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Laura Sadori

Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma, Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Faculty Member

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Enrico Giannitrapani

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Claudia Speciale

Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social

Gian Pietro Di Sansebastiano

Università Del Salento

Maria Grazia Melis

Università di Sassari

Teodoro Scarano

University of Salento

Regione Siciliana

Alexander Kabelindde

University College London

Roberta Mentesana

Universitat de Barcelona

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Papers by Laura Sadori

The Establishment of the Agricultural Landscape of Central Sicily Between the Middle Neolithic and the Beginning of the Iron Age (2024)

by Enrico Giannitrapani and Laura Sadori

Human Ecology, 2024

The possible co-variation of human occupation and vegetation from the Middle Neolithic to the beg... more The possible co-variation of human occupation and vegetation from the Middle Neolithic to the beginning of the Iron Age (7.5-2.8 ka BP) in Central Sicily in the context of the central Mediterranean between Middle and Late Holocene are analysed in this paper to provide new insights on Sicilian prehistoric demography. The demographic and economic trends during these millennia were reconstructed using archaeological, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 14 C dates, palynological, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological data from the northern, central, and southern sectors of Central Sicily through a diachronic comparison with variation in Arboreal Pollen, Anthropogenic Pollen Indicators, Olea-Juglans-Castanea pollen, microcharcoals, and Sporormiella from four pollen cores from sites in different ecosystems. A very significant spread of farming activities was found at the end of the Neolithic, together with an apparent demographic gap during the Middle Copper Age, and the emergence of agricultural landscapes at the end of the Copper Age associated with a striking increase in population. A combination of cultural and climatic changes during the late phase of the Bronze Age resulted in a subsequent overall decrease in population.

An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 2023

An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy In 400 B.C.E., Rome was the ... more

I sedimenti dei porti imperiali di Roma come archivi dei cambiamenti ambientali e del paesaggio: un approccio multidisciplinare

non present

Big Data Palaeoecology reveals significant variation in Black Death mortality in Europe

The Black Death is the most reknown pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed ha... more The Black Death is the most reknown pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe's population. However, despite the advances in ancient DNA research that allowed for the successful identification of the pandemic's causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death is still limited, based primarily on medieval texts available for single areas of Western Europe. In our study we remedy this situation and we focus in particular on the scale of the Black Death mortality. We collected data on landscape change from 261 coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located in 19 European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that half of the population died within a single year in each of the 21 regions we studied. We discovered that while the Black Death had devastating impact in some regions, it had negligible...

Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic

Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2022

The Black Death (1347–1352ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to... more The Black Death (1347–1352ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacteriumYersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of ...

Pollen data of the last 500 ka BP at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe), supplement to: Sadori, Laura; Koutsodendris, Andreas; Panagiotopoulos, Konstantinos; Masi, Alessia; Bertini, Adele; Combourieu-Nebout, Nathalie; Francke, Alexander; Kouli, Katerina; Joannin, Sébastien; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Pe...

Here we present the pollen data obtained for the DEEP core of Lake Ohrid located at the border be... more Here we present the pollen data obtained for the DEEP core of Lake Ohrid located at the border between Albania and F.Y.R. of Macedonia. The very long sequence covers the last 500 ka BP in ca. 200 m. The study has been carried out by several European palynological laboratories. The age model of this part of the core is based on 10 tephra layers and on tuning of biogeochemical proxy data to orbital parameters. The original paper, published by Sadori et al. 2016 (https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1423-2016), has been followed by a corrigendum due to chemical procedure problems that affected 104 samples. The record shows a progressive change from cooler and wetter to slightly warmer and drier interglacial conditions. This shift in temperature and moisture availability is visible also in vegetation during glacial periods. Pollen results support the notion that Lake Ohrid has been a refugium area for both temperate and montane trees during glacials.

1.36 million years of Mediterranean forest refugium dynamics in response to glacial–interglacial cycle strength

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021

Significance Forest conservation and restoration are important means to counter threats caused by... more Significance Forest conservation and restoration are important means to counter threats caused by habitat fragmentation and global change. Diverse and resilient forests can only be maintained if we understand their sensitivity to past climate change. The sedimentary record of the oldest extant lake in Europe, Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia, Albania), shows the survival and extinction of tree species during glacial and interglacial stages (G–IG) of the Quaternary. Pollen analysis reveals that the area was an effective refuge for tree populations through G–IG periods. The lake body locally buffered the climate, allowing repeated recovery of tree populations that were close to disappearance. However, extended periods of aridity during G–IG intensification after 0.94 Ma caused many tree taxa to disappear.

