The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website

Con autorización de la revista para autores CSIC[EN] The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015.Peer reviewe

Archaeobotanical research applied to the study of historical events in the centre of Rome.

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L’impatto di un ambiente umido nella paleoeconomia e nella paleonutrizione tra il Neolitico e l’Eneolitico. Nuovi contributi dalla Sardegna

La frequenza di insediamenti in paesaggi palustri ha da tempo suggerito l’esistenza di una forte attrazione delle comunità preistoriche verso le risorse naturali in essi disponibili. In particolare lo studio sull’occupazione delle zone umide intorno ai golfi di Cagliari e Oristano ha restituito interessanti documenti che offrono un quadro ora più completo in relazione al condizionamento di tali scelte insediative sugli aspetti paleoeconomici e paleonutrizionali. Le risorse faunistiche e vegetali, il sale, la disponibilità di terreni a vocazione agricola nelle immediate vicinanze, hanno verosimilmente svolto un ruolo non sempre costante nei diversi periodi e nelle diverse aree geografiche. Obbiettivo dello studio, che si inquadra nell’ambito del programma di ricerca “Archeologia degli insediamenti preistorici della Sardegna”, diretto da Maria Grazia Melis, è la ricostruzione dell’organizzazione delle attività produttive e del sistema di gestione delle risorse naturali, terrestri, palustri e marine. Costituisce un campo privilegiato di approfondimento il contesto di Su Coddu-Canelles (Selargius, Cagliari), un abitato che ha restituito un ricchissimo deposito archeologico e bioarcheologico, che ha fornito importanti datazioni al 14C relative alla transizione Neolitico/Eneolitico (ca. 3650-3350 cal. BC) e al primo Eneolitico (ca. 3350-2900 cal. BC). I dati di partenza provengono dalla trasformazione delle materie prime finalizzata alla produzione di manufatti e all’architettura, dalla fauna, dai macroresti vegetali e dalle analisi polliniche. L’approccio metodologico interdisciplinare, fortemente integrato, prevede l’apporto di contributi specialistici specifici nei diversi ambiti di studio.The regularity with which settlements are found in marshland has for some time pointed to the strong attraction that prehistoric communities had towards the natural resources that could be found in them. In particular the study of the occupation of the humid areas situated around the gulfs of Cagliari and Oristano has provided interesting documentation helping to create a progressively more complete picture of the factors conditioning settlement choices and palaeo-economic and palaeo-nutritional realities. Plant and animal resources, salt and the close availability of agrarian land probably all played their part, although perhaps not always at the same time or to the same degree in different periods or in the diverse geographical areas. The objective of the study, included as part of the research programme “Archeologia degli insediamenti preistorici della Sardegna” (The archaeology of Sardinian prehistoric settlements), directed by Maria Grazia Melis, is to recreate the background to the organization of productive processes and the management of natural land, marsh and marine resources. An important context in this area of study is the site of Su Coddu-Canelles (Selargius, Cagliari), a settlement that has provided a rich archaeological and bio-archaeological deposit, that has provided important 14C datings relative to the transition between the Neolithic and the Eneolithic (3650-3350 cal. BC) as well as the early Eneolithic itself (3350-2900 cal. BC). The initial data comes from the transformation of raw materials in preparation of the production of artefacts and buildings, of fauna and plant remains. This highly integrated interdisciplinary methodological approach requires specific specialised input for each of the various areas of research

Reed-swamps in the Sumerian material culture. Archaeological, archaeobotanical and experimental insights from the Abu Tbeirah excavations

Excavations at the site of Abu Tbeirah are giving new evidence of the long cultural continuity that existed (and in a way still exists) between the life in the Iraqi Marshland and that of Sumerian people inhabiting the Land of the Two Rivers during the third millennium BC. This continuity is related to several life’s aspects, first of all in the material culture. This study focusses on the use of reed-swamps in artefact production and building technique. The evidence brought to light during Abu Tbeirah’s excavations are analysed and compared with the ethnographic data from the Iraqi marshes

The transition from wave-dominated estuary to wave-dominated delta: The Late Quaternary stratigraphic architecture of Tiber River deltaic succession (Italy)

