News
Interdisciplinary bioarchaeology in European prehistory
21-22 March 2025
​
​
The Ancestors Project hosted a two day Workshop on Interdisciplinary bioarchaeology in European prehistory at the University of Cambridge McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Lightning introductions from twenty participants were followed by round table discussions on 'Emerging methods and social insights', 'Key questions in European prehistory', 'Reflections on the nexus of bioarchaeology, biomolecular analyses, prehistory & ethics'. Case studies were presented by Emma Pomeroy from Shanidar, Ian Armit, COMMIOS Project, Penny Bickle, LBK project, Martin Furholt, Slovakia project, Chris Fowler, British Neolithic, Marianne Hem Eriksen, Body-Politics project, Rebecca Redfern, London Museum followed by John Robb and the Ancestors team. The final roundtable discussed 'Reflections on the nexus of bioarchaeology, biomolecular analyses, prehistory & ethics' Chaired by John Robb with panellists Trish Biers, Univ of Cambridge; Becky Gowland, Univ of Durham, Jess Thompson, Ancestors Project, Matthew Knight, National Museum of Scotland.
Roger Rollos was given access to the University of Sapienza laboratory to make a Youtube broadcast about methods used for carrying out research for the Ancestors Project. To date there have been 4,352 views. Narrative includes
"By analyzing a 7000-year-old tooth, we can find out what its owner ate when he was young. The bones, on the other hand, tell us about his diet over the last ten years. At La Sapienza University in Rome, stable isotopes in archaeological remains are being studied to reconstruct the eating habits of populations that lived thousands of years ago. From the Romans to the Neolithic, food is not just a matter of survival, but a reflection of the environment, culture and people's movements. A journey through history through what our predecessors ate."
Exhibition
​
November 2024 - 2 February 2025
Nogarole Rocca
CONNESSI | Interazioni millenarie di una necropoli'
Former Oratory of San leonardo in Nogarole Rocca, Verona
​
'Connected. Millennial interactions of a necropolis'
​
More than 40 burials dating back to the III-II millennium BC on an area of 12,800 square meters in the provinces of Verona, Rovigo and Vicenza in the Municipality of Nogarole Rocca. An extraordinary prehistoric and protohistoric necropolis, which probably extended over an even larger area is the protagonist of this exhibition. The Ancestors Project contributed a significant amount of expertise and data to this event. 200 people were at the opening on the 6th November 2024 and over 1000 visitors were recorded until its close on the 2nd Feb 2025. This article of Gen 2025, reports 400 visitors from Verona, Padova, Venezia, and Mantova. Approximately 200 students on school trips visited on Fridays. The event was promoted on social media channels including youtube and the facebook page of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Verona and also within the archaeological community IIPP.
​​
​
​
New paper published
​
A dietary meta-analysis of stable isotope data from the Neolithic to the Iron Age in Italy​
​
Our isotopes team has just published a new paper in Quaternary Science Reviews Led by PhD student Martina Farese, this paper builds on her previous work to synthesise the existing published isotopic data for prehistoric Italy, published last year as an Open Access dataset. This paper combines the carbon and nitrogen isotopic data from Neolithic to Iron Age sites across the Italian peninsula to implement a new meta-analysis of trends in diet across this 6000-year stretch of Prehistory. We observe a relatively stable predominance of plant proteins, with isotopic variations primarily dictated by sociocultural changes, starting from the introduction of the “Neolithic package” that was reflected in a similar isotopic signature throughout the Peninsula. In Italy, the introduction of millets in the Bronze Age, focused on the Po plain in an area of particular population growth, reflects a distinction to the broader dietary patterns in Europe at this time. The results of this study show a diverse isotopic scenario (figure below) that represents the many populations and environments characteristic of the Italian Peninsula. This paper also highlights the presence of several gaps in the Italian isotopic landscape, showing areas where future research could focus.​
​​
Ancestors paper reviews!
​
The Ancestors Project team (John Robb, Jess Thompson, Sofia Panella, Silvia Soncin and Mary Anne Tafuri) implemented new bioarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the human remains, as well as obtaining new isotopic data and radiocarbon dates in their publication 'The Use-Life of Ancestors: Neolithic Cranial Retention, Caching and Disposal at Masseria Candelaro, Apulia, Italy' Published online by Cambridge University Press. This has received several reviews - from the University of Cambridge,Livescience,Physics, Medium,Newsweek
​
​
​
​