The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network-BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website

Abstract

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

Full text

M. Mariotti Lippi, A. Florenzano, R. Rinaldi, E. Allevato, D. Arobba, G.
Bacchetta, M. C. Bal, M. Bandini Mazzanti, A. Benatti, J. Beneš, G.
Bosi, M. Buonincontri, R. Caramiello, L. Castelletti, E. Castiglioni, A.
Celant, E. Clò, L. Costantini, G. Di Pasquale, F. Di Rita, G. Fiorentino,
G. Furlanetto, M. Giardini, O. Grillo, M. Guido, M. Herchenbach, D.
Magri, M. Marchesini, M. Maritan, S. Marvelli, A. Masi, A. Miola, C.
Montanari, M. C. Montecchi, S. Motella, R. Nisbet, M. Orrù, L. Peña-
Chocarro, C. Pepe, R. Perego, E. Rattighieri, C. Ravazzi, M. Rottoli, E.
Rowan, D. Sabato, L. Sadori, M. Sarigu, P. Torri, M. Ucchesu & A. M.
Mercuri
The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN:
a cooperative network, database and website*
Abstract
Mariotti Lippi, M., Florenzano, A., Rinaldi, R., Allevato, E., Arobba, D., Bacchetta, G.,
Bal, M. C., Bandini Mazzanti, M., Benatti, A., Beneš, J., Bosi, G., Buonincontri, M.,
Caramiello, R., Castelletti, L., Castiglioni, E., Celant, A., Clò, E., Costantini, L., Di
Pasquale, G., Di Rita, F., Fiorentino, G., Furlanetto, G., Giardini, M., Grillo, O., Guido,
M., Herchenbach, M., Magri, D., Marchesini, M., Maritan, M., Marvelli, S., Masi, A.,
Miola, A., Montanari, C., Montecchi, M. C., Motella, S., Nisbet, R., Orrù, M., Peña-
Chocarro, L., Pepe, C., Perego, R., Rattighieri, E., Ravazzi, C., Rottoli, M., Rowan, E.,
Sabato, D., Sadori, L., Sarigu, M., Torri, P., Ucchesu M. & Mercuri, A.M.: The Botanical
Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and
website. — Fl. Medit. 28: 365-376. 2018. — ISSN: 1120-4052 printed, 2240-4538 online.
The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network
was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological
sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and
synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main
steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation
to the website which has a free online access since 2015.
Key words: archaeobotany, network, database, Italy, Mediterranean.
Fl. Medit. 28: 365-376
doi: 10.7320/FlMedit28.365
Version of Record published online on 20 December 2018
*Extended and enriched version of the poster presented at the International Symposium "Botany at
the intersection of Nature, Culture, Art and Science", Selinunte, 28-30 June 2018.

Introduction
Italy is an extraordinary cradle of cultural heritage located at the centre of the
Mediterranean basin, hotspot of biodiversity, rich of habitats (Blasi 2010; Bartolucci & al.
2018) and scenery for incessant migrations and trade over the last millennia. Scholars from
every side of the world come to this country to study the long-term coexistence between
Culture and Nature, an interaction that has resulted in an uncountable number of archaeo-
logical sites.
Therefore, it is not a surprise that an interdisciplinary research field like archaeobotany,
joining archaeology and botany, is so well developed that the study of pollen and other
plant remains is more and more introduced in the archaeological projects planned in Italian
sites (e.g. Roman Peasant Project: Bowes & al. 2015; SicTransit:
www.sicilyintrasition.org) or considered in the vegetation history of the Mediterranean
area (e.g. Mercuri & Sadori 2014; Fyfe & al. 2018). The archaeobotanical approach has
been especially developed for the understanding of the relationships between people and
environment, genesis and developing of cultural landscapes (De Pascale & al. 2006;
Perego & al. 2011; Di Rita & Melis 2013; Di Rita & al. 2018), features and spread of cul-
tivated species (Orrù & al. 2013; Sabato & al. 2015, 2017; Ucchesu & al. 2016, 2017; Bosi
& al. 2017), links between plant processing and the religious value of food (Celant &
Fiorentino 2017; Primavera & al. 2018), uses in medicinal preparations (Giachi & al.
2013), understanding of particular practices like metallurgy (Toffolo & al. 2018). The
study of economic transformations under environmental/climate changes is investigated by
considering plant exploitation and managing in prehistoric periods (de Marinis & al. 2005;
Di Rita & al. 2010; Fiorentino & al. 2013; Cremaschi & al. 2016; Melis & al. 2018; Sadori
2018) and in historical ages (Greek: Florenzano 2016; Roman: Caramiello & al. 2013;
Montecchi & Mercuri 2018; Moser & al. 2018; Bosi & al. 2018; Medieval and
Renaissance: Bandini Mazzanti & al. 2005; Bosi & al. 2009; Rottoli 2014; Buonincontri
& al. 2017). The research is usually highly interdisciplinary promoting a holistic and eco-
logical approach to knowledge (Stagno & al. 2014; Vittori Antisari & al. 2016; Benvenuti
& al. 2017; Arobba & al. 2018), also connecting palaeoecology with historical perspective
(Izdebski & al. 2016), historical ecology (Moreno & Montanari 2008; Molinari &
Montanari 2016), ecology (Marignani & al. 2017) and conservation themes (Bosi & al.
2015; Piovesan & al. 2018). Land cover and land use are explored in interdisciplinary
investigations carried out through the analyses of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs,
microcharcoals, seeds and fruits, woods/charcoals, and less frequently via starch grains,
phytoliths and other plant parts (Revedin & al. 2010; Guido & al. 2013; Mariotti Lippi &
al. 2015; Pini & al. 2016a, 2016b; Mariotti Lippi & al. 2017). The research demonstrates
that palynology is not only able to reconstruct long-term and regional vegetation history
(Sadori & al. 2013), as well as the fire history of certain regions (e.g. Lago di Como:
Martinelli & al. 2017), but this versatile science is also useful to known the ‘where, when
and how’ of cultural landscapes development at ecological, formal and cognitive levels
(Mercuri 2014). Indeed, the different approaches complement each other, highlighting the
power of archaeobotany as a basic tool in reconstructing the history of past cultures and
societies (Sadori & al. 2010; Celant & al. 2015).
366 Mariotti Lippi & al.: The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany ...

