostruzione diacronica del paesaggio vegetale dell’isola sono stati ottenuti da 23 campioni (38% di quelli analizzati), datati dalle fasi pre-insediative fino all’età moderna. La copertura arborea risulta poco estesa per tutto l’arco temporale studiato: querceto misto (Quercus decidue, Ostrya, Corylus, Fraxinus) e arbusti mediterranei (Olea, Juniperus tipo) sono poco rappresentati negli spettri, mentre prevalgono ambienti aperti dominati da Poaceae e Asteraceae. Ambienti umidi sono testimoniati, seppure con fluttuazioni, da alberi igrofili (in prevalenza Salix), limno-telmatofite (soprattutto Cyperaceae, Phragmites, Typha/Sparganium emersum tipo) e idrofite (Lemna e Nymphaea alba tipo). Marcati sono gli indicatori di ambienti antropici. Mentre aree pascolate sembrano essere state presenti nell’isola sin dalla prima occupazione umana (tardo Neolitico), le prime attestazioni di pratiche agricole – inclusa la cerealicoltura – risalgono all’età del bronzo (XVIII-XV secolo a.C.). Pratiche cerealicole e viticoltura sono documentate nel periodo tardo-medievale (XII-XIV secolo d.C.), quando si registra anche la comparsa dell’associazione Erico arboreae – Quercetum ilicis che caratterizza l’ambiente vegetale attuale di Stromboli. Tale associazione si sviluppa su suoli di natura silicea o fortemente lisciviati in bioclimi da mesoa supramediterranei, e la sua comparsa nell’isola può essere legata a un cambiamento ambientale conseguente all’aumentata attività vulcanica. Gli spettri più recenti mostrano un lieve incremento nella copertura arborea, probabilmente da attribuire alla riduzione della presenza antropica nell’isola. Le variazioni nella copertura vegetale locale documentate dalle analisi polliniche di San Vincenzo-Stromboli sono concordi con i cambiamenti ambientali registrati nelle principali biostratigrafie di riferimento per il Mediterraneo centrale (e.g., Lago di Pergusa in Sicilia). La conoscenza delle trasformazioni ambientali dell’isola è fondamentale per elaborare una strategia per la tutela della biodiversità basata sull’interconnessione di habitat naturali ad alta valenza ambientale con gli elementi antropici che ne caratterizzano il paesaggio tipicamente mediterraneo.

2020 - PALYNOLOGICAL DATA FROM THE TERRAMARA S. ROSA DI POVIGLIO: RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PO PLAIN LANDSCAPE DURING THE BRONZE AGE [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora
abstract

Palynology adds information to archaeological and geoarchaeological analyses detailing changes in land use and land cover on a long-term perspective due to climatic and anthropogenic factors. This palynological research is based on the analysis of about 300 pollen samples from three cores [1,3] collected at different distances from the Terramara S. Rosa di Poviglio (Emilia Romagna region, 1550–1170 BC). The study is carried out as a project thesis of the PhD Course in "Models and Methods for Material and Environmental Sciences", under the supervision of the professors A.M. Mercuri (Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia) and M. Cremaschi (Università degli Studi di Milano). Pollen from the cores represent near-site and off-site data, which can be compared with the onsite studies to reconstruct the environmental changes that had occurred at both local and regional scale [2] in the area, during and after the Bronze Age. The study will improve knowledge on the cultural development and specific adaptive behaviours adopted by the Terramare populations. Most evidence, in fact, suggests that they were settled in a territory that probably was characterized by over-exploitation of the resources during a period of climate change (dry phase c. 3.6 ka cal. BP).

