Silvia Marvelli

• PhD
• Palynology and Archaeobotany Laboratory Head at Centro Agricoltura Ambiente “Giorgio Nicoli”

Holocene prodelta lobes are key sedimentary archives of environmental change that can be used effectively for high-resolution palynological investigations, as they: (i) consist almost entirely of mud, (ii) represent stratigraphically expanded successions, and (iii) are strictly related to river dynamics, thus reflecting vegetation changes in river...

Plants have always represented a key element in landscape delineation. Indeed, plant diversity, whose distribution is influenced by geographic/climatic variability, has affected both environmental and human ecology. The present contribution represents a multi‐proxy study focused on the detection of starch, pollen and non‐pollen palynomorphs in anci...

Bringing together a wide array of modern scientific techniques and interdisciplinary approaches, this book provides an accessible guide to the methods that form the current bedrock of research into Roman, and more broadly ancient, wine. Chapters are arranged into thematic sections, covering biomolecular archaeology and chemical analysis, archaeobot...

Looking for a biological fingerprint relative to new aspects of the relationship between humans and natural environment during prehistoric times is challenging. Although many issues still need to be addressed in terms of authentication and identification, microparticles hidden in ancient dental calculus can provide interesting information for bridg...

Grotta Mora Cavorso (Jenne, Latium), a complex karstic system in Central Italy, has returned one of the most precious Prehistoric palaeontological and anthropological heritage. Through the analysis of pollen spectra and charcoals from cave stratigraphic levels (Late Pleistocene final phases—Holocene), the overall vegetation trend of the site was po...

In this contribution, we investigated the role of plants in the prehistoric community of Casale del Dolce (Anagni, FR, central Italy), through microparticles recovered from dental calculus. The finding of a great amount of pollen types, even in form of compact lumps, could indicate use of natural substances, such as honeybee products and/or conifer...

Framed into a robust stratigraphic context, multivariate analyses on the Holocene palaeobiological record (pollen, benthic foraminifers, ostracods) of the Po coastal plain (NE Italy) allowed the investigation of microtidal ecosystems variability and driving parameters along a 35‐km‐long land–sea transect. Millennial‐scale ecosystem shifts are docum...

The Gulf of La Spezia (GLS) in Northwest Italy is a rocky embayment with low fluvial influence facing the Mediterranean Sea. Past landscape dynamics were investigated through a multi-proxy, facies-based analysis down to a core depth of 30 m. The integration of quantitative ostracod, foraminifera, and pollen analyses, supported by radiocarbon ages,...

Several record-breaking precipitation events have struck the mountainous area of the Emilia–Romagna region (northern Apennines, Italy) over the last 10 years. As a consequence, severe geomorphological processes such as debris avalanches and debris flows, shallow landslides, and overbank flooding have affected the territory, causing severe damage to...

Several record-breaking precipitation events have stricken the mountainous area of Emilia-Romagna Region (northern Apennines, Italy) over the last years. As consequence, several geomorphological processes, like widespread debris flows along the slopes and hyperconcentrated flood in the stream channels, shallow landslides and overbank flooding affec...

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 m...

Background. In 2015, a paper on the archaeobotany as a key tool ‘for the understanding of the bio-cultural diversity of the Italian landscape’ gave rise to a new initiative, the realization of the first cooperative network of archaeobotanists and palynologists working on archaeological sites located in Italy. The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany I...

According to the current archaeological evidence human peopling in the Southern Po Plain after the LGM was delayed with respect to other areas of northern-central Italy. Although a rather rich set of sites is recorded from the plain to the main Apennines watershed, true reference points are still lacking. Within this context, Collecchio (Parma, Nor...

Purpose This study investigated a Lateglacial to Holocene sedimentary sequence derived from a small catchment located at San Lazzaro di Savena in the surroundings of Bologna Emilia (Northern Italy), in which different buried soil horizons were investigated in order to delineate the physiographic evolution of the area. Materials and methods Several...

The south-eastern Alpine region is rich in copper ore deposits (mostly mixed copper sulphides, chalcopyrite). Archaeological research shows that they have been exploited intensively throughout prehistory. Evidence of ancient metallurgical activity in Trentino was found in about 200 archaeological sites, mainly dated to the Late/Final Bronze Age. In...

Over the last millennia, the land between the Alps and the Mediterranean sea, characterized by extraordinary habitat diversity, has seen an outstanding cross-cultural development. They cover a large time scale, from the prehistoric through the protohistoric Iron Age, right up to the historical and modern times, and a variety of contexts that make t...

Over the last millennia, the land between the Alps and the Mediterranean sea, characterized by extraordinary habitat diversity, has seen an outstanding cross-cultural development. They cover a large time scale, from the prehistoric through the protohistoric Iron Age, right up to the historical and modern times, and a variety of contexts that make t...

Grapevine remains show that this plant has been important for humans since ancient times. this paper presents a synthesis of archaeobotanical studies on grapevine remains (pollen, wood, charcoal, seed/fruit and other botanical remains) from Epigravettian to Bronze Age sites. Carpological remains are the most important ones, because they often allow...

The large number of mummies stored in several churches and crypts on the island of Sicily represents a unique opportunity to investigate lives, lifestyles, nutrition, disease, and funeral customs of a large sample of individuals dating from the late 16th to the mid-20th century. Within the framework of the “Sicily Mummy Project” we performed scient...

The exploration of the unknown crypt of GianGastone de’ Medici, the last Grand Duke (1671-1737), under the floor of the Medici Chapels in San Lorenzo (Florence), brought to light the remains of several unidentified children of the family. In particular, the skeletons of a 5-year-old child, probably a male, and of a newborn, showing evidence of auto...

In this paper the vegetal landscape of the centurial areas of the Po Plain is reconstructed through the study of 9 sites (building, countryside villas etc.) from the territory of Bologna. The Romans occupied a territory already deforested and they set a more intensive and diversified agricultural activity than in the Celtic period. In the Imperial...

104 0 Congresso Nazionale della Società Botanica Italiana onlus Le scienze botaniche nella cultura e sviluppo economico del territorio , Riassunti delle comunicazioni e dei poster Campobasso, 16-19 settembre 2009

Two artificial mummies found in the hospital church of S. Maria delta Scala in Siena (Tuscany, central Italy) and dated back to the end of the 15™ century, were examined. The mummies, in good state of preservation and still wearing their Renaissance clothes, were identified as the rector of the hospital, named Salimbene Capacci, and his wife, Margh...

The study of the artificial mummy of the Blessed Christine (ca. 1432-1458) from Spoleto (Umbria, central It aly) showed a young, very obese women, with an anthropological age of 20-25 years and a stature of 1.45 m. The body was eviscerated by a transversal cut at the bottom of the neck, a jugulo-epigastric incision, with longitudinal section of the...

The thesis focuses on the archaeobotanical study (micro-remains: pollen and ferns spores, macro-remains: seeds, fruits, woods and charcoals) of six sites located in the city of Venice and two in the surrounding lagoon. The eight sites were investigated starting from 2000 under the direction of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Veneto-N...