The city of Ferrara (Emilia Romagna, northern Italy) is located on the left bank of the branch of the medieval channel of the Po River,the “Po of Ferrara”. This paper presents the results of the geoarchaeological study of the stratigraphic sequence exposed duringexcavations in Corso Porta Reno, located at an intermediate position between the palaeo-Po alluvial ridge and the adjacent floodplain.The area, also referred to as the “San Romano complex”, was excavated between 1981 and 1984, revealing an exceptionally well-pre-served sequence, comprising occupation deposits and structural remains dated between the 8 th and the late 13 th century AD.Geoarchaeological observations in the field and the micromorphological study of soil thin sections allowed the reconstruction of thenatural and anthropic processes involved in the formation of the site stratigraphic sequence. This is characterised by an alternatingsuccession of anthropogenic units (trampled domestic deposits, layers deriving from construction, destruction and/or refurbishing ofbuildings, materials from decantation within anthropic structures) and of natural alluvial deposits (light-coloured sandy layers oftenshowing cross laminations, linked to a crevasse-splay context active during the human dwelling). The waterlogged nature of the site,the rapid rate of sedimentary accretion, and the sealing of the sequence due to the construction of a brick house in the 13 th centuryavoided the well-stratified deposit to be heavily homogenized by bioturbation or reworked by later human activities. The model envisa-ged at Corso Porta Reno could partly explain the strong vertical accretion of urban deposits during the Middle age and provide a pos-sible mode of formation for thick “Dark Earth” sequences in medieval cities in active alluvial settings.
L’articolo presenta i risultati dello studio geoarcheologico della sequenza stratigrafica esposta durante gli scavi archeologici in CorsoPorta Reno a Ferrara, in un’area posta tra il dosso del paleo-Po e la piana alluvionale adiacente. Il sito, conosciuto anche come “com- plesso di San Romano”, fu scavato tra il 1981 e il 1984 e restituì depositi d’abitato ed elementi strutturali datati tra l’VIII ed il XIII secolod.C., in eccezionali condizioni di conservazione. Lo studio geoarcheologico sul campo, integrato da quello di sezioni sottili, ha per- messo di ricostruire i processi naturali e le attività antropiche responsabili per la formazione della sequenza stratigrafica del sito. Essa ècaratterizzata dall’alternanza di unità antropogeniche (depositi di origine domestica soggetti a calpestio, unità derivanti dalla costruzio- nee/o dalla distruzione di edifici, sedimenti decantati all’interno di strutture negative) e di depositi alluvionali naturali (strati sabbiosi di colore chiaro, spesso con laminazioni incrociate, legati ad un ambiente di lobo di rotta attivo durante la frequentazione antropica del sito).Le condizioni di saturazione idrica, il rapido accrescimento sedimentario e la costruzione di un edificio in mattoni nel XIII secolo hannoevitato che la stratificazione originaria del sito venisse omogeneizzata dalla bioturbazione o sconvolta da attività antropiche nei secoli successivi. Il modello delineato in Corso Porta Reno potrebbe in parte spiegare la forte crescita verticale delle stratificazioni urbanedurane il Medioevo e fornire un modello per la formazione di spesse “Terre Nere” in città poste in ambienti alluvionali attiv
Corso Porta Reno, Ferrara (Northern Italy): a study in the formation processes of urban deposits / M. Cremaschi, C. Nicosia. - In: IL QUATERNARIO. - ISSN 0394-3356. - 23:2bis(2010), pp. 373-386.
Corso Porta Reno, Ferrara (Northern Italy): a study in the formation processes of urban deposits
M. CremaschiPrimo
;
2010
Abstract
The city of Ferrara (Emilia Romagna, northern Italy) is located on the left bank of the branch of the medieval channel of the Po River,the “Po of Ferrara”. This paper presents the results of the geoarchaeological study of the stratigraphic sequence exposed duringexcavations in Corso Porta Reno, located at an intermediate position between the palaeo-Po alluvial ridge and the adjacent floodplain.The area, also referred to as the “San Romano complex”, was excavated between 1981 and 1984, revealing an exceptionally well-pre-served sequence, comprising occupation deposits and structural remains dated between the 8 th and the late 13 th century AD.Geoarchaeological observations in the field and the micromorphological study of soil thin sections allowed the reconstruction of thenatural and anthropic processes involved in the formation of the site stratigraphic sequence. This is characterised by an alternatingsuccession of anthropogenic units (trampled domestic deposits, layers deriving from construction, destruction and/or refurbishing ofbuildings, materials from decantation within anthropic structures) and of natural alluvial deposits (light-coloured sandy layers oftenshowing cross laminations, linked to a crevasse-splay context active during the human dwelling). The waterlogged nature of the site,the rapid rate of sedimentary accretion, and the sealing of the sequence due to the construction of a brick house in the 13 th centuryavoided the well-stratified deposit to be heavily homogenized by bioturbation or reworked by later human activities. The model envisa-ged at Corso Porta Reno could partly explain the strong vertical accretion of urban deposits during the Middle age and provide a pos-sible mode of formation for thick “Dark Earth” sequences in medieval cities in active alluvial settings.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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