BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE CENTRAL-SOUTHERN ITALIAN POPULATION THROUGH 30 THOUSAND YEARS.EPIC (Eredità della Popolazione dell'Italia Centro-meridionale)
2016
The present volume is the product of a Conference held in Villa
Mondragone, Monte Porzio Catone (RM), in November 2015 under the
auspices of the Centre of Molecular Antropology for Ancient DNA Studies
(Department of Biology) of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. It constituted
the final Conference of the EPIC "Biological and cultural heritage of
the central-southern Italian population through 30 thousand years" Project
financed by MIUR (PRIN 2010-2011 - prot. 2010EL8TXP). Its aim was to
undertake a wide overwiew of the results obtained and to disseminate the
conclusions reached by the six research units (RUs) which worked at the
project:
RU of Universita degli Studi di ROMA "Tor Vergata", leader Olga Rickards
(national coordinator of the Project)
RU of Universita degli Studi di FERRARA, leader Guido Barbujani
RU of Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria (CNR), leader Mauro
Brilli
RU of Universita degli Studi di FIRENZE, leader David Caramelli
RU of Universita degli Studi di BOLOGNA, leader Donata Luiselli
RU of Universita degli Studi di SIENA, leader Lucia Sarti.
The Conference had a broad partecipation of anthropologists, archaeologists,
molecular anthropologists, botanists, geologists and palaeontologists
coming from different Italian research Institutions. The wide range of paper
submitted to and discussed by the Conference suggested the possibility of a
publication which might offer a review of the current state of research in the
important field of molecular archaeo-anthropology.
In particular, the Conference intent was to present the multi-disciplinary
approaches applied in EPIC to clarify the genetic and cultural changes, which
happened in central/southern Italy in a time frame that goes from the Upper
Paleolithic to the Eneolithic age, regarding subsistence strategies, state of
health, social complexity and relations with the environment. The presented
contributions helped fill the gaps in knowledge of certain crucial phases in
human demographic history and reconstruct a highly-defined picture of the
biological characteristics of the populations over time found in our terri-
tory, scarcely investigated in comparison to other European countries; possibly
arriving at a detailed knowledge of genetic make-up, level of mobility,
type of diet and state of health of ancient Italian peoples.
The archaeological samples, both human and vegetable, were selected on
the basis of the importance of the context and the special quality of the site
documentation with particular care on stratigraphy and taphonomy, and to
complement and integrate the findings reached by some of the proposing
Research Units in a previous study on the biomolecular, and cultural characterization
of central/southern Italian populations from the Neolithic (PRIN
2008).
In order to improve the chronology relating to the sites under study, a selection
of human remains and also diagnostic short-lived samples (domestic
animal bone and cereal grains) were AMS dated: more than 98% of the values
obtained were highly reliable providing essential information on the
chronology of key non dated contexts
The authors of the chapters in this volume provided interesting perspectives
in attaining the goals proposed in EPIC:
1. To describe the evolutionary change in Italians over a wide time range. 2.
To test the hypothesis of genealogical continuity between pairs of ancient
and modern populations, by means of serial coalescent simulations and Approximate
Bayesian Computations. 3. To reconstruct the paleo-diet through
studying some stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur obtained from
the collagen of human and animal bones. 4. To establish the level of mobility
and to identify every migratory event through analyzing isotopes of strontium,
lead and oxygen, starting from the bone and tooth enamel. 5. To verify
by simulations on the calculator what rates of mutation, which demographic
phenomena, and which levels of migratory exchange are compatible with the
genetic variation observed in the different periods. 6. To reconstruct the life
styles of ancient human groups, their organization, social structures, the relations
with the eco-regions they belonged to and the interaction with environmental.
7. To carry out paleo-botanical analysis at a morpho-biometric
and molecular level to explain the spread of cultivation and its impact on
human life (diet, commerce, customs).
Our primary pleasure in organizing and putting together this volume has
been the association with the various contributors whose intellect, alacrity,
knowledge, and good temper made this a relatively easy task. We wish sincerely
thank them for a job well done.
A final thank to Cristina Martinez-Labarga who helped organize the Conference
and made a great effort to put this book in a fine form, to the University
of Rome Tor Vergata which provided financial support for the Conference
organization (Bando per Convegni e Congressi Villa Mondragone Anno
2015), to Franco Giannini, Roberta Abbate, and all the Staff of Villa
Mondragone for their professional coordination, and to 3V Chimica and
UniversItalia which made funds available for the publication of this volume.
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