Final Bronze Age glass in Northern Italy: Is Frattesina the only glass production centre?

Newly analysed FBA glass from the two Gazzo Veronese and Cava Girardi sites shows bulk composition comparable to the LMHK Frattesina glass. The FBA glass shows a remarkable heterogeneity and a large variation in texture and composition, broadly related to colour. The chemical, mineralogical and principal component analyses applied to all investigated samples do not provide conclusive evidence for single or multiple production centres. The PCA model built on the co-glass alone shows a puzzling relationship between bead typology and composition and, although the samples of each typology are scarce and more data are needed, this could be interpreted as the indication of typologically distinct productions in different sites. This is the first time that a comprehensive statistical analysis of FBA glass of different types, colours, and provenance is performed. The results should stimulate and direct future and more detailed investigation

Frattesina \u2013 fase tre: Archeologia ed Archeometria della produzione ceramica

The important settlement 01 Frattesina di Fratta Polesine (Rovigo) has been investigated through systematic surveys and stratigraphic excavations during the period 1966-1989. According to Ihe excavalion data and the typological study 01 the cerarnics, we can reliably assume that the settlement was inhabited since the end 01 Late Sronze Age (phase 1) till the beginning 01 lron Age (phase 3). During this last phase the local ceramic production is characterized by the use 01 different ceramic pastes, as identili ed by macroscopic visual estimation. The need to substantiate the empyrical classilication on physico-chemical ground has prompted an archaeometric study by optical microscopy (OM) observation 01 thin sections, and by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) analysis. The pastes 01 archaeological relevance have been divided into 5 classes (A-F), recognized through the typological analysis 01 46 pottery sherds, 4 pieces 01 "concetti", and 1 dislinct wheel-made sherd. Ali the investigated pottery samples were made by mixing local carbonatic clays with different tempers, mostly grog, but also sand-shells mixtures (paste S), vegetables and straw, and in one case, a very peculiar sand 01 metamorphic origin (paste C). Grog is present in pastes having different grain-size, the size 01 the temper inclusions being related to Ihe thickness 01 Ihe pot walls. The liring was carried out in variable atmosphere conditions and/or differenl times, the colour 01 the sherds being relaled lo the linal degree 01 oxidation 01 the paste. The maximum temperature 01 firing was in the range 60Q-8QQoC. There seems to be a correlation between paste type and pot shape: Paste E is the mosl diffused and it was used for several pot types, paste A is associated to open shaped pots like bowls or line pots, paste S is associated to dolia and 100m weights ("taralli"), paste C is associated to open and closed shaped pots, and paste F is conlined to andiron ("tronchi di piramide") 01 uncertain use. The wbeel-made sherd has different mineralogy and is assumed lo be imported. The archaeometric and ethnographic results contribute to piace the ceramic production 01 Fraltesina at a level between the household and the workshop industries. Significant archaeological similitudes are present with other Sronze Age settle- ; ments 01 the Po Valley, specilically Ihose in the Valli Grandi Veronesi and in the Modena areas

Modulation of Chagasic Cardiomyopathy by Interleukin-4 : Dissociation between Inflammation and Tissue Parasitism

Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CChC) is characterized by an inflammatory reaction which may eventually lead to heart enlargement, arrythmia, and death. As described herein, interleukin-4-deficient mice mount increased specific T helper (Th) 1 immune responses when infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, as compared to wild-type mice. Interestingly, these mice had reduced parasitism and mortality and exacerbated inflammation in their hearts, demonstrating a clear dissociation between inflammation and parasite load. The modulation of these phenomena so as to maximize host and parasite survivals may depend on a fine balance between Th responses, in which a Th1 response will, on one hand, control parasitism and, on the other hand, enhance heart inflammation throughout the course of the infection

Frattesina: un centro internazionale di produzione e di scambio nell’Età del bronzo del Veneto

Il sito di Frattesina, nel Veneto meridionale, fa parte di un sistema territoriale discontinuo, che si estende a S-E fino a Villamarzana, a E fino a Campestrin di Grignano Polesine, e si sviluppa fra EBR e fase iniziale dell’EdF (ca. XIII-IX sec. a.C.). L’analisi dello sviluppo territoriale e della sequenza crono-tipologica è stata elaborata da Paolo Bellintani, che ha identificato tre fasi principali: 1 - EBR/EBF iniziale; 2- fase piena dell’EBF; 3 - fase finale dell’EBF e inizi dell’EdF Per tutto il corso del suo sviluppo il comprensorio si caratterizza per la concentrazione, finora unica in Italia, di attività produttive su scala industriale, basate sia su risorse locali (palco di cervo e - in parte - il vetro con composizione ad alcali misti) sia su materie prime esotiche (rame, piombo, bronzo, oro, ambra baltica, avorio di elefante, uovo di struzzo). La fase 1, nota fino a pochi anni fa solo in base a materiali raccolti in superficie, ha trovato una conferma significativa con la scoperta del sito di Campestrin di Grignano Polesine, un centro per la produzione intensiva di manufatti di ambra di provenienza baltica. Fase 2 - EBF antica e media; questa fase corrisponde al massimo sviluppo di tutte le produzioni, che si concentrano in particolare nel sito di Frattesina (abitato e necropoli di Narde). Fase 3 - compresa fra il momento finale dell’EBF e quello iniziale della IEF: presente a Frattesina, documentato in modo consistente nell’abitato di Villamarzana e nelle necropoli di Narde e di Fondo Zanotto. L’abitato di Frattesina, documentato per ora nel modo più completo nel corso della fase piena dell’EBF, è attualmente riconosciuto come un importantissimo nodo di produzione e di scambio, con collegamenti sistematici in direzione dell’Europa e del Mediterraneo. La possibilità che, almeno durante questa fase, il sito di Frattesina sia la sede della direzione politica del sistema, è indicata, oltre che dalla concentrazione di attività produttive e di scambio, dalla presenza nella necropoli di Narde di due sole tombe maschili (168 e 227), sul totale di circa un migliaio, con un corredo comprendente una spada, in entrambi i casi defunzionalizzata. In particolare nella t. 227, databile a una fase antica dell’EBF, la concentrazione di indicatori di prestigio e di ruolo si presenta in modo chiaro come correlato di uno status sociale eccezional

Zurich-Alpenquai : a multidisciplinary approach to the chronological development of a Late Bronze Age lakeside settlement in the northern Circum-Alpine Region

The Alpenquai lake-dwelling is located on Lake Zurich, and can be considered as one of the rare Late Bronze Age lake-dwellings with a pronounced organic-rich cultural layer in the northern Circum-Alpine region. Within a larger research project, investigating the final abandonment of the lakeshores in the Circum-Alpine area at the end of the Late Bronze Age, this settlement has been investigated using a multidisciplinary research design. Combining micromorphology, archaeobotany, palynology, archaeozoology and material culture studies, the formation of the site is reconstructed, and the reasons for its final abandonment are sought. A highly dynamic lake system that caused a lake water level rise before 900 BC, a regression in the second half of the 9th century BC, and a later transgression, could be detected. The settlement appears to have been established during the lake regression, and abandoned during the transgression, proving a high degree of environmental adaptation by its inhabitants. Site formation - Multidisziplinärer Ansat