2020 - Palynology of San Vincenzo-Stromboli: Interdisciplinary perspective for the diachronic palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of an island of Sicily [Articolo su rivista]
Mercuri, A. M.; Cannavò, V.; Clò, E.; Di Renzoni, A.; Florenzano, A.; Rattighieri, E.; Yoon, D.; Levi, S. T.
abstract

This paper presents the results obtained from palynological research carried out at the archaeological site of San Vincenzo-Stromboli (Aeolian Islands, Sicily) during seven fieldwork seasons (2009–2015). The site has had discontinuous occupation since the Neolithic; the main remains are dated to the Bronze Age, late Roman and late Medieval phases. Pollen analyses were carried out on 60 samples taken from different archaeological contexts, and about 1/3 had enough pollen to calculate pollen spectra. The aim of the research was to gain new data on the economy and productive activity of the island, and to reconstruct the landscape focusing primarily on the Bronze Age, and then on the other occupational phases. An interdisciplinary approach integrating different disciplines has facilitated new interpretations about landscape and human activities. Pollen suggests that oak woodland and Mediterranean evergreen vegetation have been part of the natural plant cover of the area since the first occupation. Early evidence of agrarian practices, including cereal cultivation, dates back to the Bronze Age while the current vegetation seems to have originated during the Medieval period.

2020 - The Eurasian Modern Pollen Database (EMPD), version 2 [Articolo su rivista]
Davis, B. A. S.; Chevalier, M.; Sommer, P.; Carter, V. A.; Finsinger, W.; Mauri, A.; Phelps, L. N.; Zanon, M.; Abegglen, R.; Akesson, C. M.; Alba-Sanchez, F.; Scott Anderson, R.; Antipina, T. G.; Atanassova, J. R.; Beer, R.; Belyanina, N. I.; Blyakharchuk, T. A.; Borisova, O. K.; Bozilova, E.; Bukreeva, G.; Jane Bunting, M.; Clo, E.; Colombaroli, D.; Combourieu-Nebout, N.; Desprat, S.; Di Rita, F.; Djamali, M.; Edwards, K. J.; Fall, P. L.; Feurdean, A.; Fletcher, W.; Florenzano, A.; Furlanetto, G.; Gaceur, E.; Galimov, A. T.; Galka, M.; Garcia-Moreiras, I.; Giesecke, T.; Grindean, R.; Guido, M. A.; Gvozdeva, I. G.; Herzschuh, U.; Hjelle, K. L.; Ivanov, S.; Jahns, S.; Jankovska, V.; Jimenez-Moreno, G.; Karpinska-Kolaczek, M.; Kitaba, I.; Kolaczek, P.; Lapteva, E. G.; Latalowa, M.; Lebreton, V.; Leroy, S.; Leydet, M.; Lopatina, D. A.; Lopez-Saez, J. A.; Lotter, A. F.; Magri, D.; Marinova, E.; Matthias, I.; Mavridou, A.; Mercuri, A. M.; Mesa-Fernandez, J. M.; Mikishin, Y. A.; Milecka, K.; Montanari, C.; Morales-Molino, C.; Mrotzek, A.; Sobrino, C. M.; Naidina, O. D.; Nakagawa, T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Novenko, E. Y.; Panajiotidis, S.; Panova, N. K.; Papadopoulou, M.; Pardoe, H. S.; Pedziszewska, A.; Petrenko, T. I.; Ramos-Roman, M. J.; Ravazzi, C.; Rosch, M.; Ryabogina, N.; Ruiz, S. S.; Sakari Salonen, J.; Sapelko, T. V.; Schofield, J. E.; Seppa, H.; Shumilovskikh, L.; Stivrins, N.; Stojakowits, P.; Svitavska, H. S.; Swieta-Musznicka, J.; Tantau, I.; Tinner, W.; Tobolski, K.; Tonkov, S.; Tsakiridou, M.; Valsecchi, V.; Zanina, O. G.; Zimny, M.
abstract

The Eurasian (née European) Modern Pollen Database (EMPD) was established in 2013 to provide a public database of high-quality modern pollen surface samples to help support studies of past climate, land cover, and land use using fossil pollen. The EMPD is part of, and complementary to, the European Pollen Database (EPD) which contains data on fossil pollen found in Late Quaternary sedimentary archives throughout the Eurasian region. The EPD is in turn part of the rapidly growing Neotoma database, which is now the primary home for global palaeoecological data. This paper describes version 2 of the EMPD in which the number of samples held in the database has been increased by 60 % from 4826 to 8134. Much of the improvement in data coverage has come from northern Asia, and the database has consequently been renamed the Eurasian Modern Pollen Database to reflect this geographical enlargement. The EMPD can be viewed online using a dedicated map-based viewer at https://empd2.github.io and downloaded in a variety of file formats at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.909130 (Chevalier et al., 2019).

