Palaeobotanical evidence and SSR DNA analysis of archaeological apple seeds found in first century winery of Roman farm on Elba Island (Italy)

In the late republican Roman period (2nd-1st century BC) a Roman farm was established at San Giovanni, on the Island of Elba. About 6th century BC the area had hosted intense metallurgical activity (reduction of ion ore). In 1st century AD the farm was destroyed by fire. Since 2012, the remains of walls defining five rectangular areas have been uncovered. The first contained eight broken amphorae used to store, conserve and transport beverages. Palaeobotanical analysis of set layers of the archaeological site were performed. Palynological observations showed little pollen and major presence of fungal spores and non-pollen objects typical of moist soil, stagnant water and heavy human impact. Anthracological analysis revealed plants useful for reconstructing the palaeoecological characteristics and human attitudes of the period. In the bottom of amphorae protected by a crust of burnt soil, two sublayers of deposition and a compact layer of mud and organic material, we found about 500 well conserved apple seeds, which when compared with contemporary seeds showed morphological affinities with Malus sylvestris. Phenotypic study and genetic analysis of genomic DNA with SSR molecular markers were performed against seeds of known contemporary varieties of Malus sylvestris and Malus domestica as controls.