Phosphorus, stable isotopes and fatty acids of soils as tools for recognizing a Bronze Age droveway in the Valli Grandi Veronesi (North Italy)

Abstract

This study focuses on the surroundings of the terramara of Castello del Tartaro in the lowland of Valli Grandi Veronesi (North Italy) outside a Bronze Age village enclosed by channels and embankments, where two groups of double parallel side drainage ditches running from northwest to southeast were found. This evidence has been interpreted as a “Big Road” and more precisely a droveway, possibly used for the passage of cattle. The road was sampled along a section, at 4 different levels of depth, and the content in inorganic and organic phosphorous was assessed. In the sampled section the content of phosphorus shows the presence of discontinuities and strong phosphorus accumulation in the layers under the arable land. The analysis of the stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen attests to traces of herbivores, while the comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography analysis identified a high number of significant fatty acids suggesting the presence of fats from ruminant animals. The results, as a whole, corroborate the hypothesis of a droveway. This hypothesis agrees with both paleobotanical and zooarcheological data from the territory around the embanked settlements. This study thus underlines the importance of cattle husbandry within the complex commercial relationships that characterized the Bronze Age.