The cultivation of Castanea sativa (Mill.) in Europe, from its origin to its diffusion on a continental scale (original) (raw)
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Anthracological analysis has been carried out in the Medieval site of Miranduolo, a rural settlement in southern Tuscany with a sequence of occupation between the 7th and 14th century AD. Between the 7th and mid-9th century AD, during the phase of a Lombard farming village, the strong presence of Castanea sativa as timber for building showed that chestnut was the preferred species for carpentry and fuelwood, suggesting coppice management of chestnut woods for timber production. The Miranduolo data, set against the archaeobotanical data in the literature, rejected the hypothesis of chestnut cultivation as a fruit tree and corroborated the hypothesis that the plant was initially used for timber production during the Early Middle Ages,continuing the woodworking tradition of the Roman period. From the mid-9th century AD, during the Carolingian feudal system, chestnut in the feudal estate of Miranduolo ceased to be used for building and firewood, while deciduous Quercus was preferred. At the same time, chestnut fruits began to be picked and kept in warehouses at the disposal of the feudal lord, suggesting the management of chestnut woods for fruit production. Comparison with existing archaeobotanical data revealed that chestnut cultivation for fruits began in this period in other Italian regions also, encouraged by different economic systems. From the 10th century, in Miranduolo chestnut was exploited both for timber and fruit suggesting the abundance of this resource in high managed stands. Comparison with coeval archaeological sources, archaeobotanical data and pollen records suggested from this period the strong expansion of this species that gradually took place throughout central and southern Italy, becoming a ‘multifunctional’ high-forest. The current chestnut forest landscape in central Italy is thus of human origin, expanding and changing over about 1000 years of cultivation
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Anthracological analysis has been carried out in the Medieval site of Miranduolo, a rural settlement in southern Tuscany with a sequence of occupation between the 7th and 14th century AD. Between the 7th and mid-9th century AD, during the phase of a Lombard farming village, the strong presence of Castanea sativa as timber for building showed that chestnut was the preferred species for carpentry and fuelwood, suggesting coppice management of chestnut woods for timber production. The Miranduolo data, set against the archaeobotanical data in the literature, rejected the hypothesis of chestnut cultivation as a fruit tree and corroborated the hypothesis that the plant was initially used for timber production during the Early Middle Ages, continuing the woodworking tradition of the Roman period. From the mid-9th century AD, during the Carolingian feudal system, chestnut in the feudal estate of Miranduolo ceased to be used for building and firewood, while deciduous Quercus was preferred. At the same time, chestnut fruits began to be picked and kept in warehouses at the disposal of the feudal lord, suggesting the management of chestnut woods for fruit production. Comparison with existing archaeobotanical data revealed that chestnut cultivation for fruits began in this period in other Italian regions also, encouraged by different economic systems. From the 10th century, in Miranduolo chestnut was exploited both for timber and fruit suggesting the abundance of this resource in high managed stands. Comparison with coeval archaeological sources, archaeobotanical data and pollen records suggested from this period the strong expansion of this species that gradually took place throughout central and southern Italy, becoming a ‘multifunctional’ high-forest. The current chestnut forest landscape in central Italy is thus of human origin, expanding and changing over about 1000 years of cultivation.
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2019
Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa has been regarded as a Roman archaeophyte in Britain since the eighteenth-century AD. This research re-examined that thesis, collecting new evidence from genetic, dendrochronological, archaeological and historical analyses, using archived specimens, published reports, peer review and novel fieldwork. The main research and original fieldwork focused on England and Wales, within a British, Irish and continental European context. Sweet chestnut landscapes were identified as ancient inclosures, ancient coppice woods, historic boundaries, historic gardens, historic deer parks and designed parklands, historic formal avenues, and more recent high forest and production coppice. Genetic analysis determined that the oldest British sweet chestnut trees/stools derived from parts of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Romania. Some of these sources were refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum for sweet chestnut and other nut-bearing trees (oak, hazel, beech). Innova...
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IANSA 2013.2, 2013
This contribution deals with ethnobotanical knowledge and archaeobotanical findings of the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) in the Czech Republic. The appearance of Castanea sativa depended on the last glaciation and consequently approximately six areas as refugia are known up to present in Europe. Later distribution was primarily connected with human activities particularly during the Roman age. Archaeobotanical evidence during the Late Medieval period is rare in Central Europe and Early Modern evidence is exceptional. Despite the fact that this period has opened up new kind of relationships between humankind and plants, archaeobotanical analyses of materials dated to this period are still fairly rare. The unique collection of macroremains enriching our knowledge of the diet standard of high society, originating from the waste vault infill in Prague Castle, supports the importance of the use of sweet chestnuts at the beginning of the 17th century. Based on recent archaeobotanical and historical data, chestnuts were not known in the Czech Republic earlier than the 16th century when the first experimental planting began. This paper has given special attention to those first planting referred to as “kaštánky” in the scope of the ethnobotanical survey. In addition, the valuable multiple utilisation placed Castanea sativa among the most important useful plants.