From the scientific cooperation to the network
In 2014, the 9th EPPC European Palaeobotanical and Palynological Conference was
held in Padua and saw the joint action of many Italian scholars in the fields of palaeob-
otany, palynology and archaeobotany. This stimulated the preparation of the book ‘La
Storia delle piante fossili in Italia/Palaeobotany of Italy’ (Kustatscher & al. 2014)
which deals with the long and illustrious history of the Italian palaeobotanical studies
and the classical and modern methods for analyzing plant remains. The last paper of
this book (Mariotti Lippi & al. 2014) consists of the first synthesis on the main
researches (more than 200 research papers) and approaches on the botanical investiga-
tion on archaeological sites in Italy.
In this central Mediterranean country, archaeobotany was born during the first half of
the 18th century when plant remains from archaeological excavations of the Vesuvian area
became the focus of interest for a number of scholars (Borgongino 2006). The well-pre-
served plant remains were exhibited in Palazzo Caramanico (the Royal Palace) at Portici,
near Naples. Starting with the researches in Palaeolithic sites, which shed light on the diet
of the hunter-gatherer populations, the paper takes into consideration the origin of agricul-
ture, the plant resource exploitation and human impact in the Bronze Age and Iron Age,
cultivation and landscape management during the Roman Period up to the Middle Ages.
As an output of that congress, moreover, a volume on ‘Changing flora and vegetation
in Italy through time’ was edited by Bertini & al. (2015) as special issue of the Review of
Palaeobotany and Palynology hosted seventeen papers/syntheses on Permian and Triassic,
Jurassic, Messinian, up to Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene vegetation history, probably
one of the best examples of trans-chronological overview of Palaeobotany with high-level
scientific examples. Three papers especially focused on archaeobotanical general (Roman
harbours: Sadori & al. 2015) and site-centered themes (Fiorentino & Parra 2015; Mercuri
& al. 2015a). Moreover, in a synthesis on the archaeobotanical research on Italian contexts
(Mercuri & al. 2015b), fifteen archaeobotanist teams working on records collected from
archaeological sites put together their data to write the first paper on the ‘state of the art’
of the archaeobotanical research in this country.
After that joint paper, the data collected were organised in a database that is free online
and ready to be improved at www.brainplants.successoterra.net (formerly https://brain-
plants.unimore.it/index.html).
The database-network BRAIN
BRAIN - Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network was firstly introduced at the
MedPalyno2015 Congress in Rome. It is a database of archaeobotanical research and analyses
from archaeological sites in Italy. Under request, this database is now integrated with sites close
to archaeological sites (off-sites, or near-sites: Mercuri & al. in press), and from sites located in
the Mediterranean countries (Fig. 1).
Following the idea that archaeobotany is a key tool ‘for the understanding of the bio-
cultural diversity’, the web site hosts the inventory of the archaeological researches includ-
ing pollen, palynomorphs, seeds/fruits, wood, charcoals and other plant remains analyses,
Flora Mediterranea 28 — 2018 367

