Soil chemical analysis supports the identification of ancient breeding structures: The case-study of Cà Tron (Venice, Italy)

Analyses of the phosphorus (P), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content of the soil, together with elemental ratios, were applied to the archaeological area of Cà Tron (Venice, Italy), where Roman farms exploited the countryside from the 1st to the 5th century BP. Two different methods, ignition (i) and hydrolysis with perchloric acid (h) were used to determine the total P (TP) content, and their reliability is discussed.