Pollen analysis in the early Middle Ages Florence (Italy)

In the summer of 2018, during the repaving works of Piazza della Repubblica in Florence (Italy), the excavations revealed anthropized levels from the Roman age up to today. The modern Piazza lies upon the ancient foro of Florentia, a roman colony founded in 59 BC. The foro was a paved square adorned with monumental buildings, among which the Capitoline Temple. In the Middle Ages the square became the “Old Market” of the city, surrounded by the towers of the most prominent Florentine families. The excavation works in the square offered the opportunity to collect pollen samples from a stratigraphic sequence dated to the Early Middle Ages (6th-7th centuries), a moment of severe instability in the city. The analysis revealed rather good pollen preservation and high absolute pollen frequencies. Most part of the grains belonged to herbaceous plants, with a constant presence of primary (mainly cereals) and secondary anthropogenic indicators and a noticeable amount of hygrophilous plants (Cyperaceae and Poaceae Glyceria type), suggesting the possible presence of puddles of stagnant water on the ground.