2019 - Environmental changes and human impact during the Middle to Recent Bronze Age in N Italy (SUCCESSO-TERRA Project) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Florenzano, Assunta; Zerboni, Andrea; Bosi, Giovanna; Brandolini, Filippo; Clo', Eleonora; Mariani, Guido S.; Mazzanti, Marta; Rinaldi, Rossella; Torri, Paola; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

This contribution reports on the ongoing interdisciplinary research program SUCCESSO-TERRA (Human societies, climate-environment changes and resource exploitation/sustainability in the Po Plain in the midHolocene: the Terramare culture; PRIN-20158KBLNB, 2017–2020; https://www.successoterra.net) aiming at reconstructing the landscape and landuse transformations that occurred during the development of the Terramare culture (16th-12th century BC) in the Po Plain of Northern Italy. The project joints experts on Geoarchaeology, Palynology and Archaeobotany to study high-resolution archaeological sediments with an interdisciplinary ecological perspective (Cremaschi et al. 2018). The study of sediments and pollen assemblage from both natural archives and selected Bronze Age sites (Terramara of Santa Rosa di Poviglio and Vasca di Noceto, and occupation layers of S. Michele di Valestra) shine a new light on the mutual interconnection between climate change, landuse, and human resilience. The palynological research focused on Santa Rosa di Poviglio and allowed details of some of the complex processesintheagriculturaleconomytobeﬁlledin,suchaswerepracticedonthebasisofwoodmanagement and crop ﬁelds (Cremaschi et al. 2016). Pollen diagrams showed oscillations of the curves of deciduous oaks and other woody plants (Carpinus betulus, Corylus, Fraxinus and Carpinus orientalis/Ostrya carpinifolia). The role of trees and shrubs supplying fruits (Prunus and other woody Rosaceae, Cornus mas, and especially Corylus and Vitis) resulted of special interest. The ﬁelds included diﬀerent types of cereals (Avena/Triticum and Hordeum groups, Secale cereale and Panicum). Most of the open landscapes around the villages were used for pastures as suggested mainly by Cichorieae and other pasture pollen indicators. The Anthropogenic Pollen Indicators-API group (Mercuri et al. 2013) are signiﬁcant in the spectra together with other synanthropic plants, and indicate a continuative human pressure in the area. The last phases of the pollen diagrams show a decrease of woodland together with a reduction in cereal ﬁelds suggesting that soil and wood overexploitation might have been among the causes of the Terramare’s crisis and their societal collapse (Mercuri et al. 2006; Cremaschi et al. 2016). The interdisciplinary study will disclose the natural (environmental aridiﬁcation) and anthropic (overexploitation of natural resources) reasons of the collapse of the Terramare culture, by investigating the environmental changes in the region and their relationships with the diﬀerent land-use adopted by the Terramare people.

2019 - La Vasca Votiva Inferiore di Noceto: un ambiente lentico artificiale costruito e influenzato dall’Uomo dell’Età del Bronzo [Articolo su rivista]
Clo', Eleonora
abstract

2019 - Palynological approach to reconstruct pastoral activities: case studies from Basilicata, South Italy [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, Assunta; Clo', Eleonora; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

