• Publicationsclose
• Research softwareclose
• 2013-2022close
• Open Access close
• Flore (Florence Research Repository) close
• Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage close

Ancient human remains have the potential to explain a great deal about the prehistory of humankind. Due to recent technological and bioinformatics advances, their study, at the palaeogenomic level, can provide important information about population dynamics, culture changes, and the lifestyles of our ancestors. In this study, mitochondrial and nuclear genome data obtained from human bone remains associated with the Neolithic Globular Amphorae culture, which were recovered in the Megalithic barrow of Kierzkowo (Poland), were reanalysed to gain insight into the social organisation and use of the archaeological site and to provide information at the individual level. We were able to successfully estimate the minimum number of individuals, sex, kin relationships, and phenotypic traits of the buried individuals, despite the low level of preservation of the bone samples and the intricate taphonomic conditions. In addition, the evaluation of damage patterns allowed us to highlight the presence of “intruders”—that is, of more recent skeletal remains that did not belong to the original burial. Due to its characteristics, the study of the Kierzkowo barrow represented a challenge for the reconstruction of the biological profile of the human community who exploited it and an excellent example of the contribution that ancient genomic analysis can provide to archaeological reconstruction.

Azathioprine is a cornerstone of the therapy of Crohn’s disease. Unfortunately, infections and malignancies are relatively common adverse effects related to this drug; however, cirrhosis is exceptionally reported as a side effect. We report the case of a 49-year-old male patient with ileocolonic steno-penetrating Crohn’s disease who developed hepatic cirrhosis while treated with azathioprine. After taking azathioprine for 3 years with regular follow-up, he developed pancytopenia, and liver cirrhosis was diagnosed with ultrasound, abdomen computed tomography scan, transient elastography, and liver biopsy. As all other causes of liver damage were excluded, azathioprine was believed to be the cause of liver injury and therefore was interrupted.

Abstract Microclimate change related events affect cities total environment and therefore citizens’ wellbeing. In a framework of urban resilience challenge, it is important to guarantee thermally comfortable conditions to dwellers in outdoors but also to preserve cultural heritage masterpieces for tourism and local socio-cultural identity. This work couples an innovative field monitoring at multiple scales and a validated numerical modelling effort to identify indoor and outdoor critical conditions at the present time and in the future, according to IPCC climate change forecast scenarios. The authors focused the attention on the overheating risk of Gubbio historical city center, in central Italy. Experimental data analysis highlights the microclimate granularity of the case study with detected temperature discrepancies up to 2.5 °C observed at pedestrian height during the hottest hour, i.e. 2p.m. Collected data are then used to validate the numerical models of (i) the most significant building of the city and (ii) its surroundings to investigate indoor/outdoor thermal comfort stress due to climate change and local overheating. The combined analysis shows that indoor operative temperature reaches 32 °C on average in 80 years, compared to the current 29 °C value. In the outdoors, apparent temperature increases by about 10 °C on 2100, being responsible for a serious threat compromising socio-cultural life, human health and outdoor and recreational activities.

The growing interest in the impact assessment of cultural heritage has generated a diversity of approaches often focusing mainly on the economic dimension. However, if we consider the cultural heritage as a common and relational good, any activity aimed at promoting its educational, social and economic values needs to produce benefi ts for the community in which the good is located. Therefore, we must necessarily resort to other concepts and tools for measuring the impact of valorisation activities of cultural heritage on community well-being. We must also consider the value for community members. This article illustrates a qualitative research carried out through a case study with the direct involvement of local stakeholders (multi-stakeholder approach). This introductory study is part of a wider research program that the author is currently developing. In accordance with the Quality of Life studies, the main result of the research is the defi nition of elements useful to the impact assessment produced by the valorisation of cultural heritage, in terms of well-being of local communities. Il crescente interesse nella valutazione di impatto del patrimonio culturale ha generato una diversità di approcci, spesso incentrati sulla dimensione economica. Se però si considera il patrimonio culturale come bene comune e relazionale, qualsiasi attività volta a promuovere il suo valore educativo, sociale ed economico deve essere in grado di produrre benefi ci per la comunità in cui il bene si trova. È necessario, dunque, ricorrere a concetti e strumenti in grado di misurare l’impatto delle attività di valorizzazione del patrimonio sul benessere della comunità locale, considerando anche il valore attribuitogli dalla stessa. Questo articolo illustra una ricerca qualitativa realizzata attraverso un caso di studio con il coinvolgimento diretto degli attori locali (approccio multi-stakeholder). Si tratta di uno studio introduttivo ad un percorso di ricerca più ampio e articolato che l’autrice sta sviluppando. In accordo con gli studi sulla Qualità della Vita, il principale risultato della ricerca è la defi nizione di elementi utili alla valutazione dell’impatto prodotto dalla valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale in termini di benessere della comunità locale. Il Capitale culturale. Studies on the value of cultural heritage, No 14 (2016): Musei e mostre tra le due Guerre

