Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of the Late Holocene sedimentary archive of Grotta Scura cave (Central Italy)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The Grotta Scura cave locate an archaeological site in the Central Italy municipality of Castelnuovo di Farfa. Archaeological excavations at the site have revealed cultural materials that were dated to the period 1600 - 1400 BC, which falls within the Middle Bronze Age. While archaeology revealed the cultural stratigraphy at the site, the environmental context of the past human activities remains obscure. This thesis investigates Grotta Scura's paleoenvironment through analysis of pollen recovered from the site. Vegetation changes were analyzed using arboreal and non-arboreal pollen records. The results indicated the existence of a mixed forest with subtropical evergreen and temperate deciduous broadleaved trees. The results indicate that Grotta Scura was surrounded by an open woodland landscape during the Middle Bronze Age, which suggests that vegetation was heavily affected by human activity. Both subtropical evergreen and temperate deciduous broadleaved trees dominated the surrounding landscape of the cave. The high proportion of non-arboreal taxa that are associated with human activity, within the assemblage points to a significant presence of humans. A gradual abandonment of human activity at Grotta Scura is indicated by the progressive increase of trees and the sparse cultural material in levels 1 and 2 compared to level 6 of the stratigraphy. Nevertheless, pollen indicators for pastoral activities suggests that the surrounding territory was continuously exploited. Comparison of Olea pollen at Grotta Scura with other regional sites in Central Italy suggests that the cultivation of this plant was influenced by local geomorphology.