fruitfully used to deepen the history of past vegetation, land cover, land-uses and
palaeoethnobotany.
Currently, BRAIN includes >660 sites which has been object of archaeobotanical stud-
ies, among which 110 in Emilia Romagna, 74 in Apulia, 67 in Lombardy, 64 in Latium,
and 39 in Tuscany. The studies have been mainly carried out on Neolithic (119), Bronze
age (117), Iron Age (97), Roman (192), and Medieval contexts (119) (Fig. 2).
The website consists of six pages, two of which are especially dedicated to the database
including Sites and References. Site position and density are immediately visible in a map
while three graphs show updated statistics on the number of sites per area, or Cultural peri-
od, or type of plant remain. References may be sorted in alphabetical order, or author
names. The first section included only On-sites; recently, three new sections were added:
Off-sites, Spot records, and Extra-Italy. New contributors are welcomed.
BRAIN network is a useful instrument for both single and joint researches. The website
is also a good way to publicize the impressive work done in the field of archaeobotany in
the Italian on-sites (archaeological) or near-sites (human-related environmental sites) and
makes the archaeobotanical data available for archaeological researches and studies on
conservation and biodiversity on a long-term perspective.
The huge amount of data produced in the last few decades demonstrates that Botany has
a key role in improving the knowledge of cultural/archaeological and natural heritage. The
increase of the number of papers on archaeobotany (as evinced from BRAIN) shows the
versatility and increasing importance of this science in the last years (Fig. 3).
368 Mariotti Lippi & al.: The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany ...
Fig. 1. BRAIN: The Logo (left) puts together humans and plants in one design whose profile recalls
a female entity like science, botany and archaeobotany (by Serena Ferretti, Reggio Emilia).
Distribution map of the sites in BRAIN (right).

Flora Mediterranea 28 — 2018 369
Fig. 2. BRAIN database: real-time statistics on the sites (retrieved October 12, 2018, from
https://brainplants.unimore.it/sites.html): a) number of on-sites per region; b) on-sites per culture (M
= Mesolithic; N = Neolithic; Ch = Chalcolithic; B = Bronze age; I = Iron age; E-A = Etruscan-Archaic
period; H = Hellenistic period; R = Roman age; Ma = Medieval ages; Re = Renaissance; Mo =
Modern age); c) on-sites per type of botanical record (p = pollen; npp = non-pollen palynomorphs;
cp = micro-charcoal particles; ph = phytoliths; S/F = seed and fruit; W = wood; Wt = wood tool; C
= charcoal; M = mould; T = textiles; Bk = basketry; Ot = adobe, bread or similar food, leaves and
microsporophylls, mastic, moss, plant tissues, ropes, straw, wick).

Acknowledgements
The financial support of BRAIN is given by research funds provided by AM Mercuri. The website
and database has been programmed and is updated by Ing. Matteo di Lena and Federico Camerini;
the logo was created and drawn by Arch. Serena Ferretti (Reggio Emilia). The authors wish to thank
the Organizing Committee of the “Selinunte International Symposium 2018” for the opportunity to
present the BRAIN database and network.
MML and AMM planned the contribution and wrote the text, with the help of AF and RR; all
Authors read and contributed to the synthesis.
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Addresses of the authors:
Marta Mariotti Lippi1, Assunta Florenzano2, Rossella Rinaldi2, Emilia Allevato3,
Daniele Arobba4, Gianluigi Bacchetta5, Marie-Claude Bal6, Marta Bandini
Mazzanti2, Alessandra Benatti2, Jaromir Beneš7, Giovanna Bosi2, Mauro
Buonincontri3, Rosanna Caramiello8, Lanfredo Castelletti9, Elisabetta Castiglioni10,
Alessandra Celant11, Eleonora Clò2, Lorenzo Costantini12, Gaetano Di Pasquale3,
Federico Di Rita11, Girolamo Fiorentino13, Giulia Furlanetto14, Marco Giardini11,
Oscar Grillo5, Mariangela Guido15, Michael Herchenbach16, Donatella Magri11,
Marco Marchesini17, Michele Maritan18, Silvia Marvelli17, Alessia Masi11, Antonella
Miola18, Carlo Montanari15, Maria Chiara Montecchi2, Sila Motella9, Renato
Nisbet19, Martino Orrù5, Leonor Peña-Chocarro20, Caterina Pepe11, Renata Perego14,
Eleonora Rattighieri2, Cesare Ravazzi14, Mauro Rottoli10, Erica Rowan21, Diego
Sabato5, Laura Sadori11, Marco Sarigu5, Paola Torri2, Mariano Ucchesu5& Anna
Maria Mercuri2,
1Dip. Biologia, Università di Firenze, Via la Pira 4, 50100 Firenze, Italy. Email:
mariotti@unifi.it
2LPP, Dip. Scienze Vita, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Viale Caduti in
Guerra 127, 41121 Modena, Italy. Email: assunta.florenzano@unimore.it;
rossella.rinaldi@unimore.it; marta.mazzanti@unimore.it; aleben87@yahoo.it; gio-
vanna.bosi@unimore.it; eleonora.clo@unimore.it; mc.montecchi@gmail.com;
ratti68@hotmail.com; paola.torri@unimore.it; annamaria.mercuri@unimore.it
3Dip. Agraria, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici
(NA), Italy. Email: eallevat@unina.it; mauropaolo.buonincontri@unina.it;
gaetano.dipasquale@unina.it
4Museo Archeologico del Finale, Ist. Int.le Studi Liguri, Chiostri di Santa Caterina,
17024 Finale Ligure Borgo (SV), Italy. Email: arobba@museoarcheofinale.it
5Banca del Germoplasma della Sardegna (BG-SAR), Hortus Botanicus Karalitanus
(HBK), Università degli Studi di Cagliari, viale Sant’Ignazio da Laconi 9-11, 09123
Cagliari, Italy. Email: bacchet@unica.it; oscar.grillo.mail@gmail.com;
martino.orru@gmail.com; diegosabato@libero.it; msarigu@unica.it; marianoucch-
esu@gmail.com
6GEOALB-UMR 6042, Department of Geography, Université de Limoges, Limoges,
France. Email: marie-claude.bal@unilim.fr
7University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, LAPE; Faculty of Philosophy, Institute
of Archaeology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Email: benes.jaromir@gmail.com
Flora Mediterranea 28 — 2018 375

