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

SUBMITTER: Pini R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7605146 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature