Disentangling the origins of viticulture in the western Mediterranean.

We present direct evidence of early grape domestication in southern Italy via a multidisciplinary study of pip assemblage from one site, shedding new light on the spread of viticulture in the western Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. This consist of 55 waterlogged pips from Grotta di Pertosa, a Middle Bronze Age settlement in the south of the Italian peninsula. Direct radiocarbon dating of pips was carried out, confirming the chronological consistency of the samples with their archaeological contexts (ca. 1450-1200 BCE). The extraordinary state of conservation of the sample allowed to perform geometric morphometric (GMM) and paleogenetic analyses (aDNA) at the same time. The combination of the two methods has irrefutably shown the presence of domestic grapevines, together with wild ones, in Southern Italy during the Middle/Late Bronze Age. The results converge towards an oriental origin of the domestic grapes, most likely arriving from the Aegean area through the Mycenaeans. A parent/offspring kinship was also recognised between a domestic/wild hybrid individual and a domestic clonal group. This data point out a little known aspect of the diffusion of the first viticulture in Italy, and therefore in the western Mediterranean, which involved the hybridization between imported domestic varieties with, likely local, wild vines.

Organic residue analysis reveals the function of bronze age metal daggers.

The article discusses results of organic residue analysis performed on ten copper-alloy daggers from Bronze Age Pragatto, Italy, c.1550-1250 BCE. Metal daggers are widespread in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Europe, yet their social and practical roles are still hotly debated. Are they symbolic or functional? Are they tools or weapons? How were they used? For what tasks and on what materials? The research addresses these questions through a novel application of biochemical staining and SEM-EDX analysis. The method has proved successful in extracting and identifying animal residues located on cutting edges including bone, muscle, and tendons. These are interpreted as evidence of prehistoric carcass butchering and carving. Further residues were observed on blade faces and hafting plates or tangs; these are interpreted as remnants of bone handles and sheaths, the latter made of either wood fibers or processed hide and fur. The readings proposed in the article are validated by original experiments with replica daggers, as detailed in the Supplementary Materials. The analysis and experiments shed new light on Bronze Age metal daggers, showing that they were fully functional tools (and perhaps tool-weapons) primarily utilized for the processing of animal carcasses. This original research result contributes significant knowledge towards interpreting an under-studied, yet socially salient, prehistoric metal artifact.