This paper presents a detailed description of the stratigraphic architecture of the Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession in order to document the passage from wave-dominated estuary to wave-dominated delta in the broader context of Late Quaternary sea level fluctuations. This succession constitutes a sequence-stratigraphic unit known as Tiber Depositional Sequence (TDS), which was deposited during the last glacial-interglacial cycle (last 120ka). Our study is based on the examination of an enormous amount of data derived from the stratigraphy of about 300 wells, petrographical and paleontological data (foraminifera, ostracoda, pollen, and plant macrofossils), 14C dating, and from the integration of geomorphological and geoarcheological data. Recently a 100m deep core (Pesce Luna well) was studied through a multidisciplinary approach and a detailed description of sedimentary facies, foraminifer and ostracod assemblages, pollen and 14C dating is presented in this paper. The new data allowed to produce three new correlation panels and to describe in more detail, with respect to previous interpretations, the stratigraphic-depositional architecture of the TDS, which internally shows the preservation of sediment deposited during the early and late lowstand, the transgressive and the highstand systems tracts. Alluvial and coastal depositional systems characterize the early lowstand phase of the TDS, which developed during the eustatic sea-level fall between about 120 and 30-26yrBP. During the late lowstand phase, which is characterized by stillstand and slow eustatic sea-level rise a prograding delta and an aggrading incised-valley fluvial fill developed. The Tiber incised valley was transformed into a wave-dominated estuary during the transgressive phase (TST), whereas a coastal-shelf sedimentation took place during the subsequent highstand phase (HST). This study confirms the lithofacies distribution resulting from transgression and infilling of the wave-dominated estuaries, but also shows how the transition to a wave-dominated delta, prograding at the time of sea-level highstand occurred. Changes in sediment input, climatic variations and, more recently, human activities played a major role in the development of the Tiber delta during the last 20,000yrBP. In the last 3000years a relationship between progradational phases of the delta and flood events of the Tiber river has been highlighted, suggesting also the formation and merging of barrier-spits to the mainland

I più antichi agricoltori italiani: nuove prospettive di ricerca su base multidisciplinare

Questa ricerca, finanziata dal prin e svolta su base multidisciplinare, ha affrontato, sotto varie angolazioni, il problema del passaggio all’economia produttiva in una regione-chiave come la puglia; una serie di datazioni radiometriche, puntuali analisi dei manufatti, indagini archeobotaniche, ma soprattutto una sistematica indagine biomolecolare, svolta su resti ossei umani e animali, ha contribuito a chiarire alcuni aspetti del processo di neolitizzazione in italia meridionale, evidenziando un aspetto di continuità con le precedenti popolazioni locali

Real-life comparison of mortality in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection at risk for clinical progression treated with molnupiravir or nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir during the Omicron era in Italy: a nationwide, cohort study

Background: Comparative data on mortality in COVID-19 patients treated with molnupiravir or with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir are inconclusive. We therefore compared all-cause mortality in community-dwelling COVID-19 patients treated with these drugs during the Omicron era. Methods: Data collected in the nationwide, population-based, cohort of patients registered in the database of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) were used. To increase completeness of the recorded deaths and date correctness, a cross-check with the National Death Registry provided by the Ministry of the Interior was performed. We included in this study all patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 treated within 5 days after the test date and symptom onset between February 8 and April 30, 2022. All-cause mortalities by day 28 were compared between the two treatment groups after balancing for baseline characteristics using weights obtained from a gradient boosting machine algorithm. Findings: In the considered timeframe, 17,977 patients treated with molnupiravir and 11,576 patients with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir were included in the analysis. Most patients (25,617/29,553 = 86.7%) received a full vaccine course including the booster dose. A higher crude incidence rate of all-cause mortality was found among molnupiravir users (51.83 per 100,000 person-days), compared to nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir users (22.29 per 100,000 person-days). However, molnupiravir-treated patients were older than those treated with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir and differences between the two populations were found as far as types of co-morbidities were concerned. For this reason, we compared the weight-adjusted cumulative incidences using the Aalen estimator and found that the adjusted cumulative incidence rates were 1.23% (95% CI 1.07%-1.38%) for molnupiravir-treated and 0.78% (95% CI 0.58%-0.98%) for nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir-treated patients (adjusted log rank p = 0.0002). Moreover, the weight-adjusted mixed-effect Cox model including Italian regions and NHS centers as random effects and treatment as the only covariate confirmed a significant reduced risk of death in patients treated with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir. Lastly, a significant reduction in the risk of death associated with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir was confirmed in patient subgroups, such as in females, fully vaccinated patients, those treated within day 2 since symptom onset and patients without (haemato)-oncological diseases. Interpretation: Early initiation of nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir was associated for the first time with a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality by day 28 compared to molnupiravir, both in the overall population and in patient subgroups, including those fully vaccinated with the booster dose. Funding: This study did not receive funding