8DBios, Università di Torino, Viale P.A. Mattioli 25, 10125 Torino, Italy. Email:
rosanna.caramiello@unito.it
9Laboratorio di Archeobiologia dei Musei Civici di Como, piazza Medaglie d’Oro 1,
22100 Como, Italy. Email: lanfredo.castelletti@gmail.com; sila.motella@uninsubria.it
10AR.CO. Società Cooperativa di Ricerche Archeobiologiche, piazza Medaglie
d’Oro 1, 22100 Como, Italy. Email: castiglioni.eli@alice.it; archeobotanica@alice.it
11Dip. Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5,
00185 Roma, Italy. Email: alessandra.celant@uniroma1.it; federico.dirita@uniro-
ma1.it; donatella.magri@uniroma1.it; alessia.masi@uniroma1.it;
caterina.pepe@uniroma1.it; laura.sadori@uniroma1.it
12Centro di Bioarcheologia e Microscopia Elettronica, Museo Nazionale d’Arte
Orientale “Giuseppe Tucci”, Via Merulana 248, 00185 Roma, Italy. Email: l.costan-
tini@mclink.it
13Laboratorio di Archeobotanica e Paleoecologia, Dip Beni Culturali, Università del
Salento, Via D. Birago 64, 73100 Lecce, Italy. Email: girolamo.fiorentino@unisalento.it
14CNR I.D.P.A. Vegetation, Climate and Human Stratigraphy Research Group, c/o
DISAT, Univ. Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 1, 20126 Milano, Italy. Email:
giulia.furlanetto@idpa.cnr.it; renaperego1@gmail.com; cesare.ravazzi@idpa.cnr.it
15Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica, DIP.TE.RIS., Università di Genova,
Corso Dogali 1 M, 16136 Genova, Italy. Email: maria.angela.guido@unige.it;
carlo.montanari@unige.it
16Institut fϋr Geschichtswissenchaft, University of Bonn, Germany. Email: mher-
chenbach@uni-bonn.de
17Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica, C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, Via
Marzocchi 17 c/o ARE “La Bora”, 40017 San Giovanni in Persiceto (BO), Italy.
Email: mmarchesini@caa.it; smarvelli@caa.it
18Dip Biologia, Università di Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35121 Padova, Italy.
Email: michele.maritan@unipd.it; antonella.miola@unipd.it
19Dip Studi sull’Asia e sull’Africa Mediterranea, Università Ca’ Foscari, San Polo
2035, Calle del Magazen, 30125 Venezia, Italy. Email: renato.nisbet@unive.it
20CSIC, GI Arqueobilogía, Instituto de Historia, C/Albasanz 26-28, 28037 Madrid,
Spain. Email: leonor.chocarro@csic.es
21Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham TW20 0EX, United
Kingdom. Email: erica.rowan@rhul.ac.uk
376 Mariotti Lippi & al.: The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany ...