Sara Bernardini
Biographic Data
| ID | 175070 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sara Bernardini |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sara |
| FAMILY NAME | Bernardini |
| SIGNATURE | BERNARDINI S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7283-6323 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Mobility patterns in the Lombard-period communities of Vicenne and Morrione (Campochiaro, Italy; 7th c. Ce)
Background: The cemeteries of Vicenne and Morrione (7th c. CE; Campochiaro, Molise) represent a key Lombard-period funerary complex in southern Italy. Their archaeological record, particularly contextual horse-horseman burials with riding equipment, indicates strong links with Pannonian Avar contexts and suggests a non-local origin of this group. Lombard chronicler Paul the Deacon reports the arrival, in the 7th century, of a group of foreigners …
Exploring dental macrowear in a Sambaqui population from Encosta da Lagoa (southern Brazil)
She was not spared
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to document and contextualize cranial trauma attributable to interpersonal violence in one Langobard individual from the Ferrovia necropolis in Cividale del Friuli (NE Italy). MATERIALS: The study examines one human skeleton: a middle-aged female dated between 590 and 630 CE. METHODS: Osteological and palaeopathological analyses were conducted to assess trauma, age-at-death, and activity-related markers. Sex estimation …
Exploring the use of Wild Cereals at Takarkori (Central Sahara, Southwestern Libya) Through Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Prehistoric Desiccated Seeds
Stable isotope analyses of archaeological plant material have increased in the last few decades with questions arising about climate, environment, and subsistence strategies. While the available studies are of great interest in the field, they are still a minority compared to other types of organic material, especially from African contexts. Desiccated plant material in particular has only sporadically been investigated, partly because archaeolog…
Neolithic Lifeways at the Microlevel
Characterization of prehistoric lifeways tends to work at the level of generalization, but can we investigate microvariation? For example, it is common to discuss the “Neolithic diet”, but how much did what people ate vary, not only between individuals but from year to year or from place to place? Similarly, discussions of mobility tend to focus either on large‐scale population movements or on lifelong changes in residence, implying that people r…
A Longobard osteobiography. A multi-proxy life history of an elderly woman from Castel Trosino (Italy)
The Longobard cemetery of Castel Trosino (Central Italy, c. 6th-8th CE) was excavated at the end of the 19th century, with more than two hundred burials recovered. Currently only 19 crania and a few mandibles are preserved. Among these crania, a case of trepanation is documented on an elderly woman (c. 50 y.o.): the medical treatment, or the condition that led to it, likely influenced her life history. A multidisciplinary investigation of the onl…
Stabbed to death
Here we report the reconstruction of the osteobiography of an adult male buried in the Longobard cemetery of Povegliano Veronese (Northern Italy, late 6th - early 8th century CE), who shows signs of interpersonal violence. The palaeopathological investigation reveals sharp force traumas on the body of the fourth lumbar vertebra and on two right ribs. The absence of signs of healing or bone remodelling indicates that the defects were perimortem. T…
Growing up in an Italian Copper Age community
The study of children’s role in past communities is difficult to face in archaeology. An active contribution of the children in everyday life varies within societies and cultures, as well as the social and biological definition of childhood. In Central Italy, specific funerary customs for subadults are documented in the Copper Age (4th-3rd millennia BCE) according to age classes. Here we propose to investigate childhood in an Italian Copper Age h…
An unprecedented case of cranial surgery in Longobard Italy (6th-8th century) using a cruciform incision
The Longobard necropolis of Castel Trosino dates from the 6th to the 8th century CE. Among the tombs excavated, the skull of an older female shows the first evidence of a cross-shaped bone modification on a living subject. Macroscopic, microscopic, and CT scan analyses revealed signs of at least two sets of scraping marks. Specifically, SEM analysis shows that perimortem bone-scraping traces are present on the skull. Both healed and non-healed de…
Multi-isotope analysis of primary and secondary dentin as a mean to broaden intra-life dietary reconstruction. A case from Longobard Italy
This exploratory study proposes an original intra-life history investigation through sequential analysis of the isotopic composition of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur (CNS) on both primary and secondary dentin of a tooth (M1). We focus on an elderly woman from Longobard Italy (6th to 8th c. CE), who showed an unprecedented case of cranial surgery, presented in a companion paper by Micarelli and colleagues. Sequential stable CNS isotope composition …
Social Dynamics and Resource Management Strategies in Copper Age Italy
Although the amount of data on the Italian Copper Age has increased significantly in the last decades, little is known about the relationship between humans and the environment. Material culture suggests the occurrence of significant social interactions throughout the Italian Peninsula, while the funerary practices indicate that Copper Age groups were strongly rooted in their territories. Here, we attempt to define the relations within Copper Age…
Social Dynamics and Resource Management Strategies in Copper Age Italy
Although the amount of data on the Italian Copper Age has increased significantly in the last decades, little is known about the relationship between humans and the environment. Material culture suggests the occurrence of significant social interactions throughout the Italian Peninsula, while the funerary practices indicate that Copper Age groups were strongly rooted in their territories. Here, we attempt to define the relations within Copper Age…
Stabbed to death
Here we report the reconstruction of the osteobiography of an adult male buried in the Longobard cemetery of Povegliano Veronese (Northern Italy, late 6th - early 8th century CE), who shows signs of interpersonal violence. The palaeopathological investigation reveals sharp force traumas on the body of the fourth lumbar vertebra and on two right ribs. The absence of signs of healing or bone remodelling indicates that the defects were perimortem. T…
