Archeobotanica di siti mesolitici, neolitici ed eneolitici di pianura dell’Emilia Romagna

The present study concerns the archaeobotanical investigations (palynologycal, microanthracological, anthracological and carpological analyses) of 11 prehistoric sites of the periods pre-Mesolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Eneolithic. The excavation of the sites has been carried out by the Soprintendenza Archeologica of the Emilia Romagna region. The aims of this research have been those to reconstruct the vegetation landscape and its evolution in the different chronological phases, to gain information about the cliamte, about the anthropization of the plain and about the development of the subsistence economy starting from the mesolithic cultural phases, characterized by hunting and gathering, to the diffusion of the complex phenomenon of agriculture during Neolithic. The research focused on a high number of sites in order to develop a map of the vegetation landscape in prehistoric times, rather than concentrate on the detailed study of a single site. The investigated sites are: Le Mose (PC), Casalecchio di Reno (BO), Forlì, Cantiere ANAS (FC), via Berlinguer, Riccione (RN), Cava via Macchioni, Spilamberto (MO), via Guido Rossi, Parma (PC), via Navicella, Forlì (FC), Sant’Andrea di Travo (PC), via Bisaura, Faenza (RN), via Canalazzo, Forlimpopoli (FC) e Provezza (FC). In all, 73 pollen and micro-anthracological samples, 32 carpological samples and 38 anthracological samples have been analyzed. Afterwards, the main features of the landscape have been subdivided according to time periods (pre-Mesolithic – beginning of the Preboreal; pre- Mesolithic – end of the Preboreal; Mesolithic; early Neolithic; middle and late Neolithic; Eneolithic) on the base of vegetation patterns, of the concerned references, of radiocarbon dating and of material culture found on the sites. This analysis brought out clearly how the vegetation was still completely natural during the pre-mesolithic and Mesolithic phases. During Preboreal spread wide forests of Conifers, while afterwards, thanks to ameliorations of climatic conditions, they have been substituted by deciduous broadleaf woodlands and clear openings. Since neolithic period, the landscape starts to be modified above all by human activities and first of all, by the practice of deforestation through fire, that seems to intensify during middle and late Neolithic and particularly during Eneolithic time. This practice was used to reduce woodland with the aim to open the landscape for the settlement, the agriculture and, particularly for pastures. Since the early neolithic period, agriculture seems already well established and interested by the practice of polyculture. This technique, characterized by a fairly good variety of crops in the same space, increases further in a second step, when associated with the cultivation of pulses, flax and poppy.