ArcCEs is a study for developing a digital archive on Italian scientific expeditions in Northern and Eastern Africa and the former Italian colonies (19th–20th centuries). The aim of the project is to assess, protect and enhance an important corpus of documents (historical cartographies, photographs, scientific papers and archive documents) distributed among public archives and private collections. The database structure is based on the Dublin Core metadata standard. The information system is designed to integrate and make interoperable digital resources, to ensure standardized and complex indexing, and to support advanced retrieval, according to the standards in use. The geolocation of the resources in a GIS environment can display query results in the Google Earth environment.

Volterra (Central Italy) is a town of great historical interest, due to its vast and well-preserved cultural heritage, including a 2.6 km long Etruscan-medieval wall enclosure representing one of the most important elements. Volterra is located on a clayey hilltop prone to landsliding, soil erosion, therefore the town is subject to structural deterioration. During 2014, two impressive collapses occurred on the wall enclosure in the southwestern urban sector. Following these events, a monitoring campaign was carried out by means of remote sensing techniques, such as space-borne (PS-InSAR) and ground-based (GB-InSAR) radar interferometry, in order to analyze the displacements occurring both in the urban area and the surrounding slopes, and therefore to detect possible critical sectors with respect to instability phenomena. Infrared thermography (IRT) was also applied with the aim of detecting possible criticalities on the wall-enclosure, with special regards to moisture and seepage areas. PS-InSAR data allowed a stability back-monitoring on the area, revealing 19 active clusters displaying ground velocity higher than 10 mm/year in the period 2011–2015. The GB-InSAR system detected an acceleration up to 1.7 mm/h in near-real time as the March 2014 failure precursor. The IRT technique, employed on a double survey campaign, in both dry and rainy conditions, permitted to acquire 65 thermograms covering 23 sectors of the town wall, highlighting four thermal anomalies. The outcomes of this work demonstrate the usefulness of different remote sensing technologies for deriving information in risk prevention and management, and the importance of choosing the appropriate technology depending on the target, time sampling and investigation scale. In this paper, the use of a multi-platform remote sensing system permitted technical support of the local authorities and conservators, providing a comprehensive overview of the Volterra site, its cultural heritage and landscape, both in near-real time and back-analysis and at different scales of investigation.

The biotic response of calcareous nannoplankton to environmental and climatic changes during the Eocene–Oligocene transition was investigated at a high resolution at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1263 (Walvis Ridge, southeast Atlantic Ocean) and compared with a lower-resolution benthic foraminiferal record. During this time interval, global climate, which had been warm under high levels of atmospheric CO2 (pCO2) during the Eocene, transitioned into the cooler climate of the Oligocene, at overall lower pCO2. At Site 1263, the absolute nannofossil abundance (coccoliths per gram of sediment; N g−1) and the mean coccolith size decreased distinctly after the E–O boundary (EOB; 33.89 Ma), mainly due to a sharp decline in abundance of large-sized Reticulofenestra and Dictyococcites, occurring within a time span of ~ 47 kyr. Carbonate dissolution did not vary much across the EOB; thus, the decrease in abundance and size of nannofossils may reflect an overall decrease in their export production, which could have led to variations in the food availability for benthic foraminifers. The benthic foraminiferal assemblage data are consistent with a global decline in abundance of rectilinear species with complex apertures in the latest Eocene (~ 34.5 Ma), potentially reflecting changes in the food source, i.e., phytoplankton. This was followed by a transient increased abundance of species indicative of seasonal delivery of food to the sea floor (Epistominella spp.; ~ 33.9–33.4 Ma), with a short peak in overall food delivery at the EOB (buliminid taxa; ~ 33.8 Ma). Increased abundance of Nuttallides umbonifera (at ~ 33.3 Ma) indicates the presence of more corrosive bottom waters and possibly the combined arrival of less food at the sea floor after the second step of cooling (Step 2). The most important changes in the calcareous nannofossil and benthic communities occurred ~ 120 kyr after the EOB. There was no major change in nannofossil abundance or assemblage composition at Site 1263 after Step 2 although benthic foraminifera indicate more corrosive bottom waters during this time. During the onset of latest-Eocene–earliest-Oligocene climate change, marine phytoplankton thus showed high sensitivity to fast-changing conditions as well as to a possibly enhanced, pulsed nutrient supply and to the crossing of a climatic threshold (e.g., pCO2 decline, high-latitude cooling and changes in ocean circulation).