Archaeobotanical evidence of fig (Ficus carica L.) in Europe on the axis of South-North gradient. Preliminary information about Papaver Centre research project

Ficus carica L. is one of the oldest domesticated fruit trees in the world. The sweet fruits were... more Ficus carica L. is one of the oldest domesticated fruit trees in the world. The sweet fruits were widespread across Europe and seeds frequently recorded in many archaeobotanical datasets. The use of figs in diet varied substantially along the geographical South-North European axis. The question is, if this is determined by its local availability or by cultural factors. The aim of the research project in framework of the Papaver Centre is to collect every proper information about chronology and chorology of fig finds in archaeological contexts using archaeobotanical databases in Italy (BRAIN research group), in the Southern part of Germany (ARBODAT Ba-W\ufc), in Czech archaeobotanical database (CZAD) and in the archaeobotanical databases of Scandinavia (HANSA network project). The main effort of the study is an attempt to explain patterns of fig occurrence in time and trace its diffusion from the Mediterranean to Central and Northern Europe. An additional goal is to explain fig finds in archaeological context by correlating the finds with specific human behaviour. Collaborators: BRAIN: D. Arobba, M. Bandini Mazzanti, A. Bernardov\ue1, M. Buonincontri, R. Caramiello, M.L. Carra, E. Castiglioni, A. Celant, L. Costantini, G. Fiorentino, A. Florenzano, V. Kom\ue1rkov\ue1, M. Marchesini, M. Mariotti Lippi, M. Maritan, S. Marvelli, A. Masi, A. Miola, M. Mori Secci, R. Nisbet, L. Pe\uf1a-Chocarro, C. Pepe, R. Rinaldi, M. Rottoli, D. Sabato, L. Sadori L., M. Ucches

BRAIN – cooperative network and website

Géoarchéologie du bassin portuaire d'Ostie

Une etude haute resolution a ete menee sur la sequence stratigraphique du bassin portuaire d’Osti... more Une etude haute resolution a ete menee sur la sequence stratigraphique du bassin portuaire d’Ostie en Italie. Elle est issue de deux carottages de 12 m de profondeur autorises par la Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ostia. Au total, dix-sept datations au radiocarbone viennent appuyer une reconstitution paleoenvironnementale et geoarcheologique. Cette chrono-stratigraphie integre les trois etapes principales : le pre-portuaire, le portuaire et le post-portuaire. Le pre-portuaire se caracterise par un environnement fluvio-marin d’embouchure date entre le IXe et le VIIIe s. av. J.-C. La base de la sequence portuaire se caracterise par un facies argilo-limoneux gris fonce ; il s’agit d’un bassin calme en connexion avec le fleuve et la mer. Le remplissage debute au plus tot au milieu du IVe s. av. J.-C. (360 av. J.-C.) et au plus tard a la fin du IIIe s. av. J.-C. (205 av. J.-C.). A cette epoque, la profondeur du bassin atteignait 6 m sous le zero marin biologique antique. C’est une profon...

Proposals for rural landscape and archaeological site flora management: the contribution of archaeobotany through the BRAIN network research

Archaeobotanical data suggest that models of a multiple land use have always contributed to the f... more 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)

Lake Ohrid: The history of forest biodiversity and hydrological variations from Europe's oldest lake

Corrigendum to: Pollen-based paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe) during the past 500 ka

In this corrigendum we report an updated pollen record from the Lake Ohrid DEEP site spanning the... more In this corrigendum we report an updated pollen record from the Lake Ohrid DEEP site spanning the past 500 ka whereby we have reprocessed and re-analyzed 104 samples affected by chemical procedure problems that occurred in one palynological laboratory. Firstly, these samples were affected by the use of wrong containers, causing inadequate settling of particles at the set centrifuging speed. Secondly, HCl and HF treatments were combined without the prescribed intermediate centrifuging and decanting steps. The inaccuracy in the protocol resulted in the loss of smaller pollen grains and in the overrepresentation of bisaccate ones in most of the re-analyzed samples. We therefore provide an updated set of figures with the new data and have revised the description of the results, discussion and conclusions reported in Sadori et al. (2016) where necessary. We stress that the majority of the original results and conclusions remain valid, while the records’ reliability and resolution have im...