Multi-isotope analysis of primary and secondary dentin as a mean to broaden intra-life dietary reconstruction. A case from Longobard Italy
This exploratory study proposes an original intra-life history investigation through sequential analysis of the isotopic composition of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur (CNS) on both primary and secondary dentin of a tooth (M1). We focus on an elderly woman from Longobard Italy (6th to 8th c. CE), who showed an unprecedented case of cranial surgery, presented in a companion paper by Micarelli and colleagues. Sequential stable CNS isotope composition …
Social Dynamics and Resource Management Strategies in Copper Age Italy
Although the amount of data on the Italian Copper Age has increased significantly in the last decades, little is known about the relationship between humans and the environment. Material culture suggests the occurrence of significant social interactions throughout the Italian Peninsula, while the funerary practices indicate that Copper Age groups were strongly rooted in their territories. Here, we attempt to define the relations within Copper Age…
A Longobard osteobiography. A multi-proxy life history of an elderly woman from Castel Trosino (Italy)
The Longobard cemetery of Castel Trosino (Central Italy, c. 6th-8th CE) was excavated at the end of the 19th century, with more than two hundred burials recovered. Currently only 19 crania and a few mandibles are preserved. Among these crania, a case of trepanation is documented on an elderly woman (c. 50 y.o.): the medical treatment, or the condition that led to it, likely influenced her life history. A multidisciplinary investigation of the onl…
Stabbed to death
Here we report the reconstruction of the osteobiography of an adult male buried in the Longobard cemetery of Povegliano Veronese (Northern Italy, late 6th - early 8th century CE), who shows signs of interpersonal violence. The palaeopathological investigation reveals sharp force traumas on the body of the fourth lumbar vertebra and on two right ribs. The absence of signs of healing or bone remodelling indicates that the defects were perimortem. T…
Growing up in an Italian Copper Age community
The study of children’s role in past communities is difficult to face in archaeology. An active contribution of the children in everyday life varies within societies and cultures, as well as the social and biological definition of childhood. In Central Italy, specific funerary customs for subadults are documented in the Copper Age (4th-3rd millennia BCE) according to age classes. Here we propose to investigate childhood in an Italian Copper Age h…
An unprecedented case of cranial surgery in Longobard Italy (6th-8th century) using a cruciform incision
The Longobard necropolis of Castel Trosino dates from the 6th to the 8th century CE. Among the tombs excavated, the skull of an older female shows the first evidence of a cross-shaped bone modification on a living subject. Macroscopic, microscopic, and CT scan analyses revealed signs of at least two sets of scraping marks. Specifically, SEM analysis shows that perimortem bone-scraping traces are present on the skull. Both healed and non-healed de…
Multi-isotope analysis of primary and secondary dentin as a mean to broaden intra-life dietary reconstruction. A case from Longobard Italy
This exploratory study proposes an original intra-life history investigation through sequential analysis of the isotopic composition of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur (CNS) on both primary and secondary dentin of a tooth (M1). We focus on an elderly woman from Longobard Italy (6th to 8th c. CE), who showed an unprecedented case of cranial surgery, presented in a companion paper by Micarelli and colleagues. Sequential stable CNS isotope composition …
Exploring the use of Wild Cereals at Takarkori (Central Sahara, Southwestern Libya) Through Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Prehistoric Desiccated Seeds
Stable isotope analyses of archaeological plant material have increased in the last few decades with questions arising about climate, environment, and subsistence strategies. While the available studies are of great interest in the field, they are still a minority compared to other types of organic material, especially from African contexts. Desiccated plant material in particular has only sporadically been investigated, partly because archaeolog…
Neolithic Lifeways at the Microlevel
Characterization of prehistoric lifeways tends to work at the level of generalization, but can we investigate microvariation? For example, it is common to discuss the “Neolithic diet”, but how much did what people ate vary, not only between individuals but from year to year or from place to place? Similarly, discussions of mobility tend to focus either on large‐scale population movements or on lifelong changes in residence, implying that people r…
Mobility patterns in the Lombard-period communities of Vicenne and Morrione (Campochiaro, Italy; 7th c. Ce)
Background: The cemeteries of Vicenne and Morrione (7th c. CE; Campochiaro, Molise) represent a key Lombard-period funerary complex in southern Italy. Their archaeological record, particularly contextual horse-horseman burials with riding equipment, indicates strong links with Pannonian Avar contexts and suggests a non-local origin of this group. Lombard chronicler Paul the Deacon reports the arrival, in the 7th century, of a group of foreigners …
Exploring dental macrowear in a Sambaqui population from Encosta da Lagoa (southern Brazil)
She was not spared
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to document and contextualize cranial trauma attributable to interpersonal violence in one Langobard individual from the Ferrovia necropolis in Cividale del Friuli (NE Italy). MATERIALS: The study examines one human skeleton: a middle-aged female dated between 590 and 630 CE. METHODS: Osteological and palaeopathological analyses were conducted to assess trauma, age-at-death, and activity-related markers. Sex estimation …
Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (5 works) · Geography (5 works) · History (5 works) · Archaeology (4 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (4 works) · History (4 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Biology (3 works) · Ecology (3 works) · Forensic and Genetic Research (3 works)