Back from the Vesuvius Landscape

In the Mediterranean, man, certainly present as homo erectus as demonstrated by the arcaeological site of Monte Carmelo, Ternifine, Atapuercq and Isernia dated back of about one million years, participated to the anthropization which interested other mediterranean-type ecosystems. In the mediterranean, despite the vesuvius has been the first volcano to write its name in history when, in 79 b.C. Set off its explosive fury, burying foreve Pompeii and Herculaneum, Stabia and Oplontis, its natural landscape had already been interested by the motphologic changes of other natural catastrophies. In fact, the analysis carried out on sediments that cover the archaeological excavations in the vesuvianareahighlighted how the landscape has been produced not only by anthropic activities but also by several nature processes in various eras. So, from an evolutive point of view the asset of the vesuvian landscape has not only felt the presence of the volcano and its eruptive event of 79 b.C. that without a doubt changed its morphology conditioning and modifying the geographic area from a natural and anthropic point of view. In fact, as millenniums passed by, the Somma-Vesuvius eruptions have spread their products not only around the cone but throughout the whole Campania plane, reaching the Apennines and much beyond; the presence of ancient human settlements and the formation of ancient volcanic products and the following deposit of extremely fertile volcanic products allowed in the Vesuvian area the realization of a co-evolution between man and vegetation beginning from ancient times. So, plants of the vesuvian landscape are part of a very interesting botanical biodiversity because produced by theco-evolution of man and vegetation, phenomenon that built up a decisive factor for the development of civilizations in the Mediterranean, probably a unique happening in the history of humanity. A description of what could be the look of the vesuvia landscape is given by AnnamariaCiarallo: "It is not easy to imagine the Vesuvian landscape of two thousand years ago. Long before the devastating urbanization effect of the last fifty years there was the eruption of 79 dC. that change profoundly the appearance of the Vesuvius plain, making it in fact unrecognizable to the inhabitants themselves. Piroclastic emissions were so important to fill the valleys, divert the river course, move the coastline forward" (Ciarallo, 2001). Again AnnamariaCiarallo states that: "In order to know the local flora of 79 b.C., and therefore to rebuild natural and cultivated environments, the analysis of plant artefacts that have come to us, such as woods, pollen, seeds, fruits, is crucial" (Ciarallo, 2012). These studies have made possible to reconstruct the natural history of the Vesuvian landscape starting from the catastrophe of 79 AD, and not only: in fact, thanks to archaeobotanics, it has been possible to reconstruct the natural history rooted in very distant ages, as evidenced by the prehistoric village Found in Nola in the Croce of the Pope, named the Pompeii of the Bronze Age, because buried by the eruption of the Vesuvius, known as Pompei di Avellino (1860-1680 BC), where they were found next to the footprintsof cereal stalls, Vegetal and floral remains. Despite the volcano's destructive force, man has always returned to dedicating himself to the Vesuvius landscape characterized by the fertility of the soil; in the landscape, the signs of the spread of agricultural crops present in the area for millennia can be seen still today, mainly characterized by fruit growing and vine cultivation, despite the progressive loss ofagriculturallandforthe benefit of wild cementing. About the study of vegetation present before the 79 d.C.AnnamariaCiarallo says, "It is not the only study of the micro and macrorestial plants to reveal what were the most common species in the Vesuvian territory: the frescoes, in fact, often depicted plant subjects and sometimes so accurately to allow, in the case of cultivated plants , to define its varieties" (Ciarallo,2001). In fact, in the reconstruction of ancient Pompeii natural environment, a great contribution has been made to the study of frescoes depicting the vegetable world; Pompeian botanical iconography is an extraordinary document for the reconstruction of the natural history of the ancient Vesuvius landscape. The naturalistic representation confronted with plant findings allowed to outline the Rus in urbe in Pompeii; the most significant case is the lemon plant, represented magistically in a fresco of the House of Floral Cubicles or Orchard (I, 9) the remains of which were discovered in the House of the Wedding of Hercules and Ebe (VII, 9) and confirmed the time's.Below, the table in which are the plant subjects depicted in the paintings found in the ancient Pompeii and the Domus from which frescoes come from, listed by AnnamariaCiarallo, are related (Ciarallo 2006).