Elisabetta Castiglioni’s research while affiliated with Azienda Sanitaria Locale di Milano and other places

Societal Impact Statement Agrobiodiversity is central to sustainable farming worldwide. Cultivation, conservation and reintroduction of diverse plant species, including ‘forgotten’ and ‘underutilized’ crops, contribute to global agrobiodiversity, living ecosystems and sustainable food production. Such efforts benefit from traditional and historical knowledge of crop plants' evolutionary and cultural trajectories. This review is a first attempt at systematically gauging species representativeness in studies of archaeological plant remains. Results indicate that, in addition to discipline‐specific methodological sources of bias, modern agricultural biases may replicate themselves in crop history research and influence understandings of ‘forgotten crops’. Recognizing these biases is an initial stride towards rectifying them and promoting agrobiodiversity in both research and practical applications. Summary So‐called ‘forgotten’ or ‘orphan’ crops are an important component of strategies aimed at preserving and promoting biodiversity. Knowledge of historical cultivation, usage, and geographic and evolutionary trajectories of plants, that is, crop history research, is important for the long‐term success of such efforts. However, research biases in the crops chosen for study may present hurdles. This review attempts to systematically identify patterns in crop species representativeness within archaeology‐based crop history research. A meta‐analysis and synthesis of archaeobotanical evidence (and lack thereof) is presented for 268 species known to have been cultivated for food prior to 1492 CE from the Mediterranean region to South Asia. We identified 39 genera with known crop plants in this geographical and historical context that are currently absent from its archaeobotanical record, constituting ‘orphan’ crops of archaeobotany. In addition, a worldwide synthesis of crop species studied using geometric morphometric, archaeogenetic and stable isotope analyses of archaeological plant remains is presented, and biases in the species represented in these disciplines are discussed. Both disciplinary methodological biases and economic agenda‐based biases affecting species representativeness in crop history research are apparent. This study also highlights the limited geographic diffusion of most crops and the potential for deeper historical perspectives on how crops become marginalized and ‘forgotten’.

In order to identify new crops in the 1st millennium ce in northern Italy, a complex and diversified territory, archaeobotanical macroremains from 155 sites dating between the 2nd century bce and 12th century ce were analysed. In more than half of the sites, taxa were encountered that had never previously been recorded from the area. The new crops are about 30, mainly (~ 70%) fruit plants in the broad sense, which have a clear peak in this time period. Based on the available data, the most prominent time for the introduction of new food plants (both imports and cultivars) seems to have been the Roman Imperial period (1st–2nd century ce), but also later, in Late Antiquity (3rd–6th century ce) and the Middle Ages (7th–12 century ce), there was no lack of new arrivals. Some fruit trees, such as Prunus persica (peach) and Pinus pinea (stone pine) immediately played an important role, and have continued to do so over time, as these are still grown in the area now.

Crop cultivation and consumptions preferences in Bronze Age and Iron Age Lombard. Despite the large number of Bronze and Iron Age sites in Lombardy, the available archaeobotanical data are rather poor and discontinuous. The analysis of plant remains preserved in archaeological deposits is still too occasional in Italy and it does not fall into the standard practice of archaeological investigations, although this discipline has gained in recent years much more interest and attention. Usefully, the Bronze Age is documented in Lombardy by a significant array of lacustrine and fluvial settlements where the waterlogged archaeological layers favoured the preservation of plant remains, even not charred. Some of these sites have been the subject of recent multidisciplinary investigations including detailed archaeobotanical ones. This resulted in the identification of new cultivars (e.g. Carthamus tinctorius) and allowed a closer appreciation of the broad spectrum of cultivated crops, particularly cereals. Furthermore, it stressed the importance of some cereal crops, such as the ‘new glume wheat’ (Triticum nn or T. cf timopheevii), which was introduced in Italy in the Neolithic period and gained considerable importance in the Bronze Age. During the Middle Bronze Age, broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) is a well-established crop and pulses acquire greater importance, despite they are still poorly represented in the carpological record. Iron Age sites yielded only carbonized plant materials. Broomcorn millet and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) are the dominant cereal crops. Either naked wheat or hulled wheat (emmer and einkorn) are abundant at some sites; barley is frequent but not particularly abundant. Spelt and rye appear at some sites as an established crop. Horse bean, lentil, and bitter vetch remarkably increase their presence/frequency in this period confirming the trend towards an increase in pulse cultivation started in the Middle Bronze Age, when these species, even if already present, were never abundant.

Pastoral occupation of the uplands in the Bronze Age: first data from the MZ051S site (Camp da Ortisé, Val di Sole, Trento, Italy) - Available data on human occupation of mountain areas in late Prehistory are still rather scarce. Despite the growing archaeological interest in the uplands, few upland archaeological sites have been investigated in the Alps. In this paper, a new Bronze Age site from Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy) is presented. The site, a large dry-stone enclosure named MZ051S, has been investigated as part of the ALPES project (Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole). MZ051S is located in Val Poré, on a glacial plateau at 2240 metres of elevation. The excavations carried out between 2015 and 2019 uncovered a modest and poorly characterised archaeological assemblage, which includes lithic artefacts and potsherds. Scientific analyses provided significant multidisciplinary data on the site stratigraphy, chronology and formation, on its geographical and environmental context and on the characteristics of sediments and soils in the area. These new data contributed to inferring the evolution of this Alpine landscape, the dynamics of human occupation of the uplands of Val di Sole in the last 4000 years and the human impact on the vulnerable local environment, which preserves glacial and periglacial morphologies. Preliminary reconstructions suggest a first human occupation, related to the pastoral use of the valley, during the Early Bronze Age, followed by a more ephemeral presence in the Middle Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Evidence of human activities during the Medieval and Modern period, identified in other sites of the valley, has not been recorded at MZ051S. Geoarchaeological and palaeobotanical data seem to suggest the establishment of practices that led to the acceleration of soil-erosion processes during the Bronze Age and the subsequent degradation of soils in the area. The data derived from the investigation of MZ051S, albeit preliminary, are crucial to understand the processes of exploitation of the uplands in late Prehistory in the central-eastern Alps and to infer the complex interactions between anthropic and natural factors in mountain environments.

