Dataset Information

Life on a hilltop: vegetation history, plant husbandry and pastoralism at the dawn of Bergamo-Bergomum (northern Italy, 15th to 7th century bc).

ABSTRACT: Cores and trenches drilled or dug in religious and secular buildings in the hilltop town of Bergamo (northern Italy) were investigated by means of micro/macrobotanical and pedochemical analysis to unravel the cultural vegetation history of the area during ca. seven centuries across the Bronze-Iron Ages. We explore the predictive power of biological proxies, nutrients, and coupled 14C datings to reveal early phases of human settlement and activity in a modern urban context with low visibility and difficult accessibility. Our records suggest that a farming centre was active on the Bergamo hilltop as early as the 15th century bc. Crop and animal husbandry reached a high point between the 11th-8th century bc. Plant and biogeochemical proxies predict extensive and diversified cereal cropping, flax and grapevine cultivation, as well as herd stalling at a watering pond, free range livestock growing in woodlands, and pastoralism, shown by hay making and overgrazing evidence. The suggestive hypothesis of carding wool is mentioned but is currently untenable. Furthermore, we identified a possible phase of abandonment starting from the 8th century bc, to be further investigated, and in agreement with archaeological data suggesting settlement decline in the 8th-6th century bc. Our research highlights the dedication to pastoralism of the Bergamo hill since prehistoric times. The settlement position was strategic for pastoralists to exploit biological and water resources in space, season and elevation, i.e. from the plain to higher Alpine pastures. Ethnographic examples and Middle Age written sources strongly support this picture.

SUBMITTER: Pini R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7605146 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Life on a hilltop: vegetation history, plant husbandry and pastoralism at the dawn of Bergamo-Bergomum (northern Italy, 15th to 7th century bc).

Pini Roberta R Ravazzi Cesare C Comolli Roberto R Perego Renata R Castellano Lorenzo L Croci Camilla C De Amicis Mattia M Khair Davide Abu El DAE Furlanetto Giulia G Marsetti Diego D

Vegetation history and archaeobotany 20201102 4

Cores and trenches drilled or dug in religious and secular buildings in the hilltop town of Bergamo (northern Italy) were investigated by means of micro/macrobotanical and pedochemical analysis to unravel the cultural vegetation history of the area during ca. seven centuries across the Bronze-Iron Ages. We explore the predictive power of biological proxies, nutrients, and coupled <sup>14</sup>C datings to reveal early phases of human settlement and activity in a modern urban context with low vis ...[more]

PMID: 33162679

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Project description:Domestication of wild cattle, sheep, and pigs began a process of body size diminution. In most of Western Europe this process continued across prehistory and was not reversed until the Roman period. However, in Italy, an increase in livestock body size occurred during the Iron Age, earlier than the Western provinces. In order to better understand the nature and timing of this early increase in animal size, this paper presents a detailed regional study of taxonomic abundance and biometric data from zooarchaeological assemblages recovered from the Po and Venetian-Friulian Plains in northern Italy. Our results demonstrate a high level of regionality in the choice of species exploited, with husbandry systems focused on different domesticates, as well as regional differences in animal size. However, despite significant variation in species frequencies, settlement structure, and epigraphic tradition, all areas with sufficient data demonstrate similar significant changes in livestock body size. Cattle and sheep increased incrementally in size prior to the Roman conquest in all regions considered; surprisingly, pigs continued to decrease in size throughout later prehistory. The incremental pace and pan-regional character of the size change in cattle and sheep suggests an internally motivated phenomenon rather than herd replacement with a new larger population, as might follow colonisation or conquest. The divergence in size trends for bovids and suids suggests a noteworthy change in cattle and sheep herding practices during the Iron Age or final centuries of the Bronze Age, in contrast with greater continuity in pig management. Our analysis provides a thorough zooarchaeological synthesis for northern Italy and, for the first time, demonstrates that both cattle and sheep increased in size outside of Roman territory well before the conquest of this area. This study offers a basis for future chemical analyses (DNA, isotopes), which will further investigate the cause(s) of livestock size changes in northern Italy.

Dataset Information

Life on a hilltop: vegetation history, plant husbandry and pastoralism at the dawn of Bergamo-Bergomum (northern Italy, 15th to 7th century bc).

Publications

Life on a hilltop: vegetation history, plant husbandry and pastoralism at the dawn of Bergamo-Bergomum (northern Italy, 15th to 7th century bc).

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