A new lease on life: using advanced analytical techniques in bioarchaeology to maximise a new understanding of past populations of Sardinia

The prehistory of Sardinia is a complex and dynamic period which goes from the first occupation in the Paleolithic (400000 – 120000 yo) till the early and classical antiquity (900 BC – 456 AC). Essential to understanding both the complexity and dynamicity of Sardinian cultural and biological landscape is the people themselves. The people of Sardinian are those who made the archaeological records, cultural materials, and buildings, linked to their ability to adapt to their natural and cultural environment. The aim of this project is to contribute to anthropological studies on the island of Sardinia through a thorough analysis of health, funerary behaviour, and culture considering the natural and cultural environment in which people lived. The thesis investigates the lifeways of two sites, one from the Middle Neolithic (4900-4500 BC) and one from the Punic Era (900 – 300 BC). Through a thorough bioarchaeological analysis, this project will give substantial additional information so that a comparison between the people of Sardinia and those in Europe can be obtained. This will enable a better understanding of the social structure, customs, diet, health, disease and general quality of life of the people of Sardinia, in order to determine how life was similar or different based on the physical and culture environment. This study will be of particular significance on a more global level, as it will establish a protocol of study, with the help of new technologies in geo-terrestrial imaging and in anthropology, for other researchers to follow in order to maximise the understanding of the materials from previous excavations, before the development of advanced bioarchaeological techniques. For example, the analysis of the geo-terrestrial space will be of great help in understanding the settlement; human remains, chemical analysis and DNA will be useful to understand the population from many different angles; and the archaeological data will provide the social context to interpret this new bioarchaeological information.