Holy food. Rites in the Grotta dei Cocci of Narni (TR), the levels with ceramics “a fasce brune” of the early Neolithic – The Cave dei Cocci of Narni (TR - Umbria) on the right bank of river Nera is known from over 50 years, it has been object of archaelogical investigations between 1989-2001. The investigations examined structures perhaps concernig rites or cults dating at the half of the VI millennium. The pottery of early levels is connected to the “fasce brune” facies. In Umbria this was also known in the cave “I Pozzi della Piana” of Titignano (Orvieto) in territorial continuity. RIASSUNTO – La Grotta dei Cocci di Narni (TR - Umbria) è situata di fronte alla città sulla sponda destra del Nera. Conosciuta da oltre 50 anni, è stata oggetto di scavo tra il 1989 e il 2001. Gli scavi hanno messo in luce strutture verosimilmente legate a riti o culti risalenti alla metà del VI millennio. I materiali fittili più antichi sono ricollegabili alla facies della ceramica a fasce brune. In Umbria questa era nota da alcuni decenni nella grotta de “I Pozzi della Piana” di Titignano (Orvieto).

Lycopus is a widespread herbaceous plant, currently part of European flora. Fossil remains of fruits (nutlets or mericarps) attributed to this genus are frequently found in European archaeological and palaeontological sites, being easily preserved in sedimentary deposits. In a worldwide context, the oldest fossils are from the early Oligocene (ca. 30 Ma) of West Siberia, but they become more common in Miocene (23.0–5.3 Ma) records, ranging from West Siberia to Central Europe. In the literature, the Oligocene and Miocene remains (plus a few Pliocene ones) were assigned to fossil-species, whereas the abundant Pliocene and Pleistocene occurrences (5–0.01 Ma) in Europe were mainly assigned to the extant species L. europaeus. The present work is conceived as the result of an ad hoc research team whose task was to revise and summarize the Italian fossil record of Lycopus, assembling palaeobotanical and archaeobotanical data. We herein report ca. 6000 Lycopus nutlets from 61 sites located in nine regions of Northern and Central Italy. Based on the available information on extant species, we detected nine morphological types of nutlets that can be used for the characterisation of fossils. Our analysis suggests that from 4 to 2.6 Ma a single taxon (L. cf. pliocenicus) with L. americanus-type of nutlets occurred in Italy. The first occurrence of the latter morphological type is from the early Oligocene of West Siberia. The available fossils mildly suggest that extant L. americanus could be the descendant of ancient Eurasian plants characterised by the L. americanus-type of nutlets, through expansion of their range to North America. Conversely, the abundant Italian records of the last 0.2 Ma, including remains from archaeological sites, are only referable to the Eurasian species L. europaeus.

This paper is a review of the seeds/fruits obtained from about one hundred Roman period archaeological sites (ca. 3rd century bc to 6th century ad) located in Northern Italy. The types of deposit involved are various, and come from residential, productive and other structures (A sites), and cemeteries and cult areas (B sites). The aim of this study is to highlight the seeds/fruits of food plants that have been found in the Roman archaeological sites in this area. Only cultivated and wild plants that, according to Latin literary sources, were used for food are considered. The result is a list of about one hundred plant taxa. There are four principal categories: cereals, pulses, fruit s.l. and vegetables/spices. Moreover, finds of “bread” were recorded in several sites. The subdivision of most detailed data into four chronological phases (“Romanization”/Republican Age, Imperial Age, Late Roman, Late Antiquity) shows clearly the evolution of plant food consumption that attained maximum complexity during early Imperial times and progressively changed and fragmented in subsequent periods.

An abundance of plant remains (pollen, seeds/fruits and wood) and wood artefacts was found during the excavation of an Etruscan-Roman well located at Cetamura del Chianti in Tuscany, Italy, which contained rich cultural and ecofact assemblages in a stratified context. The findings provide evidence for the presence of a mixed oak forest during the time span of the usage of the well. The main decline of deciduous Quercus, possibly due to forest clearance, is recorded during the late Etruscan period (ca. 300–100/50 B.C.). A diffusion of Quercus ilex occurred during the Roman period (from ca. 50 B.C. to 68 A.D.). Food plants are well represented in the well, particularly cereals and grapevine. The morphometric analysis of the grape pips suggests that fully domesticated forms were cultivated, and that wild fruits may have been gathered in the woods or harvested from weakly domesticated individuals. Some botanical finds could possibly be linked to ritual practices, although the state of preservation of the seed/fruit record, the majority waterlogged, does not meet criteria for carbonized remains used for attributing the plant remains to ritual offerings.