Fontana Ranuccio (excavations 2019-2022) and Colle Marino (excavations 2020-2021): Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphic evidence of the earliest inhabitants in the Anagni basin

Recent fieldwork of the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana in the Anagni basin (Latin Valley, southern Latium, central Italy) has provided new insights into the dynamics of human settlement and adaptation in this area during the Middle Pleistocene. This paper summarizes the still partially unpublished data on the chronostratigraphy of two important prehistoric sites: Fontana Ranuccio, dating from about 400,000 years ago, and Colle Marino, whose lithic industry has so far been attributed to an early stage of the Middle Pleistocene. At Fontana Ranuccio, stratigraphic studies highlighted the depositional dynamics and the processes involved in the formation of the archeological unit, consisting of partly reworked volcanic material, which can be now divided into distinct sub-units. At Colle Marino, a 35-meter-deep core drilling and an excavation campaign allowed us to verify the nature and provenance of lithic artifacts found on the surface in past decades. Radiometric analyses dated these artifacts from about 700,000 years ago

Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

Il Gravettiano dell'Italia tirrenica nel contesto mediterraneo: definizione delle strategie di insediamento e mobilità attraverso lo studio delle materie prime e delle industrie litiche

The Gravettian is the second chrono-cultural complex of the Upper Paleolithic after the Aurignacian. The Gravettian diffusion, throughout Europe, took place in a short span of time between 30.000 and 20.000 years BP. During this period, the climate instability due to the LGM approach created different environments. Particularly, Italy was split in two regions separated by the Apennine mountains: the cold and arid Adriatic coast on the first hand and the more temperate Tyrrhenian coast on the other hand. The latter region is the main object of this research. With the aim to understand the development and the mobility strategies used by the Gravettian groups in this area, several lithic assemblages have been analyzed. Specifically, the Gravettian sequence of Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Liguria - Italy), providing one of the most important stratigraphy of the Italian Upper Paleolithic, has been entirely studied. Inside the Balzi Rossi archaeological complex a direct comparison has been provided by the Gravettian collection of Grotta dei Faniculli. Moreover, some other smaller collections coming from the Provence area have been studied, allowing a comparison with the Balzi Rossi area. Finally, the site of Bilancino located in Tuscany let to contextualize the Gravettian between the liguro-provençal arc and Italy. The relation between techno-typological aspects and the raw materials provenance gives important advances in our comprehension of the behavior of the hunter-gatherer groups who inhabited the sites, discussing the timing and territorial mobility of the Tyrrhenian Gravettian

The Gravettian of Tyrrhenian Italy in the Mediterranean context : definition of settlement and mobility strategies through the study of raw materials and lithic industries

Le Gravettien est le deuxième ensemble chrono-culturelle du Paléolithique supérieur après l’Aurignacien. La diffusion du Gravettien en Europe s’est produite rapidement, entre 30.000 et 20.000 ans BP. Pendant cette période, l’instabilité climatique due à l’approche du LGM a engendré la formation d’environnements différents. En particulier, la péninsule italienne était divisée en deux régions par la chaîne des Apennins: la côte adriatique, froide et aride à Est et la côte tyrrhénienne plus tempérée, à Ouest. Cette dernière fait l’objet de la présente étude. Dans le but de comprendre les stratégies de mobilité adoptées par les groupes gravettiens et leur développement, plusieurs assemblages lithiques ont été analysés. Notamment, la séquence gravettienne du Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Ligurie – Italie), qui livre une des plus importantes stratigraphies du Paléolithique supérieur italien, a été entièrement étudiée. À l’intérieur du complexe archéologique des Balzi Rossi, une comparaison directe a été faite avec la collection gravettienne de la Grotte des Enfants. Plusieurs collections mineures provenant de sites provençaux ont été examinées, en permettant d’effectuer une comparaison avec les données des Balzi Rossi. Enfin, l’analyse du site de Bilancino situé en Toscane (Italie) a rendu possible de contextualiser le Gravettien entre l’arc liguro-provençal et l’Italie. La relation entre les aspects techno-typologiques et la provenance des matières premières fournit des avancées importantes dans notre compréhension du comportement des chasseur-cueilleurs qui ont habités ces sites et permet de discuter la chronologie et la mobilité territoriale du Gravettien tyrrhénien.The Gravettian is the second chrono-cultural complex of the Upper Paleolithic after the Aurignacian. The Gravettian diffusion, throughout Europe, took place in a short span of time between 30.000 and 20.000 years BP. During this period, the climate instability due to the LGM approach created different environments. Particularly, Italy was split in two regions separated by the Apennine mountains: the cold and arid Adriatic coast on the first hand and the more temperate Tyrrhenian coast on the other hand. The latter region is the main object of this research. With the aim to understand the development and the mobility strategies used by the Gravettian groups in this area, several lithic assemblages have been analyzed. Specifically, the Gravettian sequence of Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Liguria - Italy), providing one of the most important stratigraphy of the Italian Upper Paleolithic, has been entirely studied. Inside the Balzi Rossi archaeological complex a direct comparison has been provided by the Gravettian collection of Grotta dei Faniculli. Moreover, some other smaller collections coming from the Provence area have been studied, allowing a comparison with the Balzi Rossi area. Finally, the site of Bilancino located in Tuscany let to contextualize the Gravettian between the liguro-provençal arc and Italy. The relation between techno-typological aspects and the raw materials provenance gives important advances in our comprehension of the behavior of the hunter-gatherer groups who inhabited the sites, discussing the timing and territorial mobility of the Tyrrhenian Gravettian

