Crops in Neolithic Northern Italy sourced from the Western Mediterranean

[Angela]

[COLOR=#202020 !important][COLOR=black !important][FONT=arial-black_b !important]Crop Analysis May Link Neolithic Communities in Europe[/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#202020 !important]BASEL, SWITZERLAND—According to a statement released by the University of Basel, researchers led by Ferran Antolín of the University of Basel have found traces of the same kinds of plants at Neolithic pile dwellings at Isolino di Virginia, an artificial island in northern Italy’s Lake Varese, and pile-dwelling settlements in northern and central Switzerland. Radiocarbon dating of the plant remains, including durum wheat, barley, opium poppy, and flax, indicate that the houses built on stilts on Isolino di Virginia were inhabited as early as 4950 to 4700 B.C. Yet agriculture in northern Italy some 7,000 years ago usually involved the cultivation of hulled wheats such as emmer. Plants like those grown on the island were more likely to have been cultivated in the western Mediterranean region, Antolín explained. Remains of these same types of plants have also been found at the sites of the oldest known pile-dwelling settlements in Switzerland, which have been dated to 4300 B.C. Antolín and his colleagues suggest that groups of people from the western Mediterranean may have migrated through the Alps to new areas, or their culture may have spread through trade. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. For more on pile-dwelling settlements, go to "The Neolithic Toolkit."[/COLOR]

 

[Stefano]

Thank you, really interesting.
I imagine it was convenient to live near the lakes, there is a microclimates around them which favourites the cultivations.
Nowadays around lake garda (lombardy) they produce olive oil.

 

[Angela]

What's always also interested me is that they continued to build their houses on piles even when they expanded out onto dry lands.

There doesn't seem to be any consensus as to why other than to perhaps just follow tradition.

I certainly would be in favor of it versus building on an earthen floor. No creepy crawlies, which scare me I'm ashamed to say, perhaps greater protection from snakes and rats, which also scare me, and a dryer surface on which to make beds.

 

[Stefano]

Yes, probably protecting the grains from rodent was a major factor. Where did you get the information that pile dwellings were used also on dry land?
Wikipedia states that there are 111 prehistoric pile dwelling around the alps, all near wetland, river or lakes.

 

[Angela]

Yes, probably protecting the grains from rodent was a major factor. Where did you get the information that pile dwellings were used also on dry land?
Wikipedia states that there are 111 prehistoric pile dwelling around the alps, all near wetland, river or lakes.

They can be found much later on, long after the Neolithic, in Terramare settlements in Emilia.

"The Terramare, in spite of local differences, is of typical form; each settlement is trapezoidal, with streets arranged in a quadrangular pattern. Some houses are built upon piles even though the village is entirely on dry land and some are not. There is currently no commonly accepted explanation for the piles. The whole is protected by an earthwork strengthened on the inside by buttresses, and encircled by a wide moat supplied with running water.^[6] In all over 60 villages are known, almost entirely from Emilia. In the Middle Bronze Age they are no larger than 2 ha (4.9 acres) placed at an average density of 1 per 25 km² (9.7 sq mi). In the Late Bronze Age many sites have been abandoned and the ones that were not are larger, up to 60 ha (150 acres).^[2]The remains discovered may be briefly summarized. Stone objects are few. Of bronze (the chief material) axes, daggers, swords, razors, and knives are found, as also minor implements, such as sickles, needles, pins, brooches, etc. Also remarkable is the finding of a large number of stone moulds, needed to obtain the bronze objects.^[7][8] There are also objects of bone and wood, besides pottery (both coarse and fine), amber, and glass paste. Small clay figures, chiefly of animals (though human figures are found at Castellazzo), are interesting as being practically the earliest specimens of plastic art found in Italy.^[6]"

 

[Stefano]

I thought of terrramare too when i read this post on pile dwellings.
Italian wikipedia states that Terramare are derived from an expansion of Polada culture, i think it is reasonable that the practice of living in pile dwellings can be traced back to neolithic.
Keep in mind that the Padan Plain was more swampy and forested than today. It still is very humid and fog is common. It was convenient to keep living on pile dwellings even on dry land, which is easily subjected to flooding and water stagnation.
From italian wikipedia ( source M. Bernabò Brea et al., L’Emilia tra antica e recente età del Bronzo, in M. Bernabò Brea Preistoria e Protostoria dell’Emilia Romagna. Studi di Preistoria e Protostoria, 3, II, Firenze, 2018, pp. 9-32,)
"The main reason that determined this progressive colonization of the plain, previously sparsely inhabited and occupied by an extensive lowland forest, was a generalized population increase and probably an oscillation of climatic conditions towards a cooler and more humid climate (climatic oscillation of Löbben)."
Right now i can't find the source but i've read that based from soil analysis the terramare deforested using the slash and burn method, adopted on padan plain since the neolithic, to create spaces for cultivation.
However most part of the plain remained marsh and forested until the roman period.

 

[Angela]

Well, we know that the lakeside pile dwellings in the OP date to the Neolithic. I think it's certainly possible and perhaps even probable that the Bronze Age Terramare people didn't necessarily re-invent the wheel in terms of putting dwellings on piles.

I've seen on other sites questions as to why Terramare was restricted to Emilia and didn't extend to the Romagna. From my readings it would appear that entire area was mostly swamp until the Romans drained it.

On a personal note, I once saw a movie which featured a house built on piles literally in a lake with glass walls fronting the water. I can't imagine anything more heavenly. Even better if it could be done in the sea. I absolutely could not live too far from water.

 

[Stefano]

Yes, the romans drained lot of areas in italy to make them suitable for agricolture. they even deforested sicily if i am not wrong.

I have a special thing for water too, especially when combined with nature and plants=). i love calm lakes and ponds with reeds and small creeks in the forest.
As i read your post the image of neolithic pile dwelling with blue flax flower growing around and wheat field not far was really beautiful in my mind.