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The diluvium aquarum: geologic evidence and geoarchaeological constrains of extreme floods in northern Italy during early Middle Ages
No full textBetween the second part of the sixth century and the seventh century, many regions of Europe have been characterized by dramatic changes in the hydrographic setting, probably related to a strong cooling phase (Büntgen et al., 2016; Helama et al., 2017). In the Mediterranean region the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire is described by many authors as an interval characterized by important alluvial processes (e.g. floods, river avulsions and alluvial aggradation in the mountain valleys), strongly contrasting with the general geomorphological stability of Roman Age and Late Antiquity. Some important chronicles of early Middle Ages report the occurrence of very high-magnitude floods, often described by ancient historians as diluvium (deluge), contributing to create a sort of myth around an out-of-scale event or a longer meteo-climatic phase (Cremonini et al., 2013).
In the framework of the INQUA project “EX-AQUA: Palaeohydrological Extreme Events, evidence and archives” (1623P), a review of the traces of early Medieval floods occurred in Northern Italy was carried out. The study considered new information and critically re-analyses previous available data, supplied by geomorphological, stratigraphic and geoarchaeological evidence, ancient documents and written sources.
In Northern Italy a fast and strong sedimentary phase occurred between 5th and 9th century AD, leading many large Alpine rivers to avulse. In the system of Tagliamento, thanks to recent geoarchaeological excavations and geochronological analyses, a major extreme event is clearly constrained between the second half of the 6th and the first part of the 7th century, when the river avulsed and destroyed the ancient city of Concordia Sagittaria (Fontana et al., 2019). This episode overlaps with the one reported by the Lombard historian Paolo Diacono, dated to 589 AD, which strongly damaged Verona and, downstream of this city, possibly triggered the avulsion phase of Adige River near the so-called “Rotta della Cucca”. Important fluvial changes affected also the Piave and Livenza rivers, while an avulsion channel of Brenta River started to form in the 6th century AD.
Notwithstanding, for some minor alluvial systems the detailed chronology supported by archaeological and radiocarbon chronology allows to detect the existence of earlier flooding units, formed since the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Recent data in the Alpine valley of Adige River, around the city of Trento, point to the occurrence of some important flood events in the alluvial cones of the major tributary creeks already during the 3rd century AD. However, in the same area the floor of Adige valley experienced a vertical aggradation only since the 4th and 5th century AD, with an enhanced rate of deposition between 6th and 10th century AD. A rather comparable chronology characterizes part of the alluvial cones of the main Apennine streams flowing towards the Po Plain (e.g. near Modena), which aggraded during early Medieval, but this trend started already in the 3rd century AD (Cremonini et al., 2013).
This research supports new data for comparing the palaeoflood record of early Middle Ages with palaeoclimatic proxies, with the aim of distinguishing global forcing factors from regional constrains and anthropogenic disturbance.
Büntgen et al. (2016) – Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 AD. Nature Geoscience 9, 231–237.
Helama S., Jones P., Briffa K. (2017) - Dark Ages Cold Period: a literature review and directions for future research. Holocene 27, 1600–1606.
Cremonini S., Labate D., Curina R. (2013) - The late-antiquity environmental crisis in Emilia region (Po river plain, Northern Italy): Geoarchaeological evidence and paleoclimatic considerations. Quaternary International, 316, 162.178.
Fontana A., Frassine M., Ronchi L. (2019) - Geomorphological and Geoarchaeological Evidence of the Medieval Deluge in the Tagliamento River (NE Italy). In: Herget J., Fontana A. (Eds), Palaeohydrology, Traces, Tracks and Trails of Extreme Events. Springer, 97-116
The flood of the 6th century ad in the Tagliamento River (NE Italy): geomorphological and geoarchaeological evidence of the Medieval Diluvium
No full textIn the Mediterranenan basin, strong geomorphic processes occurred in several areas during the early Middle Age. In some alluvial plains a fast and strong activity phase was triggered and this led many rivers to avulse and/or to form widespread alluvial depositional units. According to some scholars, the severe flooding episode described by the Lombard historian Paolo Diacono as the aquae diluvium of 589 AD, corresponds to one of the most significant phases occurred in Northern Italy, even if its importance and areal extent is debated (Cremonini et al., 2013). Major changes are clearly testified in the alluvial systems of NE Italy and a wealth of information is especially documented in the alluvial megafan of Tagliamento River, both in the stratigraphic and in the archaeological records.
Between the 5th and 9th century, the Tagliamento River experienced its last strong avulsive phase, with the abandonment of the path followed since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC (Lugugnana branch) and the activation of the branches of Concordia Sagittaria and Latisana; these two directions are 15 km a part one from the other but, at the end of this period, only the branch of Latisana survived. The temporary activation of the branch of Concordia is clearly documented by the alluvial unit that sealed large sectors of the Roman city of Concordia Sagittaria with a thickness of 1-5 m of silty sands, burying also the floor of the palaeo-Christian basilica, which is dated to the first part of the 6th century (Fontana, 2006; Fontana et al., 2014).