A palynological approach to the study of Mediterranean landscapes is ideally suited for detecting the land-use history and environmental changes that gave rise to the present-day Mediterranean landscape. In particular, the combined evidence of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs, such as fungal spores and algal elements) from archaeological sites is useful for tracing the impact of past human activities on the environment, and also to discriminate past land uses and pastoral practices. In Italy, an outstanding number of studies that include pollen or other plant remains from archaeological contexts (BRAIN database: brainplants.successoterra.net; [1]) have testified to the widespread occurrence of pastoral activities on the peninsula over the last few millennia. This contribution reports on palynological evidence for the impact of centuries of grazing on the vegetation of Basilicata, a region of southern Italy where animal breeding and pastoralism have a long tradition. The integrated analyses of microscopic records from eight archaeological sites (dated from the 6th century BC to the 15th century AD) indicate wide and continuous pastoral activities practiced in the region [2]. The combined evidence from pollen pasture indicators and NPP markers of grazing (mainly coprophilous fungal spores) point out that pastures were the main type of land-use in the territory surrounding each of the eight study sites. As evidenced by the pollen records, this region has long been a grazed area, with more intense pastoral activities documented from the end of the Hellenistic age to the Medieval and Renaissance periods. This research confirms the economic importance of pastoralism in the past communities and its prominent role in shaping the Italian landscape.

2019 - Pollen and macroremains from the site “Vasca di Noceto”: an artificial basin for votive practices during the Bronze Age in Northern Italy [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora; Mazzanti, Marta; Torri, Paola; Rinaldi, Rossella; Proserpio, Barbara; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Bosi, Giovanna; Zerboni, Andrea; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

This research is part of the national-funded interdisciplinary SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (Human societies, climate-environment changes and resource exploitation/sustainability in the Po Plain in the mid-Holocene: the Terramare culture; PRIN-20158KBLNB) and discusses biological information of the archaeological site “Vasca di Noceto”, an artificial wooden basin dating to the Bronze Age and discovered in 2004 in the central Po Plain, near Parma. Geoarchaeological, geochronological and dendrochronological data suggest that the basin was used for ritual practices for about one hundred years (ca. 1420–1320 BC) from the inhabitants of the nearby Terramara village, which was completely removed in the nineteenth century because of quarry activities. The waterlogged anoxic clay-bearing infilling of the basin preserved the wooden architectonic structure and many biological findings submerged until their recovery. The abundance of botanical records (pollen, seeds and fruit remains) in an extraordinary state of preservation permits to investigate the use of plants in ritual contexts and to reconstruct the local plant cover influenced by the interaction with human activities near the site. Cereals and fruits were possibly used as votive offerings during ritual activities together with flowers and inflorescences, probably deposited into the water according to the observation of the preservation state of pollen from several entomophilous species.

2019 - Preliminary palynological results from oﬀ-site cores at theTerramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio, N Italy (SUCCESSO-TERRA Project) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora; Torri, Paola; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Mariani, Guido S.; Zerboni, Andrea; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

The archaeological site ”Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio” (1550–1170 BC) has been investigated for 35 years, under the direction of M. Cremaschi and M.A. Bernab`o Brea. It is the key site of the nationalfunded SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (Human societies, climate-environment changes and resource exploitation/sustainability in the Po Plain in the mid-Holocene: the Terramare culture; PRIN-20158KBLNB; https://www.successoterra.net; Cremaschi et al. 2018). This interdisciplinary project focuses on the relationship between humans, climate, and environment during the trajectory of the Terramara culture. This society underwent a phase of intense development and demographic increase before it collapsed, after 3000 years, due to negative climate factors and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Three oﬀ-site cores were collected at diﬀerent distances north of the archaeological site ”Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio” in the summer 2018 with the main purpose to verify the presence of a Po River palaeoriverbed near the site, and to collect data on Holocene environmental transformations. A total of 292 pollen samples are under study. First results regard the more recent samples from the three cores, detailing land use andlandcoveraftertheBronzeAge. Pollendatasuggestthedecreaseofagriculturallanduseinthearea,with spread of wet meadows (Cyperaceae and aquatics) and environments rich of hygrophilous woods (with Salix and Alnus). Palynological data add information to stratigraphical descriptions, radiocarbon dating, petrographic and organic matter analyses, in addition to the archaeological analyses. The strong interdisciplinary perspective facilitatestheinvestigationoftheclimaticandanthropiccontributionstoenvironmentalchangesintheregion, and their relationships with the diﬀerent adaptive behavior of the Terramare people. The new palynological data obtained from oﬀ-site palaeoenvironmental analyses can integrate the on-site analyses already carried out showing evidence of local human activities (Cremaschi et al. 2016). The correlation between oﬀ-site and on-site studies is necessary to understand the lasting environmental changesat a regional scale (Mercuri et al. 2012).

