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D'Agostino A, Di Marco G, Rolfo MF, Alessandri L, Marvelli S, Braglia R, Congestri R, Berrilli F, Fuciarelli MF, Ferracci A, Canini A, Gismondi A. Microparticles from dental calculus disclose paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological records. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11053. [PMID: 38405407 PMCID: PMC10891416 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Plants have always represented a key element in landscape delineation. Indeed, plant diversity, whose distribution is influenced by geographic/climatic variability, has affected both environmental and human ecology. The present contribution represents a multi-proxy study focused on the detection of starch, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs in ancient dental calculus collected from pre-historical individuals buried at La Sassa and Pila archaeological sites (Central Italy). The collected record suggested the potential use of plant taxa by the people living in Central Italy during the Copper-Middle Bronze Age and expanded the body of evidence reported by previous palynological and palaeoecological studies. The application of a microscopic approach provided information about domesticated crops and/or gathered wild plants and inferred considerations on ancient environments, water sources, and past health and diseases. Moreover, the research supplied data to define the natural resources (e.g., C4-plant intake) and the social use of the space during that period. Another important aspect was the finding of plant clues referable to woody habitats, characterised by broad-leaved deciduous taxa and generally indicative of a warm-temperate climate and grassy vegetation. Other unusual records (e.g., diatoms, brachysclereids) participated in defining the prehistoric ecological framework. Thus, this work provides an overview on the potential of the human dental calculus analysis to delineate some features of the ancient plant ecology and biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia D'Agostino
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
- Present address: PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Gabriele Di Marco
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Mario Federico Rolfo
- Department of History, Culture and Society University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Luca Alessandri
- Groningen Institute of Archaeology University of Groningen Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Silvia Marvelli
- Laboratory of Palynology and Archaeobotany-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli Bologna Italy
| | - Roberto Braglia
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Roberta Congestri
- Laboratory of Biology of the Algae, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Federica Berrilli
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | | | - Angelica Ferracci
- Department of History, Culture and Society University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Antonella Canini
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
| | - Angelo Gismondi
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology University of Rome Tor Vergata Rome Italy
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Romboni M, Arienzo I, Di Vito MA, Lubritto C, Piochi M, Di Cicco MR, Rickards O, Rolfo MF, Sevink J, De Angelis F, Alessandri L. La Sassa cave: Isotopic evidence for Copper Age and Bronze Age population dynamics in Central Italy. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288637. [PMID: 37494366 PMCID: PMC10370757 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
This study focuses on the changes in diet and mobility of people buried in the La Sassa cave (Latium, Central Italy) during the Copper and Bronze Ages to contribute to the understanding of the complex contemporary population dynamics in Central Italy. To that purpose, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses, strontium isotope analyses, and FT-IR evaluations were performed on human and faunal remains from this cave. The stable isotope analyses evidence a slight shift in diet between Copper and Bronze Age individuals, which becomes prominent in an individual, dating from a late phase, when the cave was mainly used as a cultic shelter. This diachronic study documents an increased dietary variability due to the introduction of novel resources in these protohistoric societies, possibly related to the southward spread of northern human groups into Central Italy. This contact between different cultures is also testified by the pottery typology found in the cave. The latter shows an increase in cultural intermingling starting during the beginning of the middle Bronze Age. The local mobility during this phase likely involved multiple communities scattered throughout an area of a few kilometers around the cave, which used the latter as a burial site both in the Copper and Bronze ages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Romboni
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Ilenia Arienzo
- National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Vesuvius Observatory, Naples, Italy
| | - Mauro Antonio Di Vito
- National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Vesuvius Observatory, Naples, Italy
| | - Carmine Lubritto
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali Biologiche e Farmaceutiche (DISTABiF), Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
- INFN Naples - CHNet, Naples, Italy
| | - Monica Piochi
- National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Vesuvius Observatory, Naples, Italy
| | - Maria Rosa Di Cicco
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali Biologiche e Farmaceutiche (DISTABiF), Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
| | - Olga Rickards
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Mario Federico Rolfo
- Department of History, Culture and Society, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Jan Sevink
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Flavio De Angelis
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
- Department of Mental, Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
| | - Luca Alessandri
- Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Science of Antiquity, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
