Projects

The Mediterranean Diet Archaeology Project

The Mediterranean Diet Archaeology Project (MEDIAP) is an interdisciplinary research project directed by Dr Davide Tanasi on biomolecular archaeology of Mediterranean Diet to gain insight on dietary and culinary habits  of ancient community of Sicily and Malta from Prehistory to Late Antiquity  and the impact on their health-related lifestyle. In particular, it focuses on chemical characterization of organic residues on archaeological pottery via an array of analytical techniques such as  Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), Gas- and Liquid- Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry (GC-MS, LC-MS), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Proteomic Analysis and Isotope and DNA Analysis of archaeological skeletal remains.The project aims at the reappraisal of contexts from old excavations and at the same time fosters new archaeological field-works in combination with a critical analysis of the available iconographic and written sources.