Fieldwork: Iglesiente, Sardinia, summer 2024
In May 2024, a multidisciplinary team of researchers carried out a geochemical landscape survey campaign in the Iglesiente historic mining region, in Sardinia. These included Guy Geltner, member for our ARC project, “Pursuing Public Health in the Preindustrial World”, as well as staff and students from Monash University, École français de Rome, and Università degli Studi di Cagliari. This project falls under our 2024 Incubator project funded by Monash University, which aims to map the toxic legacies of preindustrial mining in Sardinia by locating the deposition of heavy metals. See more information on the project here. More photos here.
Fieldwork: Rocca San Silvestro, summer 2023
In July 2023, a team of interdisciplinary researchers carried out a geochemical research campaign in the Archaeological mines park of San Silvestro. These included team members for our ARC project, “Pursuing Public Health in the Preindustrial World”: archaeobotanist Mauro Buonincontri, anthropologist Serena Viva, history Phd candidate Rose Byfleet, and archaeologist Giovanna Bianchi. Other researchers included zooarchaeologist Andrea Tommolini, archaeologist Luisa Dalai. included More information on the trip can be found here.
Fieldwork: Rocca San Silvestro, summer 2022
In summer 2022, as part of our ARC-funded research project “Pursuing Public Health in the Preindustrial World”, Giovanna Bianchi and her team of researchers Serena Viva and Mauro Buonincontri, conducted fieldwork at the site of Rocca San Silvestro, a medieval castle in Tuscany. While an archaeological dig was conducted years ago, little analysis was made on the skeletal remains. Bianchi, Viva, and Buonincontri are using this fascinating old mining community to extract information from skeletal remains, sediment and soil analyses, to make conclusions about miners’ population health, diet, and landscape. For more updates follow our Twitter account @prosanitate and Mauro’s account @goodmeetings1.
