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This contribution aims to provide an updated and concise overview of the main events and developments characterising the interaction between human communities and their environment in Lombardy (Northern Italy) between the Middle Paleolithic and the Late Iron Age (60,000 to 2,100 years cal BP). Within the above defined geographic and chronological context, our main goal is to highlight and summarise the role of natural factors in the development of human history, both over the long durée and within defined periods. We provide a short history of the ecosystems and socio-ecological systems in Lombardy, for which – thanks to the contribution of several research groups and scholars active in the region – we analyse specific key issues. These analyses are facilitated by chronostratigraphic tables and GIS-based cartography, and introduced by an overview of the climatic changes that affected Alpine and Po Plain landscapes across the Last Glaciation and subsequent Late Glacial times, up to the shortlasting events which influenced the development of Holocene civilisations. The structure and significance of the issues introduced in the overview will be discussed by individual research groups working within this study area

Bone is a composite material constituted by the association of an organic matrix and bioapatite nano-crystals. Human bones, frequently recovered from archaeological contexts, represent a valuable source of information on health, demography, age, diet and mobility of ancient populations as well as on environmental conditions experienced. However the reliability of such information depends on the preservation state of bone material and its constituents, i.e. the preservation of the in vivo chemical and isotopic composition. Bone alteration is caused by taphonomic and diagenetic processes, mainly driven by environmental conditions, affecting bones since the death of the individual and during burial. Therefore, a diagenetic study on archaeological bones, aiming to accurately determine their preservation state, taking into account the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental contexts, is a fundamental step when retrieving information by chemical or isotopic analyses. Based on this perspective, this research project is mainly addressing the radiocarbon dating of the bioapatite fraction of human bones, coming from the archaeological site 16D4 – Al Khiday 2 (Sudan) and the assessment of the reliability of results. At 16D4, a multi-stratified cemetery was excavated and several burial phases were recovered. In fact, the site was used as a burial ground at different periods along almost the entire Holocene. The well-defined archaeological context provided a set of samples suitable to investigate the reliability of the radiocarbon dating of bioapatite as well as the influence of environmental/climatic changes, occurring in Central Sudan along the Holocene, on bone diagenesis. Firstly a multi-disciplinary study on bones and associated soil sediments has been carried out, in order to define the preservation state of bones as well as to provide a model for diagenetic processes taking into account pedogenic processes and changes in environmental, climatic and local burial conditions. Based in the established model for diagenetic alteration of these bones, radiocarbon dating on selected bioapatite samples was performed and reliability of results discussed. Characterization of bone samples was carried out by optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray computed micro-tomography, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Samples of pedogenic calcrete horizon, found at the 16D4 site, were analysed by optical, cathodoluminescence, and scanning electron microscopy. Bone and calcrete samples were prepared for 14C-AMS dating. Results from this case study prove that the radiocarbon dating of bioapatite for heavily altered bone samples may not be reliable. Characterization of bones and associated soil sediments provided valuable information on the diagenetic history of bones and on the influence of changes in environmental and local burial conditions on bone preservation. Moreover, results highlight the relevance of a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental contexts