2019 - Proposals for rural landscape and archaeological site flora management: the contribution of archaeobotany through the BRAIN network research [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Marta Mariotti Lippi, ; Gianniantonio, Domina; Florenzano, Assunta; Carlo, Montanari; Mariangela, Guido; Valentina, Pescini; Bruna Ide Menozzi, ; Alessandro, Panetta; Roberta, Cevasco; Diego, Moreno; Emilia, Allevato; Davide, Attolini; Gianluigi, Bacchetta; Benatti, Alessandra; Bosi, Giovanna; Clo', Eleonora; Lorenzo, Costantini; Alessia, D’Auria; Gaetano Di Pasquale, ; DI SANSEBASTIANO, GIAN PIETRO; Marchesini, Marco; Silvia, Marvelli; Alessia, Masi; Mazzanti, Marta; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Rinaldi, Rossella; Sadori, Laura; Marco, Sarigu; Claudia, Speciale; Mariano, Ucchesu; Torri, Paola; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

Archaeobotanical data suggest that models of a multiple land use have always contributed to the fruitful management of environmental resources, and this is among the most interesting results obtained from the reconstructions of past landscapes in the Mediterranean. The development of Historical Ecology, an historical approach that promotes interdisciplinary studies involving several research fields (like botany, archaeobotany, history, archaeology, geography, cartography, forestry, geology, climatology, landscape genetics), is carrying out proposals for applications in agricultural management and environmental conservation based on rigorous land use reconstructions. Several members of the BRAIN community are involved in these topics thanks to the interdisciplinary plant-based studies carried out on archaeological sites and other human-influenced contexts (Environmental Archaeology).

2019 - The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website [Articolo su rivista]
Mariotti Lippi, M.; Florenzano, A.; Rinaldi, R.; Allevato, E.; Arobba, D.; Bacchetta, G.; Bal, M. C.; Bandini Mazzanti, M.; Benatti, A.; Beneš, J.; Bosi, G.; Buonincontri, M.; Caramiello, R.; Castelletti, L.; Castiglioni, E.; Celant, A.; Clò, E.; Costantini, L.; Di Pasquale, G.; Di Rita, F.; Fiorentino, G.; Furlanetto, G.; Giardini, M.; Grillo, O.; Guido, M.; Herchenbach, M.; Magri, D.; Marchesini, M.; Maritan, M.; Marvelli, S.; Masi, A.; Miola, A.; Montanari, C.; Montecchi, M. C.; Motella, S.; Nisbet, R.; Orrù, M.; Peñachocarro, L.; Pepe, C.; Perego, R.; Rattighieri, E.; Ravazzi, C.; Rottoli, M.; Rowan, E.; Sabato, D.; Sadori, L.; Sarigu, M.; Torri, P.; Ucchesu &, M.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015.

2019 - The SUCCESSO-TERRA Project: a lesson of sustainability from the Terramare culture, Middle Bronze Age of the Po Plain (North Italy) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Benatti, Alessandra; Bosi, Giovanna; Brandolini, Filippo; Clo', Eleonora; Furia, Elisa; Mariani, Guido S.; Mazzanti, Marta; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Rattighieri, Eleonora; Rinaldi, Rossella; Torri, Paola; Zerboni, Andrea; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

The SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (Human societies, climate-environment changes and resource exploitation/sustainability in the Po Plain in the mid-Holocene: the Terramare culture; PRIN-20158KBLNB) is a research program aiming at reconstructing landscape and land-use transformations that occurred during the Terramare period in the southern-central Po Plain of Northern Italy. The project joints experts on Geoarchaeology, Palynology and Archaeobotany to study highresolution archaeological sediments with an interdisciplinary ecological perspective. The Terramare settlements were banked and moated villages of the Middle and Recent Bronze Ages (1550–1170 cal yr BC). According to the plant record (both micro- and macro-remains), agricultural economy was based on cultivation and exploitation of forests. Pollen analysis suggests wood management, including coppicing, and fruit collection on the wild, the existence of crop fields with different types of cereals and the intercropping with legumes. The most of the open landscapes around the villages were used for pastures as suggested by pasture indicators in pollen spectra. Our interdisciplinary study will disclose the natural (environmental aridification) and anthropic (overexploitation of natural resources) reasons of the collapse of the Terramare culture, by investigating the environmental changes in the region and their relationships with the different land-use adopted by the Terramare people.

2018 - First palynological data from the “Vasca Inferiore di Noceto”, an artificial mire of the Bronze age in the Po Plain [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora; Mazzanti, Marta; Torri, Paola; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

In the framework of the national-funded project SUCCESSO-TERRA (PRIN-20158KBLNB), an interdisciplinary geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical (pollen and macroremains) investigation has been carried out, aiming at reconstructing the land transformations that occurred at the onset, duration, and end of the Terramare culture in the southern-central Po Plain (Emilia Romagna region). The Terramare are archaeological remains of a unique cultural phenomenon: banked and moated villages that were located in the Po River alluvial plain, dated to Middle and Recent Bronze ages (1550-1170 years BC; Cremaschi et al. 2016). An artificial basin of the Middle Bronze Age, built and delimited entirely with oak wood, was found in the spring of 2004 in Noceto, in the province of Parma. Due to the unusual and, at the same time, extraordinary character of this site, the intervention promoted by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia Romagna was timely. The excavation campaigns that followed, thanks to the cooperation with the Università di Milano and Comune di Noceto, brought to light bio-archaeological materials in a good state of conservation because they were always submerged in the water in a deposit of saturated clay until they were found (Cremaschi et al. 2009). In the 2015 following excavations, it was discovered that this structure (Fig. 1) was built after the collapse of an older and wider basin. The latter is called “Vasca Inferiore” for its position. The use of both structures covered a period of about one century. ... This palynological research allows to investigate the relationships between human action and a special artificial wet environment during the Bronze Age by providing biological data to an archaeological context. The results give useful information for a better understanding of current human impact on small mires as they show how much it limits the development of biotic communities and the formation of true ecological successions. The study may be a contribution to conservation studies and sustainable management plans of human environments in the Po Plain.

2018 - The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website [Articolo su rivista]
Mariotti Lippi, M.; Florenzano, A.; Rinaldi, R.; Allevato, E.; Arobba, D.; Bacchetta, G.; Bal, M. C.; Bandini Mazzanti, M.; Benatti, A.; Beneš, J.; Bosi, G.; Buonincontri, M.; Caramiello, R.; Castelletti, L.; Castiglioni, E.; Celant, A.; Clò, E.; Costantini, L.; Di Pasquale, G.; Di Rita, F.; Fiorentino, G.; Furlanetto, G.; Giardini, M.; Grillo, O.; Guido, M.; Herchenbach, M.; Magri, D.; Marchesini, M.; Maritan, M.; Marvelli, S.; Masi, A.; Miola, A.; Montanari, C.; Montecchi, M. C.; Motella, S.; Nisbet, R.; Orrù, M.; Peña- Chocarro, L.; Pepe, C.; Perego, R.; Rattighieri, E.; Ravazzi, C.; Rottoli, M.; Rowan, E.; Sabato, D.; Sadori, L.; Sarigu, M.; Torri, P.; Ucchesu, M.; Mercuri, A. M.
abstract

2018 - The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Bronze Age settlements of the Po Plain (SUCCESSO-TERRA Project) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Mercuri Anna, Maria.; Florenzano, Assunta; Torri, Paola; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Rattighieri, Eleonora; Clo', Eleonora; Bosi, Giovanna; Rinaldi, Rossella; Zerboni, Andrea; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

The contribution shows the palynological research carried out on the three archaeological sites - Noceto, Santa Rosa di Poviglio and Valestra - at the centre of the project SUCCESSO-TERRA. In this research, the environmental and land-use changes have been investigated to understand their relationships over the last millennia.

