Testimonianze archeocarpologiche dallo spazio verde del Palazzo Vescovile di Modena (XII sec. d.C.) e confronto con la flora modenese attuale.

The archaeological excavations in the Bishop’s Palace of Modena brought to light a canal (12th century AD) filled with plant material. Seeds and fruits, above all waterlogged and with a good state of preservation, are more than 50.000 and the floristic list include 156 taxa. Archaeobotanical analyses show that the canal was partly naturally, partly anthropically filled up, but it was rarely used as garbage and latrine waste. Probably the canal, rich of wet ground plants, was close to a kitchen garden and a little orchard, with fruits, vegetables, aromatics/medicinal plants and weeds and ornamental plants. The revision of the Flora of the Province of Modena allows us to compare past and present; many taxa found in the archaeobotanical record are today rare, disappeared and take cover in the hills of the Emilia Romagna.