Geoarcheologia di Ostia : Una città fuviale tra mare e laguna

International audienc

Geoarchaeology of Ostia: a City Surronded by the Sea, the Tiber River and a Lagoon

Disentangling palynological and sedimentological signals in the Quaternary sedimentary succession of Lake Ohrid (Balkan peninsula)

International audienc

All together now: An international palynological team documents vegetation and climate changes during the last 500 kyr at lake ohrid (se europe)

Lake Ohrid (Balkan peninsula) is the oldest European extant lake and one of the deepest and large... more Lake Ohrid (Balkan peninsula) is the oldest European extant lake and one of the deepest and largest. Such a unique, terrestrial natural archive is especially relevant for both paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions but also for genetic studies. In the frame of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), a deep drilling campaign was carried out within the scope of the Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid (SCOPSCO) project in 2013. Here, we present the summary of palynological analyses carried out in the upper 200 m of the overall 569 m long DEEP site sediment succession from the central part of the lake. These studies, performed by an international palynological team, document the main floristic, vegetation and climate changes during the last ca 500 kyr, at a millennial-scale resolution (~1.6 kyr). The continuous sediment infill permitted to trace multiple non-forested/ forested phases as a response to Glacial/Interg...

Palaeoenvironemental Evidences for the Location and the Characteristics of the Harbour Basin of Ostia

International audienc

Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoons during the past 1.36 million years

Nature, 2019

From influence to impact: The multifunctional land use in Mediterranean prehistory emerging from palynology of archaeological sites (8.0-2.8 ka BP)

The Holocene, 2019

Archaeobotany is used to discover details on local land uses in prehistoric settlements developed... more Archaeobotany is used to discover details on local land uses in prehistoric settlements developed during the middle and beginning of late Holocene. Six archaeological sites from four countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey) have pollen and charcoal records showing clear signs of the agrarian systems that had developed in the Mediterranean basin during different cultural phases, from pre-Neolithic to Recent Bronze Age. A selected list of pollen taxa and sums, including cultivated trees, other woody species, crops and annual or perennial synanthropic plants are analysed for land use reconstructions. In general, cultivation has a lower image in palynology than forestry, and past land uses became visible when oakwoods were affected by human activities. On-site palynology allows us to recognise the first influence of humans even before it can be recognised in off-site sequences, and off-site sequences can allow us to determine the area of influence of a site. Neolithic and Bronze Age...

The Establishment of the Agricultural Landscape of Central Sicily Between the Middle Neolithic and the Beginning of the Iron Age (2024)

by Enrico Giannitrapani and Laura Sadori

Human Ecology, 2024

The possible co-variation of human occupation and vegetation from the Middle Neolithic to the beg... more The possible co-variation of human occupation and vegetation from the Middle Neolithic to the beginning of the Iron Age (7.5-2.8 ka BP) in Central Sicily in the context of the central Mediterranean between Middle and Late Holocene are analysed in this paper to provide new insights on Sicilian prehistoric demography. The demographic and economic trends during these millennia were reconstructed using archaeological, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 14 C dates, palynological, archaeobotanical, and zooarchaeological data from the northern, central, and southern sectors of Central Sicily through a diachronic comparison with variation in Arboreal Pollen, Anthropogenic Pollen Indicators, Olea-Juglans-Castanea pollen, microcharcoals, and Sporormiella from four pollen cores from sites in different ecosystems. A very significant spread of farming activities was found at the end of the Neolithic, together with an apparent demographic gap during the Middle Copper Age, and the emergence of agricultural landscapes at the end of the Copper Age associated with a striking increase in population. A combination of cultural and climatic changes during the late phase of the Bronze Age resulted in a subsequent overall decrease in population.

An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 2023

An Environmental and Climate History of the Roman Expansion in Italy In 400 B.C.E., Rome was the ... more

I sedimenti dei porti imperiali di Roma come archivi dei cambiamenti ambientali e del paesaggio: un approccio multidisciplinare

non present

Big Data Palaeoecology reveals significant variation in Black Death mortality in Europe

The Black Death is the most reknown pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed ha... more The Black Death is the most reknown pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe's population. However, despite the advances in ancient DNA research that allowed for the successful identification of the pandemic's causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death is still limited, based primarily on medieval texts available for single areas of Western Europe. In our study we remedy this situation and we focus in particular on the scale of the Black Death mortality. We collected data on landscape change from 261 coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located in 19 European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that half of the population died within a single year in each of the 21 regions we studied. We discovered that while the Black Death had devastating impact in some regions, it had negligible...

Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic

Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2022

The Black Death (1347–1352ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to... more The Black Death (1347–1352ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacteriumYersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of ...

Pollen data of the last 500 ka BP at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe), supplement to: Sadori, Laura; Koutsodendris, Andreas; Panagiotopoulos, Konstantinos; Masi, Alessia; Bertini, Adele; Combourieu-Nebout, Nathalie; Francke, Alexander; Kouli, Katerina; Joannin, Sébastien; Mercuri, Anna Maria; Pe...

Here we present the pollen data obtained for the DEEP core of Lake Ohrid located at the border be... more Here we present the pollen data obtained for the DEEP core of Lake Ohrid located at the border between Albania and F.Y.R. of Macedonia. The very long sequence covers the last 500 ka BP in ca. 200 m. The study has been carried out by several European palynological laboratories. The age model of this part of the core is based on 10 tephra layers and on tuning of biogeochemical proxy data to orbital parameters. The original paper, published by Sadori et al. 2016 (https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1423-2016), has been followed by a corrigendum due to chemical procedure problems that affected 104 samples. The record shows a progressive change from cooler and wetter to slightly warmer and drier interglacial conditions. This shift in temperature and moisture availability is visible also in vegetation during glacial periods. Pollen results support the notion that Lake Ohrid has been a refugium area for both temperate and montane trees during glacials.

1.36 million years of Mediterranean forest refugium dynamics in response to glacial–interglacial cycle strength

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021

Significance Forest conservation and restoration are important means to counter threats caused by... more Significance Forest conservation and restoration are important means to counter threats caused by habitat fragmentation and global change. Diverse and resilient forests can only be maintained if we understand their sensitivity to past climate change. The sedimentary record of the oldest extant lake in Europe, Lake Ohrid (North Macedonia, Albania), shows the survival and extinction of tree species during glacial and interglacial stages (G–IG) of the Quaternary. Pollen analysis reveals that the area was an effective refuge for tree populations through G–IG periods. The lake body locally buffered the climate, allowing repeated recovery of tree populations that were close to disappearance. However, extended periods of aridity during G–IG intensification after 0.94 Ma caused many tree taxa to disappear.

Archaeobotanical evidence of fig (Ficus carica L.) in Europe on the axis of South-North gradient. Preliminary information about Papaver Centre research project

Ficus carica L. is one of the oldest domesticated fruit trees in the world. The sweet fruits were... more Ficus carica L. is one of the oldest domesticated fruit trees in the world. The sweet fruits were widespread across Europe and seeds frequently recorded in many archaeobotanical datasets. The use of figs in diet varied substantially along the geographical South-North European axis. The question is, if this is determined by its local availability or by cultural factors. The aim of the research project in framework of the Papaver Centre is to collect every proper information about chronology and chorology of fig finds in archaeological contexts using archaeobotanical databases in Italy (BRAIN research group), in the Southern part of Germany (ARBODAT Ba-W\ufc), in Czech archaeobotanical database (CZAD) and in the archaeobotanical databases of Scandinavia (HANSA network project). The main effort of the study is an attempt to explain patterns of fig occurrence in time and trace its diffusion from the Mediterranean to Central and Northern Europe. An additional goal is to explain fig finds in archaeological context by correlating the finds with specific human behaviour. Collaborators: BRAIN: D. Arobba, M. Bandini Mazzanti, A. Bernardov\ue1, M. Buonincontri, R. Caramiello, M.L. Carra, E. Castiglioni, A. Celant, L. Costantini, G. Fiorentino, A. Florenzano, V. Kom\ue1rkov\ue1, M. Marchesini, M. Mariotti Lippi, M. Maritan, S. Marvelli, A. Masi, A. Miola, M. Mori Secci, R. Nisbet, L. Pe\uf1a-Chocarro, C. Pepe, R. Rinaldi, M. Rottoli, D. Sabato, L. Sadori L., M. Ucches

BRAIN – cooperative network and website

Géoarchéologie du bassin portuaire d'Ostie

Une etude haute resolution a ete menee sur la sequence stratigraphique du bassin portuaire d’Osti... more Une etude haute resolution a ete menee sur la sequence stratigraphique du bassin portuaire d’Ostie en Italie. Elle est issue de deux carottages de 12 m de profondeur autorises par la Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ostia. Au total, dix-sept datations au radiocarbone viennent appuyer une reconstitution paleoenvironnementale et geoarcheologique. Cette chrono-stratigraphie integre les trois etapes principales : le pre-portuaire, le portuaire et le post-portuaire. Le pre-portuaire se caracterise par un environnement fluvio-marin d’embouchure date entre le IXe et le VIIIe s. av. J.-C. La base de la sequence portuaire se caracterise par un facies argilo-limoneux gris fonce ; il s’agit d’un bassin calme en connexion avec le fleuve et la mer. Le remplissage debute au plus tot au milieu du IVe s. av. J.-C. (360 av. J.-C.) et au plus tard a la fin du IIIe s. av. J.-C. (205 av. J.-C.). A cette epoque, la profondeur du bassin atteignait 6 m sous le zero marin biologique antique. C’est une profon...