2018 - The SUCCESSO-TERRA Project: a Lesson of Sustainability from the Terramare Culture, Middle Bronze Age of the Po Plain (Northern Italy) [Articolo su rivista]
Cremaschi, Mauro; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Benatti, Alessandra; Bosi, Giovanna; Brandolini, Filippo; Clo', Eleonora; Florenzano, Assunta; Furia, Elisa; Mariani, Guido S.; Mazzanti, Marta; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Rattighieri, Eleonora; Rinaldi, Rossella; Torri, Paola; Zerboni, Andrea
abstract

This backstory article deals with the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (2017–2020), an interdisciplinary research program aiming at reconstructing the land-use transformations that occurred during the development of the Terramare culture in the southern-central Po Plain of Northern Italy. Topics include climate-environment changes, human impact and exploitation of natural resources that are interconnected topics in human ecology and environmental sciences. These topics can only be understood in a long-term perspective integrating archaeology, geology, botany and other sciences. The text includes the theoretical basis, the research strategy and the main methodological approaches given by geoarchaeology and palynology, the two research sides constituting the partnership of the project.

2018 - The “Vasca Inferiore di Noceto”: palynological data for the reconstruction of the Po Plain landscape in the Bronze Age [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Clo', Eleonora; Mazzanti, Marta; Torri, Paola; Rinaldi, Rossella; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Cremaschi, Mauro
abstract

The aim of this work is to describe the paleoenvironment and cultural landscape near the archaeological site of “Vasca Inferiore di Noceto” (an artificial basin) in about one century during the Bronze Age (1420-1320 BC). The study of the ecological-floristic characters revealed by pollen analysis (pollen, spore of Monilophytes s.l. and Briophytes s.l. and nonpollen palynomorphs–NPPs) allowed to distinguish the past biodiversity and ecological successions that are typical of natural or human-induced wet environments. This research provides new biological information to an archaeological context, discovered in 2004, through a detailed analysis of plant cover near the site. The low forest cover and signs of human activity (with evidence from Corylus, cereals and synanthropic plants) are at the base of pollen spectra. Data permit to investigate the complex relationships between this basin and human activity, and the human impact on landscape.

2017 - Palynology of the Terramare, the Middle Bronze age of the Po Plain (SUCCESSO-TERRA project) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Mercuri, A. M.; Florenzano, A.; Torri, P.; Mazzanti, M.; Clò, E.; Furia, E.; Zerboni, A.; Cremaschi, M.
abstract

In the framework of the national-funded project SUCCESSO-TERRA (Human societies, climate‐environment changes and resource exploitation/sustainability in the Po Plain at the Mid-Holocene times: the Terramara), an interdisciplinary geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical (pollen and macroremains) investigation has been carried out, aiming at reconstructing the land transformations that occurred at the onset, duration, and end of the Terramare culture in the southern-central Po Plain (Emilia Romagna region). The Terramare are archaeological vestiges of banked and moated villages that developed in the central sector of Po River alluvial plain during the Middle and Late Holocene. The project expressively focuses on the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio and on the Vasca Grande di Noceto. The relationships between the Late Holocene regional environmental and land-use changes have been investigated to obtain a detailed comprehension of adaptive strategies of the Terramare people during the Middle/Recent Bronze ages (1550–1170 years BC; Cremaschi et al. 2016). Pollen samples were collected from trenches excavated within the main structures of the archaeological sites (the moat and ditch surrounding the Santa Rosa di Poviglio site, and the infilling of the Vasca Grande di Noceto site). Pollen extraction also includes sieving and heavy liquid floatation to concentrate pollen and non pollen palynomorphs. Pollen was common and well preserved. A set of anthropogenic pollen indicators, common in the spectra (and in the spectra from other Italian archaeological sites; Mercuri et al. 2013), was considered especially useful to reconstruct agricultural dynamics besides the distribution of wild vegetation (wood and wetland plant associations). The palynological research showed a transformation in flora composition and plant communities, suggesting a dynamic agricultural economy. The latter was possibly practiced on the basis of wood management and crop fields. At the top of the sequence of Santa Rosa di Poviglio, in correspondence with the drying of the moat system, a dramatic decrease of woods may had a twofold causation: increased aridity (natural factor) and intensive landuse (anthropic factor) might have played a fairly synchronous action on vegetation.