In Cordovado, 10 km upstream of Concordia, a recent excavation exposed part of a gravelly braided palaeochannel with several embedded trunks, up to 5-meters long. Their radiocarbon dating measured a calibrated age between the second half of 6th century and the first part of the 7th, well matching the time of the hydraulic disaster described by Paolo Diacono (Frassine et al., 2014).
Along the present direction of Tagliamento, the river formed a fluvial ridge reaching up to 4 m over the surrounding floodplain and sealed the Roman landscape. This elevated landform rapidly became an attracting feature for the early Medieval villages and, in Latisana, its first occupation is dated at least since the 11th century. The depositional period coinciding with the avulsive phase was also characterized by the structuration of the present cuspate delta of Tagliamento, consisting of 2 wings where now the tourist cities of Lignano Sabbiadoro and Bibione are present (Fontana, 2006).
Since early studies, many Authors considered this Early Medieval period both for its archaeological and geomorphic importance, trying to sort out the natural from the human-induced component. Several papers stressed the importance of the coincidence between an important natural event/events and the lack of territorial management, particularly when compared to the strong anthropogenic control occurred in the centuries before.
New stratigraphic and geomorphologic data from the megafan of Tagliamento support the assessment of the magnitude of the natural component (mainly driven by climate) of the alluvial processes occurred in the early Middle Ages. In particular, the chronological information allows to constrain one of the main flooding phases between the second half of the 6th and the first part of the 7th century. This evidence confirms the importance of so-called “Diluvium” described by Paolo Diacono but, in the Tagliamento River, the alluvial period lasted until the 10th-11th century
"Mura Bastia". Dati archeologici, informatizzazione e rilievi 3D laser scanning del Castello degli Onigo (Pederobba, Treviso)
Full text linkThis paper concerns computer applications for the management of archaeological data through GIS software, as related to the 2008 excavation campaign at “Mura Bastia”, Onigo (Treviso), Italy. The approach allows for the correlation of data previously acquired with those collected more recently using newer technologies. The shift from the traditional way of drawing archaeological records to the new digital technique began during the excavation of 2007. All of the walls and the layers were documented using a total station and a digital camera (photo-mosaic method). The elaboration of raw data was obtained using Free and Open Source Software only (GRASS, E-FOTO, GIMP, OPENJUMP, gvSIG). All of the new information levels (bi-dimensional raster and vector layers) were connected with the digitized plan of the old excavation into a GIS project that became the final product of the whole work. 3D terrestrial laser scanning surveys, integrated with classical topography and digital photogrammetric methodologies, allowed us to extract an accurate and photorealistic digital model of the Onigo castle. Moreover, a partial 3D virtual anastylosis of the tower was completed thanks to the reallocation of two missing elements in their correct position
‘Mura della Bastia’ - Onigo di Pederobba (Treviso). Ricerche archeologiche, rilievo 3D laser-scanning e anastilosi virtuale di un castello medievale nel Pedemonte trevigiano.
No full textThe paper presents the results of the ongoing research coordinated by the Chair of Ancient Topography, University of Padova. The work concerns the medieval site of “Mura
della Bastia” in Onigo di Pederobba (Treviso), in the North-Eastern part of Italy. Historical information from written documents and results obtained from the archaeological investigation at the Onigo castle (1994-2007) are discussed. The study provided the historical reconstruction of recent collapses of the Onigo tower and allowed the virtual reconstruction of still-cohesive blocks, which had fallen down in 1989, and which were recovered during the summer of 2007. At this time, five of the ten building blocks have been positioned; the procedure was carried out by comparing the panoply of each agglomerate with the prospect of the tower, which was obtained from the photogrammetric rectification of the historical images (2D). The 3D survey of the tower and of nine blocks was performed with a Leica HDS2500 laser scanner. The resulting point clouds were aligned with Cyclone software, also using the coordinates of some laser scanning targets, which were measured with the Leica TC 2003
total station in a local reference system. The final 3D model obtained by the co-registration of the scans was textured with the digital images acquired with a Canon EOS 1 ds Mark II
camera. Subsequently, three of the five recognized blocks were positioned on the 3D model using Reconstructor software
Mura Bastia. Anastilosi informatica della torre di Onigo (Pederobba, Treviso)
No full textQuesto contributo illustra un progetto di ricerca attualmente in
corso, sotto la direzione scientica del prof. Guido Rosada (Topografia antica - Universita di Padova), presso il sito medievale denominato "Mura della Bastia" a Onigo di Pederobba (Treviso). L'attenzione è rivolta alle diverse fasi
di lavoro che hanno consentito sia di ricostruire i vari stadi degenerativi piu recenti della torre di Onigo, sia di ricollocare virtualmente i blocchi di muratura ancora coesi relativi al crollo del 1989. L'intero procedimento di anastilosi informatica (2D) è stato eseguito utilizzando software FOSS. I dati ottenuti
mediante laser scanner (Leica HDS 2500) e stazione totale (Leica TC 2003), tutti caricati all'interno del software libero MeshLab, hanno infine consentito di creare un modello 3D della torre
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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