The field system of Gricignano d’Aversa (Southern Italy) and the agrarian impact in the Piana Campana, ca. 3900 cal BP Fabio Saccoccio a, * , Amodio Marzocchella b , Alessandro Vanzetti a a Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy b Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei, Piazza Museo Nazionale 19, 80135 Napoli, Italy article info Article history: Available online 26 February 2013 abstract The Piana Campana (Southern Italy) has recently revealed its potential for the recovery of detailed archaeological and environmental data, during the Late Holocene, due to the thickening of the deposits caused by the activity of the volcanic complexes of Somma-Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei. Settlements, burials, landscape and agrarian infrastructures (tracks, fields, wells, etc.) indicate an intense and continuous human presence since at least late Neolithic times (ca. 6.2 ka cal BP). This study derives from archaeological research supported by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Campania and the Soprintendenza al Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “L. Pigorini”, Roma (1995e2005). The comprehensive pattern of the protohistoric (Early Bronze Age) agrarian traces found at Gricignano d’Aversa/U.S. Navy support site (Caserta) is presented. An uninterrupted ploughed surface and field system of 60 ha is described, preserved directly below the Pomici di Avellino eruption (ca. 3900 cal BP). For the first time in Italy, such a wide protohistoric field system was reconstructed. The agrarian features (banks, gullies, one cart track) show a remarkable regularity, hinting at patterned landscape exploitation. The discussion is widened by setting these results in the context of the Piana Campana. Regional archaeological and pollen data confirm the marked agrarian impact over the landscape during this period. Arboreal pollen has generally low values under the Pomici di Avellino eruption, but it increases in the plain after this event, possibly due to the main settlement relocation in more defendable spots. The identified anthropic impact is due to the long-lasting shifting agricultural strategy adopted by human communities from the late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Until 1980, the date of the rescue excavation at the site of Palma Campania/Tirone (Albore Livadie, 1981), destroyed by the Pomici di Avellino eruption (PdA, 3885e3830 cal BP, Passariello et al., 2009; Sulpizio et al., 2010a, 2010b), the Piana Campana had not started to reveal the wealth of information about its prehistoric landscape (e.g., Radmilli, 1978). This discovery was the start of a rapid growth in awareness of the potential of the territory, as indicated by the ensuing series of publications and conferences discussing the interactions between humans and volcanic activity, in the Late Holocene Campanian context (Albore Livadie, 1986, 1992, 1999a; Guzzo and Peroni, 1998). A tighter cooperation between archaeologists, volcanologists and geologists was also stimulated, in the same years, by Sigurdsson et al. (1982) concerning the 79 A.D. Pompeii eruption. In recent years, accurate archaeological research has brought to light a full range of traces of prehistoric human occupation, including agrarian features (Marzocchella, 1998; Albore Livadie et al., 1998b; Nava et al., 2007). The particularly good preserva- tion derives from the growth in thickness of the sedimentary cover, due to the occurrence of major and minor volcanic events origi- nating from Campi Flegrei caldera and from Somma-Vesuvius, during the 5th and 4th millennium cal BP. This paper presents, for the first time, the comprehensive pattern of the Early Bronze Age agrarian field system recovered under the PdA Vesuvian eruption, in the building area of the U.S. Navy support site at Gricignano d’Aversa (Caserta) (GR/Nss). The general outline of the field system extending over 60 ha is described, and statistical analysis of the field sizes is provided. A re- evaluation of formerly published pollen data (Vivent and Albore Livadie, 2001) gives a coherent result of intensive local human landscape exploitation. The GR/Nss evidence, set in the context of * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: saccocciof@tiscali.it (F. Saccoccio), amodio.marzocchella@ beniculturali.it (A. Marzocchella), alessandro.vanzetti@uniroma1.it (A. Vanzetti). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.02.021 Quaternary International 303 (2013) 82e92