Proposals for rural landscape and archaeological site flora management: the contribution of archaeobotany through the BRAIN network research

Archaeobotanical data suggest that models of a multiple land use have always contributed to the f... more 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)

Lake Ohrid: The history of forest biodiversity and hydrological variations from Europe's oldest lake

Corrigendum to: Pollen-based paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change at Lake Ohrid (south-eastern Europe) during the past 500 ka

In this corrigendum we report an updated pollen record from the Lake Ohrid DEEP site spanning the... more In this corrigendum we report an updated pollen record from the Lake Ohrid DEEP site spanning the past 500 ka whereby we have reprocessed and re-analyzed 104 samples affected by chemical procedure problems that occurred in one palynological laboratory. Firstly, these samples were affected by the use of wrong containers, causing inadequate settling of particles at the set centrifuging speed. Secondly, HCl and HF treatments were combined without the prescribed intermediate centrifuging and decanting steps. The inaccuracy in the protocol resulted in the loss of smaller pollen grains and in the overrepresentation of bisaccate ones in most of the re-analyzed samples. We therefore provide an updated set of figures with the new data and have revised the description of the results, discussion and conclusions reported in Sadori et al. (2016) where necessary. We stress that the majority of the original results and conclusions remain valid, while the records’ reliability and resolution have im...

Geoarcheologia di Ostia : Una città fuviale tra mare e laguna

International audienc

Geoarchaeology of Ostia: a City Surronded by the Sea, the Tiber River and a Lagoon

Disentangling palynological and sedimentological signals in the Quaternary sedimentary succession of Lake Ohrid (Balkan peninsula)

International audienc

All together now: An international palynological team documents vegetation and climate changes during the last 500 kyr at lake ohrid (se europe)

Lake Ohrid (Balkan peninsula) is the oldest European extant lake and one of the deepest and large... more Lake Ohrid (Balkan peninsula) is the oldest European extant lake and one of the deepest and largest. Such a unique, terrestrial natural archive is especially relevant for both paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions but also for genetic studies. In the frame of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), a deep drilling campaign was carried out within the scope of the Scientific Collaboration on Past Speciation Conditions in Lake Ohrid (SCOPSCO) project in 2013. Here, we present the summary of palynological analyses carried out in the upper 200 m of the overall 569 m long DEEP site sediment succession from the central part of the lake. These studies, performed by an international palynological team, document the main floristic, vegetation and climate changes during the last ca 500 kyr, at a millennial-scale resolution (~1.6 kyr). The continuous sediment infill permitted to trace multiple non-forested/ forested phases as a response to Glacial/Interg...

Palaeoenvironemental Evidences for the Location and the Characteristics of the Harbour Basin of Ostia

International audienc

Mediterranean winter rainfall in phase with African monsoons during the past 1.36 million years

Nature, 2019

From influence to impact: The multifunctional land use in Mediterranean prehistory emerging from palynology of archaeological sites (8.0-2.8 ka BP)

The Holocene, 2019

Archaeobotany is used to discover details on local land uses in prehistoric settlements developed... more Archaeobotany is used to discover details on local land uses in prehistoric settlements developed during the middle and beginning of late Holocene. Six archaeological sites from four countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey) have pollen and charcoal records showing clear signs of the agrarian systems that had developed in the Mediterranean basin during different cultural phases, from pre-Neolithic to Recent Bronze Age. A selected list of pollen taxa and sums, including cultivated trees, other woody species, crops and annual or perennial synanthropic plants are analysed for land use reconstructions. In general, cultivation has a lower image in palynology than forestry, and past land uses became visible when oakwoods were affected by human activities. On-site palynology allows us to recognise the first influence of humans even before it can be recognised in off-site sequences, and off-site sequences can allow us to determine the area of influence of a site. Neolithic and Bronze Age...

