Ricerc@Sapienza

Archeobotanica nella valle del Murghab

In 2015, a paper on the archaeobotany as a key tool ‘for the understanding of the bio- cultural diversity of the Italian landscape’ gave rise to a new initiative, the realization of the first cooperative network of archaeobotanists and palynologists working on archaeological sites located in Italy. The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network has been introduced at MedPalyno2015 in Rome. Now the BRAIN database is ready as a website at https://brainplants.unimore.it

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

This paper reports the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data from a disposal pit, whose use started after the partial closure of a staircase, and from a mortar surface within a former porch in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex in Rome, Italy. The two contexts were in use in the Early Modern Age, when the complex served as a cardinal seat.

Results of archaeobotanical analyses carried out in a Renaissance pit situated in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex in Rome are presented. The study focuses on carpological remains, preserved through mummification by desiccation. The complex, first attest- ed in 499 AD, underwent a long series of transformations and ad- ditions over the course of the centuries. In the 13th century it was divided between a monastery filiated with the Umbrian Abbey of Sassovivo and a vast palace, meant to host the cardinals.

The beginning of Iron Age in Central Italy witnessed increasing social complexity, urbanization processes and climatic instability. However, understanding the mutual relations of these events as well as their effects on past agriculture is still a complex matter. This research aims at investigating changes in agricultural systems and environmental variability through the analysis of macrobotanical samples retrieved from multiple archaeological contexts dating between the 10th and the 6th century BCE.

The study of plant and animal remains from archaeological sites provides important evidences on past human diet: these include species selection, food preparation practices, consumption, and discard; furthermore, information on social status may also be inferred from organic materials recovered during archaeological excavations.

The present study concerns the analysis of the plant remains found in the archaeological site of Motya, a
small islet (ca. 40 ha) located in the Stagnone di Marsala, a coastal lagoon of western Sicily. Due to its
strategic, harbored position in the middle of the Mediterranean and the presence of fresh-water springs, the
site was chosen by Phoenicians as a settlement in the 8th century BCE until the siege of Motya in 397/6 BCE.
The study of macro-remains, retrieved using bucket floatation, focused on two closed contexts: the votive

The site of Motya, also called Mozia or Mothia, is a small islet in the middle of the Mediterranean, found in the Marsala lagoon, along the western coast of Sicily. Due to its strategic and harboured position, as well as the presence of a fresh-water source, the site has
been constantly occupied since the 17th century BCE. Motya is best known for its PhoenicioPunic occupation, which started in the 8th century BCE and continued until the siege of Motya, in 397 BCE.

The current research aims to reconstruct plant cultivation and plant use of the Phoenicians at Motya, a small island set along the Western Sicilian coast, through the study of macro- (seeds and charcoal) and micro-fossils (pollen) and the support of archaeological evidence. The archaeological settlement is most known for its Phoenician-Punic occupation (late 8th century B.C.