Palaeoenvironment, Settlement, and Land Use in the Late Neolithic—Bronze Age Site of Colombare di Negrar di Valpolicella (N Italy, On-Site)

Palynological and archaeobotanical analyses have been carried out as part of the interdisciplinary project of Colombare di Negrar, a prehistoric site in the Lessini Mountains (Northern Italy). The palaeoenvironmental and economic reconstruction from the late Neolithic to the beginning of the early Bronze Age was based on 16 pollen samples from Trench 4 and Trench 5. Three samples of macroremains were taken from Trench 5. The landscape reconstruction shows the presence of natural clearings in the wood. Forest cover was characterised by oak wood, with Ulmus and Tilia. The intermediate morphology of size and exine of Tilia cordata/platyphyllos pollen may be regarded as the first palynological evidence of lime hybrids in palaeorecords. Hygrophilous trees and Vitis vinifera testify to the presence of riparian forests and moist soils. Among trees supplying fruits, in addition to the grapevine, hazelnut and walnut were also present. A mixed economy based on animal breeding and cultivation of cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monoccoccum, T. dicoccum, T. timopheevii) emerges from the data. The combined analysis of pollen and plant macroremains describes the presence of different activities carried out simultaneously in Colombare and a relationship between natural resources and the socio-economic and cultural evolution of the territory.