11th Conference of Environmental Archaeology 2015. Life in flux. Humans, Animals and plants in postglacial ecosystems in Europe and Northern Africa

by Jaromír Beneš, Laura Sadori, Jaroslav Peska, Maria Hajnalova, Petr Šída, Ladislav Varadzin, and Tereza Šálková

Abstract book from conference held in Ceske Budejovice (CZ) in February 2015: It has been already... more Abstract book from conference held in Ceske Budejovice (CZ) in February 2015: It has been already ten years when group of several Czech palaeoecologists, archaeobotanists and archaeologists met together for the first time under the platform called the
Archaeobotanical Working Group. It was in 2005. After several very simple and modestly
organized meetings our group was transformed into the Conference of Environmental
Archaeology since 2010 as Czech speaking action. Yet in 2015 we decided to organize first international meeting in English.
So, welcome to České Budějovice! This conference is connected with main activity of the PAPAVER, Centre for human and plant
studies in Europe and Northern Africa, founded in 2012 by the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology, Faculty of Science with collaboration of the Institute of Archaeology,
Faculty of Philosophy, University of South Bohemia. The aim of the PAPAVER centre is to develop ties within the interdisciplinary team consisting of paleoecologists, archaeologists, and vegetation ecologists in order to create an effective space for the study of climatic, cultural as well as landscape changes in vegetation and crops along a gradient from Northern Africa across Central Europe up to the coldest areas of the north. The purpose of the project is to connect and coordinate key experts of international repute and thus provide the South Bohemian team the dynamics and impulses for the development of top quality research. A research centre bears the name of a genus of poppies (Papaver), whose representatives are distributed from the coldest areas in the High Arctic to the warmest Northern Africa, thus, representing the region targeted by the project research interests.
21st January 2015,
Jaromír Beneš – Petr Pokorný

The introduction and diffusion of peach in ancient Italy.

by Rossella Rinaldi, Laura Sadori, Emilia Allevato, Mauro Rottoli, francesca susanna, and Marco Giardini

In: Morel J.P., Mercuri A.M. (Eds.) Plants and culture: seeds of the Cultural Heritage of Europe. PaCE, a project for Europe. , 2009

Questo articolo nasce dalla cooperazione di ricercatori che portano avanti indagini archeobotanic... more Questo articolo nasce dalla cooperazione di ricercatori che portano avanti indagini archeobotaniche e iconografiche in campo nazionale (Gruppi di interesse scientifico e tecnico operativo di Paleobotanica e di Botaniche Applicate della Società Botanica Italiana) ed internazionale (International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany). L’idea di cooperazione su una pianta di notevole interesse culturale è nata in seno al progetto PaCE, che vede riunita in questo volume molta ricerca centrata sulla ricostruzione della storia botanica d’Europa. In questo lavoro sono state verificate dagli autori sia le rappresentazioni iconografiche che le notizie provenienti da fonti letterarie sul pesco. Il pesco venne introdotto in Italia nella prima metà del I sec. d.C. Le fonti storiche indicano la sua presenza da circa il 40 d.C., ma i reperti archeobotanici sembrerebbero retrodatare di almeno un decennio la sua presenza, almeno in Italia settentrionale. I macroresti di pesco sono costituiti quasi esclusivamente dai resistenti endocarpi legnosi o da frammenti degli stessi. Sono spesso rinvenuti in quantitativi scarsi in contesti funerari ed in zone portuali di età Romana imperiale, ma talvolta trovati in grandi quantità in sedimenti archeologici ricchi d’acqua, sepolti e spesso conservati in condizioni anossiche (i cosiddetti waterlogged remains riportati nella letteratura inglese, la cui traduzione italiana “resti sommersi” non sembra rendere a pieno la denominazione originale di quei macroresti considerati un tempo come particolari resti mummificati). La loro presenza in giardini privati e ville rustiche di età classica fa pensare che il pesco fosse utilizzato e apprezzato sia a scopo ornamentale che alimentare. Dati preliminari ottenuti da ricerche morfobiometriche condotte sui nòccioli di pesca sembrano indicare l’esistenza di diverse cultivar già durante il primo periodo di coltivazione in Italia (del resto erano state importate dall’Asia dove erano già in fase ben avviata di coltivazione) e che una grande variabilità si sia conservata anche nel Medioevo. I ritrovamenti di età medievale e rinascimentale suggeriscono che all’epoca il consumo di pesche era ridotto, se non limitato, a contesti abitativi particolarmente ricchi quali castelli o palazzi signorili.