Le Gravettien entre l’Italie et la France : nouvelles données sur l’industrie lithique de l’Abri Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Italie).

The Italian Gravettian remains rarely investigated, with about twenty known archaeological sites and available data concerning its lithic industries that mainly refer to typological analyses developed during the second half of the last century. These highlight the presence of different facies with few attempts to discuss possibilities of parallel developments or colonization processes within a European scenario. The recent studies, which are few, have focused on technological and functional analyses of the Gravettian lithic industries as well as defining the mobility strategies of these human groups. In order to collect fresh technological data and to provide an explanatory framework within which to understand the dynamics of Gravettian adaptations in Italy, we analyzed the evidences from units C and D of the Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Italy). The site, located in the center of the Liguro-Provençal arc at the Italy-France border, provides one of the most complete Middle-upper Paleolithic sequences of the Mediterranean Europe and it represents a key to study the Gravettian appearance in the peninsula. This work has demanded a punctual revision of the original field documentation (diaries, pictures, drawings), allowing the correlation of collections from the 1938-1949 excavation – previously studied by other scholars – with unpublished materials coming from the 1959 excavation. During this excavation, L. Cardini used a more standardized methodology based on 10 cm spits, which led to the excavation of the Upper Paleolithic sequence during a single campaign. The Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana (Anagni, Italy) houses the lithic collection including all the artifacts from both the excavation and the sieving, still preserved in their original boxes. As there seems to have been no previous selection of the material and/ or there are no apparent conservation problems indicates that this collection is the most reliable for this study. The use of a techno-economic perspective has defined technological adaptations occurred during the different Gravettian frequentations ; rock-supplying crops draw from a large procurement area, roughly spanning from the Rhone valley to the Italian Apennines. Furthermore, the use of statistical analysis based on both qualitative and quantitative determinations reveals the detailed interpretation of the entire Gravettian sequence spit by spit. Finally, the materials from the base and the top of the old excavations campaigns (1938-1949) have been directly studied and compared. They highlight new perspectives relating to the Gravettian of Riparo Mochi. Firstly, Noailles burins found at the base of the Gravettian sequence suggest that the Noaillian is the first Gravettian frequentation of the site. Consequently, the presence of the ancient Gravettian previously suggested by other scholars has been re-considered. Differences between raw materials and techno-typological patterns have been interpreted as different occupational phases. The latter, also highlighted by faunal and environmental studies, can be associated to changes of the site’s function within the hunter-gathers mobility. Secondly, several technical and behavioral changes occurred between the middle and final Gravettian. These relate mainly to the appearance of new lithic production at the end of the Gravettian seem the sign of variations of the social organization, which can be roughly interpreted as result of the regionalization phenomenon attested during this period in the Italian peninsula. In conclusion, a survey of available data from the north Mediterranean rim (i. e. Pyrenean area, southern France and western Italy) has been carried out, in order to evaluate the implication of our results about the Italian Gravettian within the wider perspective of a European context. We have thus been able to evaluate how the Noaillian groups spread towards Italy as well as to suggest new insights into the evolution of the Italian Gravettian.À ce jour, un cadre explicatif pour comprendre les dynamiques de diffusion et de développement du Gravettien en Italie tyrrhénienne fait défaut. Les données disponibles se fondent sur des analyses typologiques qui soulignent la présence de différents faciès sans analyser les possibilités de développements parallèles ou de processus de colonisation par rapport au scénario européen. Sur cette base, nous avons analysé les données gravettiennes de Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Italie), l'une des plus importantes séquences du Paléolithique supérieur de la Méditerranée. Sa position au centre de l'arc liguro-provençal est une clé pour étudier l’apparition du Gravettien dans la péninsule. L'utilisation d’une approche techno-économique a permis de définir les territoires d’approvisionnement des matières premières et de reconnaître les adaptations technologiques au fil du temps. Ces données mettent en évidence un nouveau scénario pour le Gravettien de Riparo Mochi : a) les burins de Noailles trouvés à la base de la séquence gravettienne suggèrent que le Noaillien correspond à la première fréquentation gravettienne du site ; b) plusieurs changements techniques et comportementaux se sont produits entre le Gravettien moyen et Gravettien final. En conclusion, des comparaisons avec les données techno-économiques et paléo-environnementales du nord de la Méditerranée permettent de mieux comprendre comment les groupes noailliens se sont étendus vers le sud de l'Italie et de suggérer des nouvelles perspectives pour comprendre le développement du Gravettien.Santaniello Fabio, Grimaldi Stefano. Le Gravettien entre l’Italie et la France : nouvelles données sur l’industrie lithique de l’Abri Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Italie).. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 116, n°2, 2019. pp. 255-281

