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When palynology meets classical archaeology: the Roman and medieval landscapes at the Villa del Casale di Piazza Armerina, UNESCO site in Sicily

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Abstract

Palynological researches have been carried out in the framework of cooperative projects with local and national institutions at the Villa Romana del Casale of Piazza Armerina, a small town in central Sicily. The site was studied within a multidisciplinary geo-bio-archaeological set of studies aiming at understanding the economy and environment at a local scale. Analyses allowed us to reconstruct the natural vs cultural landscape dynamics from Roman to medieval periods. On the basis of 85 samples, pollen diagrams show that the site has been built in a low forest cover area, with signs of both natural/semi-natural cover and complex anthropogenic activities. These activities include cereal fields and pastures. There is evidence of ornamental (e.g. Platanus, Buxus) and fruit trees (above all Olea, and also, e.g. Corylus, Prunus and Juglans). The research also includes a detailed study about the finding of Vitis pollen grains in the Roman site. In the subsequent phases, pollen shows again an open, fairly treeless, landscape with Mediterranean and hilly vegetation. Anthropogenic signs are evident in the form of groves and orchards. Our data bring evidence and details about the intense land exploitation that had contributed to transform the environment of central Sicily during the Middle and Late Holocene. Data demonstrate that archaeopalynology may be fruitfully regarded as a tool to understand the current landscape structure.

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Notes

  1. Data from the official Web site: http://www.villaromanadelcasale.it/la-villa-romana-del-casale2/statistica-visitatori-in-villa (accessed 21 March 2016).

  2. Available at: http://www.minambiente.it/sites/default/files/archivio/allegati/biodiversita/lista_rossa_flora_italiana_policy_species.pdf

  3. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC–43 AD. Orationes, In Verrem 2, 2.5) ‘Itaque ille M. Cato Sapiens cellam penariam rei publicae nostrae, nutricem plebis Romanae Siciliam nominabat’, referring to Marcus Porcius Cato ‘the Censor’ (234–139 BC).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank several persons who encouraged and support our research: Arch. Rosa Oliva, former director (2013–2016) of the regional office ‘Servizio Museo Regionale della Villa Romana del Casale a Piazza Armerina’; Arch. Guido Meli, former director of the regional centre ‘Centro Regionale Progettazione e Restauro’ of Palermo; Prof. Patrizio Pensabene (Università Sapienza, Rome) and Prof. Paolo Barresi (Università Kore, Enna), directors of the archaeological fieldworks and Dott. Salvatore Roccaforte of the ‘Servizio Museo Regionale della Villa Romana del Casale a Piazza Armerina’.

Special thanks go to MCM’s PhD tutors Prof. Carla Alberta Accorsi and Prof. Patrizio Pensabene. The project ‘Il vino di Polifemo’ (Polyphemus’s wine) was supported by the Italian Ministry (Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, L. 20/02/2006 n.77) and by the Municipality of Piazza Armerina.

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  1. Laboratorio di Palinologia e Paleobotanica, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Viale Caduti in Guerra 127, 41121, Modena, Italy

    Maria Chiara Montecchi & Anna Maria Mercuri

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  1. Maria Chiara Montecchi
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Correspondence to Maria Chiara Montecchi.

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Montecchi, M.C., Mercuri, A.M. When palynology meets classical archaeology: the Roman and medieval landscapes at the Villa del Casale di Piazza Armerina, UNESCO site in Sicily. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 743–757 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0442-9

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