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.