Il villaggio della terra che fuma. Rigenerazione urbana e territoriale di Larderello e dell'Alta Val di Cecina

L’elaborato illustra il progetto di rigenerazione territoriale ed urbana dell’Alta Val di Cecina e di Larderello, articolato in proposte di intervento a vasta scala (piano strategico per il turismo, place branding, sistema visivo multiforme, proposta di eco-parco industriale) e a scala urbana (proposta di albergo diffuso, riassetto urbanistico di Larderello, progetto di Piazza Fucini, brand turistico del comune di Pomarance). Nella prima sezione si affronta un’analisi storica con un inquadramento del periodo nel quale nasce il fenomeno dei villaggi operai, al quale segue una trattazione sulle figure dell’ingegnere igienista e sociale, e sugli esempi dei più noti villaggi operai europei (Saltaire, Bourville, Margarethenhöhe e altri) ed italiani (Schio, Villaggio Leumann, Crespi d’Adda). Successivamente l’attenzione si sposta sulla storia di Larderello, dalle prime testimonianze di epoca etrusca sino a toccare gli anni d’oro del villaggio di inizio Novecento, guardando con attenzione alle vicende della nascita del villaggio operaio per volere di De Larderel. La seconda parte tratta l’analisi territoriale attraverso lo studio delle fonti bibliografiche, della normativa, dell’esperienza personale sul campo e riporta i risultati e le analisi del questionario somministrato a 52 abitanti ed ex abitanti di Larderello. Particolare attenzione è stata posta nello studio delle risorse territoriali, quali antiche fonti termali, testimonianze, architetture e resti archeologici, al quale segue un quadro generale su vincoli e prescrizioni, normative, uso del suolo, collegamenti, demografia, turismo, geotermia e industria. Il terzo capitolo porta l’attenzione su Larderello, descrivendo in dettaglio la nascita e le caratteristiche del piano urbanistico di Michelucci, introdotti da uno sguardo sulla poetica dell’Architetto, terminando poi con i più recenti avvenimenti storici e possibili prospettive del paese. Chiude la trattazione la sezione dedicata alla tesi progettuale: dopo la definizione degli obiettivi sono proposte strategie di intervento a livello territoriale ed urbanistico, analizzando con dettaglio crescente il piano strategico per il turismo, il place branding ed infine il sistema visivo multiforme ed il logo turistico per il comune di Pomarance. Viene proposto inoltre la definizione di un eco-parco industriale per l’area geotermicamente attiva della Val di Cecina; ancora a livello territoriale è stato progettato un Landmark e un sistema informativo che valorizzano le risorse territoriali. La tesi si conclude con gli interventi urbanistici a Larderello. Vengono proposte: la chiusura al traffico di via Fucini e la creazione di una nuova piazza attrezzata; la riorganizzazione degli spazi dei parcheggi nel centro e nell’area sportiva, che viene riconfigurata come parco sportivo; l’introduzione dell’albergo diffuso nel paese

La tecnologia litica in italia. Riflessioni sullo studio delle industrie litiche preistoriche dopo 30 anni di “Metodo Boëda”

During last three decades, the technological approach confirmed to be a useful tool to understand stone tools. This approach is mostly based on the well known methodology proposed by the French scholar E. Boëda. Here we propose to reconsider the epistemological value of the Boëda’s technological approach: diachronic and synchronic technical changes should be considered by means of an historical perspective suggesting that human groups are adapting themselves to environmental conditions.L’analisi tecnologica proposta da E. Boëda è divenuta nel corso degli ultimi 30 anni un utile strumento per la interpretazione dei manufatti litici. Gli autori, attraverso una revisione critica e completa della letteratura italiana esistente sull’argomento, suggeriscono che la variabilità tecnologica osservata nel tempo e nello spazio deve essere interpretata grazie ad una prospettiva storica al fine di valorizzare l’adattamento umano alle condizioni ambientali

La biblioteca su Facebook: il design della pagina e le interazioni col pubblico

As we agree about the need for a public authority to have a Facebook account by which offer its services and talk with its users, we should pay attention to the account graphic appearance. The quality and relevance of texts and pictures published in the posts show the library staff professionalism, influencing the users’ opinion about the public authority. This article wants to give librarians some graphic guidelines for the realization of Facebook pages

Le Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Ventimiglia, Italie) : les nouvelles fouilles

Grimaldi Stefano, Santaniello Fabio, Starnini Elisabetta. Le Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Ventimiglia, Italie) : les nouvelles fouilles. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 114, n°1, 2017. pp. 169-172