RICOSTRUZIONE DEL PAESAGGIO VEGETALE NATURALE E CULTURALE DELLA CITTA’ DI VENEZIA NEL MEDIOEVO, CON FINESTRE DI ETA’ PREROMANA, ROMANA E RINASCIMENTALE SU BASI PALINOLOGICHE, CARPOLOGICHE E XILO-ANTRACOLOGICHE

The thesis focuses on the archaeobotanical study (micro-remains: pollen and ferns spores, macro-remains: seeds, fruits, woods and charcoals) of six sites located in the city of Venice and two in the surrounding lagoon. The eight sites were investigated starting from 2000 under the direction of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Veneto-NAUSICAA and are mostly of Medieval age, with some occupation phases in the pre-Roman age, the Roman period, the Renaissance and the post-Renaissance age. The present work represents the first systematic archaeobotanical study which was ever carried out in the town of Venice. All the phases of the analysis have been undertaken according to the current international standards. As a whole, the analysis has involved the study of 106 pollen samples, 9 seeds/fruits and wood/charcoal samples obtained by sieving and 59 wooden artefacts. The samples come from the following sites: A) City of Venice (74 samples): 1) Piazza San Marco: 17 pollen samples (8 of Medieval age and 9 of the Renaissance period); 2) Cà Vendramin Calergi- Casinò Municipale: 12 pollen samples (8 of Medieval age and 4 of the Renaissance period); 3) Cà Foscari: 12 pollen samples (10 of the Late Roman Age and 5 of Medieval age); 4) Palazzo Carminati: 10 pollen samples (all of which of Medieval age); 5) Palazzo Genovese: 12 pollen samples (8 of the Late Roman Age, 3 of Medieval age and 1 of the Renaissance period); 6) Arsenale: 8 pollen samples (4 of Medieval age, 2 of the Renaissance period and 2 of an uncertain chronology); B) North-eastern lagoon (32 samples): 7) Cà Ballarin: 10 pollen samples (3 pre-Roman, 5 Roman, 2 Late Roman Age) and 8) Lazzaretto vecchio: 22 pollen samples (7 Medieval period, 11 Renaissance, 4 post-Renaissance). All the samples have undergone the routine treatments. The preservation state of most finds (pollens, seeds/fruits, woods/charcoals) is good/excellent. The list of plants is very rich: 375 taxa have been identified, ca. 90 of which belong to wooden plants; 230 are herbs and 15 pteridophytes. The archaeobotanical data obtained have allowed the evolution of the vegetal and cultural landscape of Venice to be reconstructed from the origin to the Modern period: in the pre-Roman period the area is scantly populated; a wide lagoon is present with some large sandbanks and areas covered with meso-hygrophilous oakwoods and hygrophilous alder forests. During the Roman age the anthropic pressure becomes intense, with wood felling and a substantial increase in agricultural activities; in the Late Roman period the area appears more forested and dominated by extensive oakwoods and hygrophilous forests with a decrease of anthropic activities. In the Medieval age the landscape goes through further changes: it becomes more open, wooden free, with a high anthropic pressure and a good economy (commercial trade, a rich and varied diet, etc.) as it is testified by the presence of numerous botanical finds and exotic species. This trend will continue in the Renaissance period until the beginning of the Modern age, with several finds which give evidence of the refined tastes and the richness of the Venice society.