Luxury food and ornamental plants at the 15th century A.D. Renaissance court of the Este family (Ferrara, northern Italy)

The paper reports the archaeobotanical data from the Ducal Pit, a brickwork rubbish pit discovered in the basal floor of the Ducal Palace of Ferrara (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy). It was in use during the second half of the 15th cent. AD, when the Este family inhabited the palace. Therefore, it helps to investigate food customs of a Renaissance reigning court. The pit fill largely consists of zoological remains, with plant remains and some artefacts. Though seed/fruit concentration was not high, a fairly diversified list of taxa, mainly belonging to food and ornamental plants, was identified. Data suggest that the pit was used for disposal of dining waste and for floor sweepings. Archaeobotanical data were compared with those obtained from other sites of the area, and with two Renaissance documentary evidence: the frescos in the “Room of the Months” in Ferrara’s Palazzo Schifanoia, and the cookbook by Cristoforo da Messisbugo, chef at the Este Court. The archaeobotanical record of the Ducal Pit proved to be fairly different from the other sites studied in Ferrara, especially because of the presence of luxury or exotic foods (for example, Punica granatum, Prunus armeniaca, Coriandrum sativum).