Chemical analyses of archaeological sediments identified the ancient activity areas of an Iron age building at Rotzo (Vicenza, Italy)

Chemical analyses of the phosphorus (P), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content of the soil were applied toan Iron age building located at Rotzo in the Asiago plateau (northeastern Italy). The building was alreadyinterpreted as a dwelling with two distinct phases of life. Both total P by ignition and organic P distributionswere high in the northeast zone and along the southern wall, where there was an accumulationof organic matter because of the presence of a garbage hole. The clustering of highest inorganic P valuesalong the eastern wall highlighted, for the first phase of life of the building, the contrast betweendomestic activities in the eastern and western areas, as the highest values of the C:N ratio indicate theaccumulation of organic matter. The organic C content and C:N ratio, together with the different forms ofP, provided good suggestions about the use of the inner space. In particular, among the P forms, oxalateextractable-P indicated the oldest phase of the house.