LOCATION: Palazzina delle Scienze: I floor-mezzanine, Ia.08-09-12.
RESEARCH TOPICS:
The Laboratory has fifty years of experience in palynological and palaeobotanical studies. More recently, new lines of research in the archaeobotanical field have been developed, which include anthracological and dendrological investigations.
Currently the laboratory focuses on the study of vegetation dynamics and their relationships with historical practices of environmental resource management.
• Anthracology: study of charcoal kilns and of archaeological sediment from settlements located in mountain areas to address issues of great importance, such as the transformations in wood use and exploitation, forest management strategies and impact of historical anthropic activities on the arboreal vegetation.
• Dendrology: through dendrochronological and dendroecological analyzes of living trees, sub-fossils or wooden structures, important ecological dynamics are dated and their relationships with social and economic processes are identified.
• Palynology: palynological analyzes of wetland sediments allow to reconstruct the evolution of the vegetation cover, even over centuries or millennia, and to hypothesize how agro-forestry-pastoral activities have influenced the evolution of the landscape. Palynological analyzes of soils can also provide interesting information on local practices. Likewise, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) provide additional information on the deposition environment, allowing to improve the understanding and interpretation of pollen spectra.
RESEARCH GROUP MEMBERS:
Bruna Ilde Menozzi, Riccardo Santeramo, Chiara Molinari and members of the interdepartmental Laboratory of Archeology and Environmental History (LASA, http://www.lasa.unige.it/gruppo.php)
LINK A LINEE DI RICERCA, PROGETTI E PUBBLICAZIONI
LINK TO RESEARCH LINES, PROJECTS AND PUBLICATIONS:
RESEARCH LINES
Investigation about vegetation dynamics and their relationships with historical practices of environmental resources management with palynological, anthracological and dendrological methodologies: http://www.lasa.unige.it
PROJECTS
IRIS - Inspiring rural heritage - Sustainable practices to protect and conserve upland landscapes and memories. Collaborative project funded in the frame of the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change Horizon 2020 program. It aims at demonstrating how knowledge of historical processes and land use supports the conservation and development of upland landscapes and provide guidelines to preserve historical and natural heritage. Principal investigator: Salvidio S. https://iris-jpi.eu/; https://www.facebook.com/people/Iris-Jpi/100081336056446/
ANTIGONE: Archaeology of sharing practices: the material evidence of mountain marginalisation in Europe (18th- 21st c. AD). PI: A.M. Stagno. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/853539; https://www.facebook.com/people/Archaeology-of-sharing-practices/100083…
TRANSEANT. Landscape of transhumance: Environmental archaeology research between Eastern Pyrenees (Spain) and Maritime Alps (Italy). Ricercatore principale V. Pescini. https://icac.cat/es/recerca/projectes-de-recerca/projecte/landscape-of-…
PUBBLICATIONS
Bruna Ilde Menozzi: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3666-4258
Riccardo Santeramo: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9844-4723
Chiara Molinari: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5813-2637
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT:
Instruments for the preparation and analyses of palynological, anthracological, xylological and dendrological samples (stereomicroscopes; Incident and transmitted light microscopes; centrifuge, fume hood, muffle furnace, hand drills, Pressler increment borer; high definition scanner; specialized software; sanders)
TEACHING ACTIVITIES:
Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Botany applied to Cultural Heritage. https://corsi.unige.it/corsi/8453/studenti-laboratori
