Archaeobotany at Oplontis: woody remains from the Roman Villa of Poppaea (Naples, Italy)

The Vesuvius area near Naples, southern Italy, is one of the richest places for archaeological finds from Roman times. The A.D. 79 volcanic eruption also caused the preservation of a huge quantity of archaeobotanical material. In this paper the available wood and charcoal remains from the timber structures as well as from the garden soils of the Villa of Poppea at Oplontis are presented. The analyses provide new evidence of the history of some significant trees of the Mediterranean region, such as Abies alba and Cupressus sempervirens, and allow us to put forward hypotheses about wood use during the Roman period. The identification of the building material confirms that the Romans had a good knowledge of the technological properties of wood and mainly used local resources. There is also evidence of trade in high quality timber, in particular Picea abies. The strong presence of climbing plants and of branches and small size stems of wild trees together with typical ornamental plants in the two gardens of the villa reveals a lack of regular gardening maintenance. This evidence is in agreement with the absence of occupants at the moment of the eruption, since the villa was under restoration after the A.D. 62 earthquake.