The inscription of historic urban quarters on the World Heritage List can be considered as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, UNESCO's Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention has been introduced as the most effective international instrument for the conservation and sustainable development of cultural heritage. On the other hand, many researchers have been discussing the many problems faced by the World Heritage Sites. This descriptive-analytic study aims to examine the effects of the inscription of historic urban quarters on the World Heritage List on the conservation and sustainable development of these sites. The research population consisted of 36 university professors, experts of cultural heritage and UNESCO experts. The measurement tool was a questionnaire with 34 questions that examined the factors affecting inscription on the World Heritage List by four indicators, including conservation, facilities, cultural sustainability and economic sustainability, in the form of a SWOT model using the Delphi method. Data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results of the study showed protection of the cultural heritage against unnatural hazards as the most important positive point; the threat to the local community life due to tourist crowds as the most important disadvantage; increased investment in the historical context as the best opportunity; and a weak recognition of the tastes of foreign tourists as the most important threat. Also, in prioritization of the indicators, indicators of conservation and cultural sustainability were more effective than others.

Research for this article had the purpose of exploring medieval Armenian–Ethiopian connections. The investigations revealed three main contexts where Ethiopia and Ethiopians feature in the Armenian sources of the first millennium, without necessarily implying real-life encounters. Firstly, the earliest Armenian texts locate Ethiopia and discuss the genealogy of its people in line with the biblical account of the Diamerismos, as well as notions based on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Chronicle translated into Armenian from Syriac in the fifth century. Each author, then, interpreted this information according to his narrative needs or the purpose of a given composition. The discussion of these sources reveals the circulation of classical and Hellenistic notions on Ethiopia and the Ethiopians in Armenian, too, such as the confusion between Ethiopia, Arabia, and India, as well as anthropological or spiritual features attributed to Ethiopians already by classical authors. Secondly, the article analyses a series of calendrical treatises, starting with one authored by the seventh-century polymath Anania Širakac‘i, that passed on a short tale about a sixth-century gathering of scholars in Alexandria in order to determine the date of the Easter and establish tables for its calculation in the future. An Ethiopian wise man Abdiē was part of this international endeavour too, according to this tradition, and his presence marked Ethiopia as part of the eastern Mediterranean learned world, with its own cultural traditions. Armenian language hemerologia also preserved month names in Gǝʿǝz, reproduced in the Appendix. Thirdly, the article draws attention to a completely new way of viewing Ethiopia in ninth- to eleventh-century Armenian anti-dyophysite (antiByzantine) treatises where the Armenian Church and its doctrines or ritual practices were imagined as part of a vast, non-dyophysite orthodox world that included the Ethiopian Church. Intriguingly, this argumentative technique, formulated in terms that one may callanti-colonial ante litteram, may be traced among Coptic and Syriac polemicists as well, a subject of research that would benefit from further analysis.

Heritage planning is the preservation, conservation, rehabilitation, restoration and management of heritage resources. This paper aims to propose an approach for specifying the values and importance of historic sites. In this study, the Historic Ur­ban Landscape approach is taken as the research framework. This approach mo­ves beyond the preservation of the physical environment and focuses on the entire human environment with all its tangible and intangible qualities. It seeks to increa­se the sustainability of planning and design interventions by taking into account the existing built environment, intangible heritage, cultural diversity, socio-economic and environmental factors along with local community values. This study indicates that a values-centered planning approach has emerged as a way of formalizing strategies for dealing with preservation challenges. The importance of values-centered preserva­tion is the framework it offers for dealing holistically with historic sites and addressing both the contemporary and historic values of a place, a task which includes a report comprising written material and graphic material. The contents of the report should be arranged to suit the site and the limitations on the task, but it will generally be in two sections: first, the assessment of cultural significance and second, the statement of cultural significance. Therefore, determining the significance of historic places is to be considered as the basis for planning and implementing management strategies and sustainable development. Furthermore, heritage planning needs a progression that goes from identification, to evaluation, to management and together form a basis for preservation policies. Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage, Vol 18 (2018)