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D'Agostino A, Di Marco G, Marvelli S, Marchesini M, Rizzoli E, Rolfo MF, Canini A, Gismondi A. Neolithic dental calculi provide evidence for environmental proxies and consumption of wild edible fruits and herbs in central Apennines. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1384. [PMID: 36536113 PMCID: PMC9763411 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04354-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Looking for a biological fingerprint relative to new aspects of the relationship between humans and natural environment during prehistoric times is challenging. Although many issues still need to be addressed in terms of authentication and identification, microparticles hidden in ancient dental calculus can provide interesting information for bridging this gap of knowledge. Here, we show evidence about the role of edible plants for the early Neolithic individuals in the central Apennines of the Italian peninsula and relative cultural landscape. Dental calculi from human and animal specimens exhumed at Grotta Mora Cavorso (Lazio), one of the largest prehistoric burial deposits, have returned an archaeobotanical record made up of several types of palaeoecological proxies. The organic fraction of this matrix was investigated by a multidisciplinary approach, whose novelty consisted in the application of next generation sequencing to ancient plant DNA fragments, specifically codifying for maturase K barcode gene. Panicoideae and Triticeae starches, together with genetic indicators of Rosaceae fruits, figs, and Lamiaceae herbs, suggested subsistence practices most likely still based on wild plant resources. On the other hand, pollen, and non-pollen palynomorphs allowed us to outline a general vegetational framework dominated by woodland patches alternated with meadows, where semi-permanent settlements could have been established.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessia D'Agostino
- PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Di Marco
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Marvelli
- Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy
| | - Marco Marchesini
- Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Rizzoli
- Laboratorio di Palinologia e Archeobotanica-C.A.A. Giorgio Nicoli, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy
| | - Mario Federico Rolfo
- Department of History, Culture and Society, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Antonella Canini
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy
| | - Angelo Gismondi
- Laboratory of Botany, Department of Biology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.
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Varalli A, Moggi-Cecchi J, Goude G. A multi-proxy bioarchaeological approach reveals new trends in Bronze Age diet in Italy. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12203. [PMID: 35842420 PMCID: PMC9288517 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15581-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
This study investigates changes in dietary practices and subsistence strategies in Bronze Age Italy integrating isotopic analyses with archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data. By investigating food habits, we contribute to reconstructing human lifestyles and highlighting possible links with the economic/social organization when the rise of stratified societies and new economic activities affected subsistence practices. Stable isotopes analyses in humans and animals were performed on 6 Italian sites dating from 2300 to 900 cal. BC, followed by a complete review of additional 19 sites, which forms the basis of a diachronic and geographic comparison for Bronze Age Italy. The geographic analysis shows a more varied diet in northern and central Italy, compared to the south. The diachronic analysis highlights the homogeneity of food habits during the Early Bronze Age, contrary to the later phases when an increase in dietary variability and a higher animal protein consumption are revealed. The Middle Bronze Age appears as a pivotal moment in protohistoric societies, a phase of transition. The consumption of different foodstuffs highlights the importance of cultural exchanges, resulting in a sort of “food globalization”, although environmental and climatic fluctuations could also have affected dietary patterns, favoring some crops over others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Varalli
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Minist Culture, LAMPEA, Aix-en-Provence, France. .,Department of Biology, Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. .,CaSEs Research Group, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi
- Department of Biology, Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Gwenaëlle Goude
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Minist Culture, LAMPEA, Aix-en-Provence, France
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Environmental implications and evidence of natural products from dental calculi of a Neolithic-Chalcolithic community (central Italy). Sci Rep 2021; 11:10665. [PMID: 34021220 PMCID: PMC8140145 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89999-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In this contribution, we investigated the role of plants in the prehistoric community of Casale del Dolce (Anagni, FR, central Italy), through microparticles recovered from dental calculus. The finding of a great amount of pollen types, even in form of compact lumps, could indicate use of natural substances, such as honeybee products and/or conifer resins. This plant-microremain record also suggested environmental implications relative to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic period. Additionally, the stability of the tartar microenvironment had preserved starches and other microparticles, such as one epidermal trichome, a sporangium, and fragments of plant tissue, rarely detected in ancient dental calculus. The detection of secondary metabolites in the ancient matrix confirmed the familiarity of this community with plant resources. All these data supply various interesting food for thought and expand the knowledge about the potential of dental calculus in archaeological and archaeobotanical fields with a special focus on palaeoecology.
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