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The bread tree: a primer on the culture of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) in Portugal
2014
The European or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is an important multipurpose tree that is much heralded in Portuguese history and culture, for both the quality of its wood and its exceptionally versatile nuts. The sweet chestnut’s specific nomenclature sativa is derived from the Latin botanical adjective meaning cultivated and is used to designate certain seed-grown, domestic crops. Most Portuguese take it for granted that the cultivation of the chestnut tree, or castanheiro, was introduced and spread by the Romans. Studies based on fossil records, however, reveal that the occurrence of the Castanea sativa formations in Portugal date as far back as 8,000 years—pre-dating the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula by millennia (Paiva 2007). Although chestnut can be found throughout Portugal, it is most widely distributed in the northern and central mountainous areas of the country It can also be found in the mountains of São Mamede (northern Alentejo province) and the Monch...
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Landscapes of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) in Britain -their ancient origins
Landscape History, 2019
Sweet chestnut Castanea sativa has been regarded as a Roman archaeophyte in Britain ever since a debate in the eighteenth century contested whether it was indigenous or introduced. This paper reexamines its status, presenting new evidence within an 'historical ecology' analytical framework. Sweet chestnut trees and coppice stools from 237 sites across England and Wales were assessed using genetic, dendrochronological, palaeoenvironmental, archaeological, and historical analyses. Seven types of 'sweet chestnut landscape' were identified: ancient inclosures/ groves; ancient coppice woods; historic boundaries; historic gardens; ancient deer parks and historic parklands; historic formal avenues; and more recent high forest and production coppice. Genetic analysis has indicated that the sources of the oldest British sweet chestnut trees and stools lie in parts of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy which were refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Tree and stool antiquity are verified for the first time through clonal analysis and dendrochronology. The earliest written record of sweet chestnut growing in Britain found in this study was A.D. 1113, referencing a boundary marker tree for Goldcliff Priory in southeast Wales. Later twelfth-century records evinced localised coppiced woods, nut production and 'totemic' plantings of individual trees in noble house and garden settings. By the eighteenth century sweet chestnut was extensively planted in designed parklands and avenues; and in woods, mostly as 'industrial' coppice. Present-day 'landscapes of sweet chestnut' are endowed with ancient trees, stubs and coppice stools of great significance for cultural and ecological interests.
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Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2004
Knowledge about the glacial refugia of the thermophilous European Castanea sativa Mill. (sweet chestnut) is still inadequate. Its original range of distribution has been masked by strong human impact. Moreover, under natural conditions the species was probably admixed with other taxa (such as Quercus, Fraxinus, Fagus, Tilia) and thus possibly represented by low percentages in pollen records. In this paper we try to overcome the difficulties related to the scarcity and irregularity of chestnut pollen records by considering 1471 sites and extending the palynological approach to develop a Castanea refugium probability index (IRP), aimed at detecting possible chestnut refugia where chestnuts survived during the last glaciation. The results are in close agreement with the current literature on the refugia of other thermophilous European trees. The few divergences are most probably due to the large amount of new data integrated in this study, rather than to fundamental disagreements about data and data interpretation. The main chestnut refugia are located in the Transcaucasian region, north-western Anatolia, the hinterland of the Tyrrhenian coast from Liguria to Lazio along the Apennine range, the region around Lago di Monticchio (Monte Vulture) in southern Italy, and the Cantabrian coast on the Iberian peninsula. Despite the high likelihood of Castanea refugia in the Balkan Peninsula and north-eastern Italy (Colli Euganei, Monti Berici, Emilia-Romagna) as suggested by the IRP, additional palaeobotanical investigations are needed to assess whether these regions effectively sheltered chestnut during the last glaciation. Other regions, such as the Isère Département in France, the region across north-west Portugal and Galicia, and the hilly region along the Mediterranean coast of Syria and Lebanon were classified as areas of medium refugium probability. Our results reveal an unexpected spatial richness of potential Castanea refugia. It is likely that other European trees had similar distribution ranges during the last glaciation. It is thus conceivable that shelter zones with favourable microclimates were probably more numerous and more widely dispersed across Europe than so far assumed. In the future, more attention should be paid to pollen traces of sporadic taxa thought to have disappeared from a given area during the last glacial and post-glacial period.
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