2017 - The agro-sylvo-pastoral system of 3600-3200 years ago (Terramare, Po Plain; SUCCESSO-TERRA project) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Mercuri, Anna Maria; Florenzano, Assunta; Torri, Paola; Bosi, Giovanna; Montecchi, Maria Chiara; Rattighieri, Eleonora; Rinaldi, Rossella; Clo', Eleonora; Fornaciari, Rita; Mazzanti, Marta
abstract

An interdisciplinary geoarchaeological and archaeobotanical (pollen and macroremains) investigation is carried out in the framework of the national-funded project SUCCESSO-TERRA (Human societies, climate, environment changes and resource exploitation/sustainability in the Po Plain at the Mid-Holocene times: the Terramara; PRIN-20158KBLNB). The research is providing significant data on the land transformations that occurred at the onset, duration, and end of the Terramare culture in the southern-central Po Plain (Emilia Romagna region). The Terramare are archaeological remains of banked and moated villages, located in the central alluvial plain of the Po River and dated to Middle/Recent Bronze ages (3600-3200 yr. BP). Pedosedimentary features and biological records from Terramare sites help to shed light on the relationships between Late Holocene regional environmental vicissitudes and land use changes, and allow a detailed comprehension of adaptive strategies of the Terramare people (1). Pollen samples were collected from trenches excavated within the main structures of the archaeological sites (namely Santa Rosa di Poviglio and Vasca Grande di Noceto sites). The pollen spectra resulted from both human presence/action and natural vegetation cover in the area. A set of anthropogenic pollen indicators, also common in the spectra from other Italian archaeological sites (2), was considered especially useful to reconstruct the agro-sylvo-pastoral system besides the distribution of wetland plant associations. The palynological research showed a transformation in flora composition and plant communities, suggesting a complex and dynamic agricultural economy based on wood management, fruit collection on the wild, and crop fields. At the top of the sequence of Santa Rosa di Poviglio, in correspondence with a global, dry climatic episode, a dramatic decrease of fields and woods is recorded. Along with aridity, an intensive landuse might have played a fairly synchronous action on vegetation. Data suggest a scenario of an impoverished plant landscape at the end of the life of the Poviglio Santa Rosa village, and connected with the collapse of the Terramare culture.

2016 - Riscaldamento Globale e Indice Pollinico Annuale di Poaceae: dati pluriannuali dal campionatore aerobiologico di Vignola [Articolo su rivista]
Clo', Eleonora; Torri, Paola; Florenzano, Assunta; Mercuri, Anna Maria
abstract

Global warming and Annual Pollen Index of Poaceae. Pollen monitoring and climate change are main issues in current applications of Aerobiology. The topic of this research is to link Poaceae airborne pollen variations with climate change and, especially, with global warming. Data from pollen calendars (1990-2004) of the Vignola MO2 monitoring station and information about temperature changes in Italy were both taken into account. In many cases, airborne pollen increase is considered a good bioindicator of global warming. The results of this research confirm this evidence. In fact, there is a direct connection between the increase of Poaceae Annual Pollen Index and the mean temperature increase in the study area: the plants of the family Poaceae responded to temperature increase with pollination increase.

Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

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