Geomorphological and archaeological aspects in the central Po Plain (northern Italy).

The comparison of geomorphological and archaeological data in some places of the central Po Plain allowed many fluvial forms to be dated and to reconstruct the evolution summarised as follows. Sector to south of the R. Po: i) from the Bronze Age to the late Middle Ages the R. Po flowed in a belt about 20 km wide, between the latitude 44° 54’ approx and its present position (latitude 45° 03’ approx); on the whole, the R. Po course has shifted from south to north; ii) the investigations indicate the shift to the east of the R. Secchia and to the west of the R. Panaro in the area downstream of Modena starting from the Bronze Age; iii) in the Modena city area, starting from the end of the Roman Age, an aggradational-type model of fluvial evolution was hypothesised. According to this model, the watercourses, even the minor ones, passed from a runoff occurring in deep riverbeds to one hanging over, or at least at the same level as, the surrounding plain.Sector to north of the R. Po, the area has been very stable during the whole Holocene: i) along the main palaeochannel of the R. Mincio, fed by ice melting from the Late Pleistocene Garda glacier, several Bronze Age settlements are identified; the settlements along the large palaeochannel fed by many springs; ii) some kilometres SE of Mantova city, along a large palaeochannel, a Neolithic settlement is singled out; in the same area Bronze age, Roman Age and Middle Age remnants are distributed on the same terrace surface