Wild birds of the Italian Middle Ages: diet, environment and society

Wild birds are intrinsically associated with our perception of the Middle Ages. They often feature in heraldic designs, paintings, and books of hours; few human activities typify the medieval period better than falconry. Prominent in medieval iconography, wild birds feature less frequently in written sources (as they were rarely the subject of trade transactions or legal documents) but they can be abundant in archaeological sites. In this paper we highlight the nature of wild bird exploitation in Italian medieval societies, ranging from their role as food items to their status and symbolic importance. A survey of 13 Italian medieval sites corresponding to 19 ‘period sites’, dated from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, reveals the occurrence of more than 100 species (certainly an under-estimate of the actual number). Anseriformes and Columbiformes played a prominent role in the mid- and late medieval Italian diet, though Passeriformes and wild Galliformes were also important. In the late Middle Ages, there is an increase in species diversity and in the role of hunting as an important marker of social status

The role of chicken in the medieval food system: evidence from Central Italy

Over the last decade the study of chicken in the archaeological context has received increased attention. Most published studies have focused on a number of core subjects: the identification of the chicken’s wild ancestor,1 its spread from Asia to Europe,2 the earliest introductions of it into Europe3 and the first evidence of intense economic exploitation.4 It is commonly accepted that the domestic chicken originated from the red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), which was first domesticated in eastern Asia, perhaps through multiple, independent domestication events.5 The timing of the initial domestication, as well as its spread to the Middle East and Europe, is still unclear. In Italy, chicken remains are mentioned in contexts as early as the ninth century BC, although these require verification.6 By the sixth century BC, however, the occurrence of chicken in Italy is clearly attested.7 In the Classical period, domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) is often associated with funerary and ritual contexts. The gradual increase of its archaeological representation from the fourth century BC to the sixth century AD,8 indicates that chickens only became widespread in the Roman period, when they began to be exploited as a valuable meat source. This increase is also expressed in a number of well-known literary sources. Roman authors, such as Columella and Pliny the Elder (first century AD), mention the occurrence of a diversity of chicken breeds and management practices. Although chicken was exploited as a source of food in the Middle Ages, there are no medieval written sources detailing the husbandry practices adopted at that time in Italy. Shifts in size throughout the Middle Ages, likely linked to differential management strategies, have been identified in Rome.9 This could indicate the occurrence of changes in human-chicken interactions from the Early to the Late Middle Ages in Italy. This paper aims to investigate husbandry practices adopted at rural and urban sites in Central Italy and the importance of chicken in the Central Italian medieval food economy

CD8+ T-lymphocytes in peripheral airways of smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

To investigate whether the inflammatory process in peripheral airways is different in smokers who develop symptoms of chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow limitation and in asymptomatic smokers who do not develop chronic airflow limitation, we examined surgical specimens obtained from 16 smokers undergoing lung resection for localized pulmonary lesions. Nine had symptoms of chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow limitation and seven were asymptomatic with normal lung function. In peripheral airways, immunohistochemical methods were performed to identify neutrophils, macrophages, CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes infiltrating the airway wall, and morphometric methods were used to measure the internal perimeter, the airway wall area, and the smooth muscle area. The number of CD8+ T-lymphocytes and the smooth muscle area were increased in smokers with symptoms of chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow limitation as compared with asymptomatic smokers with normal lung function, while the number of neutrophils, macrophages, and CD4+ T-lymphocytes were similar in the two groups of subjects examined. We concluded that smokers who develop symptoms of chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow limitation have an increased number of CD8+ T-lymphocytes and an increased smooth muscle area in the peripheral airways as compared with asymptomatic smokers with normal lung function, supporting the important role of CD8+ T-lymphocytes and airway remodeling in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Inflammatory cells in the bronchial glands of smokers with chronic bronchitis

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Mechanisms of damage in COPD.

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Inflammatory cells in the bronchial glands of smokers with chronic bronchitis.

To characterize the inflammatory process in the bronchial glands of smokers with chronic sputum production, we examined lobar bronchi from 18 subjects undergoing lung resection for localized pulmonary lesions, all with a history of cigarette smoking. Nine of the subjects had symptoms of chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow obstruction, and nine were asymptomatic, with normal lung function. The number of neutrophils, eosinophils, mast cells, macrophages, CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes, and the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ cells were assessed in the bronchial glands, epithelium, and submucosa. Cells were identified through immunohistochemistry. Smokers with symptoms of chronic bronchitis had an increased number of neutrophils (p = 0.01) and macrophages (p = 0.03) and a decreased CD4+/CD8+ ratio (p = 0.01) in the bronchial glands as compared with asymptomatic smokers. Chronic bronchitic smokers also had an increased number of epithelial neutrophils (p = 0.04), whereas the numbers of macrophages and CD4+ and CD8+ T-lympohcytes in the epithelium and submucosa were similar in the two groups of smokers. No differences in numbers of eosinophils or mast cells were observed between bronchitic and asymptomatic smokers in any of the compartments examined. In conclusion, smokers with chronic sputum production have an increased infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages and an increased proportion of CD8+ T-lymphocytes in their bronchial glands, supporting the important role of bronchial-gland inflammation in the pathogenesis of chronic bronchitis