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This paper is a review of the seeds/fruits obtained from about one hundred Roman period archaeological sites (ca. 3rd century bc to 6th century ad) located in Northern Italy. The types of deposit involved are various, and come from residential, productive and other structures (A sites), and cemeteries and cult areas (B sites). The aim of this study is to highlight the seeds/fruits of food plants that have been found in the Roman archaeological sites in this area. Only cultivated and wild plants that, according to Latin literary sources, were used for food are considered. The result is a list of about one hundred plant taxa. There are four principal categories: cereals, pulses, fruit s.l. and vegetables/spices. Moreover, finds of "bread" were recorded in several sites. The subdivision of most detailed data into four chronological phases ("Romanization"/Republican Age, Imperial Age, Late Roman, Late Antiquity) shows clearly the evolution of plant food consumption that attained maximum complexity during early Imperial times and progressively changed and fragmented in subsequent periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeobotanical analyses (mainly on seeds and fruits – over 1000 l of sieved material with unpublished data) from three urban sites (2nd cent. BC – 2nd cent. AD) provided interesting ethnobotanical information about a Roman colony, Mutina (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy), founded in 183 BC. In this paper, comparisons are made between productive areas, landfills and one site that shows the evolution of a rich domus . The information obtained concerns the environment in which the town was born and developed, but especially plant-man relationships (food, crafts, green décor etc.) in a thriving Roman colony in Northern Italy. A good example is provided by analyses carried out in a tank, where the recovery of some archaeozoological finds indicates that it was used for fish farming; this hypothesis is supported by some particular vegetal findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the city centre of Modena (Emilia Romagna, Northern Italy) a noteworthy amount of carpological remains attributable to flax and weld came to light dated to the Imperial Age (first half 1st century a.d.). Flax remains, i.e. capsules and extremely small seeds, suggest the presence of either immature seeds and fruits of cultivated flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) or of a wild flax species ( Linum bienne Mill.). The quantity of these remains along with the co-presence of seeds of Reseda luteola, an important dye plant, leads to the hypothesis of the cultivation of both flax and weld for textile manufacturing purposes, which are attested as important in the economy of the Roman period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]