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In this paper basic concepts concerning radiocarbon dating and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technique, and specifically the Centre for Isotopic Research on Cultural and Environmental heritage (CIRCE Laboratory) AMS facility, will be given. Problem of contaminations in radiocarbon AMS measurements will be introduced, and the sample preparation laboratory and the graphitisation lines that are used at the CIRCE Laboratory will be presented. Moreover problems of sampling and interpretation of the archaeological radiocarbon dates will be treated in consideration of the nature of interdisciplinary research and of the impact of radiocarbon dating on archaeology.

We present Isotòpia, an open-access database compiling over 36,000 stable isotope measurements (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, δ34S, 87Sr/86Sr, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/206Pb, and 208Pb/206Pb) on human, animal, and plant bioarchaeological remains dating to Classical Antiquity (approximately 800 BCE ‐ 500 CE). These were recovered from different European regions, particularly from the Mediterranean. Isotòpia provides a comprehensive characterisation of the isotopic data, encompassing various historical, archaeological, biological, and environmental variables. Isotòpia is a resource for meta-analytical research of past human activities and paleoenvironments. The database highlights data gaps in isotopic classical archaeology, such as the limited number of isotopic measurements available for plants and animals, limited number of studies on spatial mobility, and spatial heterogeneity of isotopic research. As such, we emphasise the necessity to address and fill these gaps in order to unlock the reuse potential of this database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Selvicciola necropolis is a large burial site dated to the Copper Age, located on the mid-Tyrrhenian side of Central Italy, in the Fiora river valley. Despite post-depositional disturbances, 32 prehistoric tombs were found, generally in a good state of preservation, with a total number of 119 individuals identified. In the present study, radiocarbon and stable isotope measurements on bone collagen are combined with skeletal data for 71 of these individuals. We aim to investigate possible changes in food practices and burial patterns throughout time. In detail, the results allowed us to define a timeframe for the use of the cemetery of at least 2000 years, with the two most ancient individuals found in tomb 17 and dated to around 3950 cal BC, assigning this a necropolis chronological investigation of the so-called Rinaldone culture. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis confirmed a predominantly agropastoral subsistence strategy for this prehistoric community. Although the plant intake consisted mainly of C3 species, we further discuss the fact that the stable isotope data suggest an increase in the consumption of C4 plants over time. The integration of radiocarbon and isotopic data with the skeletal evidence and material culture provides an interesting insight into the funerary world of this community, highlighting the importance of Selvicciola for the understanding of life in the Mediterranean at the transition between the fourth and the third millennia BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen analysis of a marine core collected in the Gulf of S. Eufemia (Tyrrhenian Calabria, Italy) allowed reconstructing the regional changes in vegetation and land use over the last 5000 years. Pollen diagram zonation through Constrained Cluster Analysis highlighted three compositional zones whose boundaries mark the major changes that affected the vegetation structure. A dense forest cover with a few signs of human activities characterized the wide pollen source area from 5055 to 2700 BP (Zone 1). In this period, the Pre-Protohistoric communities were mainly concentrated on the Tropea Promontory where they had a significant local impact. Minor forest rarefactions at 5000–4800 BP, ca. 4400–4000 BP, ca. 3450–3150 BP were correlated to phases of climatic shifts toward aridity. From 2700 to 2000 BP (Zone 2a), a longer and more incisive period of forest decline was connected to a time of aridity that favored the intense activities of an increasing anthropogenic pressure. Indeed, important urban centers developed in the area during the Greek and Roman colonization. Diffuse deforestation and cultivation occurred from 790 BP (Zone 3), enhancing soil erosion and fluvial discharge as testified by the sudden increase in sedimentation rates. This disruption of the slope morphodynamics was connected to the collapse of territorial management following the end of the Western Roman Empire. Compositional Data Analysis, applied to a simplified pollen dataset, highlighted both a negative correlation between Abies and Fagus and a close similarity between the AP/NAP curve and the Axis 1 scores of the Relative Variation Biplot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depositional and erosional processes, subsidence and sea‐level changes have strongly modified the coastal landscape of northern Adriatic lagoons. Such rapid transformations have induced significant consequences on human settlements and, thus, on the archaeological visibility of the area, still largely unexplored. We present here six metal swords fortuitously retrieved by fishermen over the last decades in front of the barrier islands of Marano Lagoon (north‐eastern Italy). Multi‐analytical analyses carried out on the artefacts (X‐ray radiography and computed micro‐tomography, radiocarbon dating and typo‐chronology) combined with the study of the coastal paleo‐environment (mainly based on historical cartography and remote sensing) allowed the items' main features to be defined, and highlighted both the historical importance of the area and the significant morphological changes that have occurred there over the last millennium. Data presented indicate that Marano Lagoon was a major hub in the northern Adriatic in the Late Middle Ages, during the crucial period of the Crusades, and in Early Modern times, connecting inland Europe with the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the research highlights the onset of coastal erosion that occurred in the last century after a phase of relatively geomorphic stability, possibly deriving from the intensification of human impact and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]