An attempt to reconstruct the history of the most ancient European farming community using peat cores from the Fiavè mire

The Fiavè Nature Reserve is a Natura 2000 site consisting mainly of an alkaline fen (most occurring species, Caricion davallianae), and includes the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Bronze-Age pile dwellings of Fiavè (Trentino-Alto Adige, North of Italy). Here, a complete, 200-cm deep core (160 cm of peat plus 40 cm of underlying lake sediment) and a shallower, 50-cm core were collected in order to reconstruct the history of the most ancient European farming community, as well as the influence of past and modern agriculture on peat development. The peat core was cut while frozen into 3-cm samples, and each of them characterized from the physical (e.g., ash, gravimetric water content) and chemical (e.g., pH, elemental analysis – CHNS -, organic matter thermal stability) point of view. Moreover, few macrofossils were identified at different depths and 14C age dated, while selected subsamples were used to determine diatoms, filamentous fungi and yeasts occurrence and diversity throughout the profile. Obtained results will be extremely useful to both support existing archaeological findings and promote the implementation of best management practices of the whole area.