2025

 🎲We look forward to seeing you on October 5 at 11:30 a.m. in Piazza Garibaldi in Bazzano for the Betty B comic and image festival, “Prototipi giochi da tavolo a tema storico.”

❗Prof. Maurizio Cattani (University of Bologna, Department of History, Culture, and Civilization) will present "Il patto della preistoria. Prosperità e Sostenibilità nel tuo villaggio dell’età del Bronzo“ as part of ”ONFOODS: RESEARCH AND INNOVATION NETWORK ON FOOD AND NUTRITION SUSTAINABILITY, SAFETY AND SECURITY - WORKING ON FOODS."

🌿 Onfoods in Prehistory lands at Rocca dei Bentivoglio in Bazzano, during the Heritage Days!

🗓️ We are looking forward to see you there on Sunday, September 28th, with a varied and full program!

⏰ At 11:30 a.m. and at 4 p.m., we will go back to 3500 years ago, in order to experimentally cook two legume soups, as they were a key part of the Bronze Age communities diet!!

🚗 The Onfoods team is preparing to go back to the Bronze Age village of Solarolo (RA) for an afternoon dedicated to rediscovering the eating habits of our ancestors.

📅 🕓 We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, September 20, starting at 2:30 p.m., in the area in front of the excavation materials laboratory. Come and discover the archaeological remains that allow us to reconstruct the diet and resource exploitation strategies of this community and more...

♻️ Get ready to preview the board game “The Prehistoric Pact: Prosperity and Sustainability in Your Bronze Age Village” and put yourself to the test to make your community thrive!

🎙️ Do not miss Prof. Maurizio Cattani's talk at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber or Annunziata Hall!

📍 2:30 p.m. Via Fossa di Sotto, Solarolo (RA, behind the House of People) - 6:00 p.m. Council Chamber, Solarolo (RA).

FRESH BREAD...FROM 3000 YEARS AGO!

Professor Claudio Cavazzuti's, director of the excavation, talk and experimental archaeology demonstration by the Onfoodsinprehistory team.

🕓 📍 Friday, September 19, from 5:00 p.m., at the Parco dei Castagni in S. Maria Villiana.

Conference with Professor Maurizio Cattani as part of the Onfoods in Prehistory Project!

Sunday, August 31, at 4 p.m.: Ecomuseum of Serravalle Castle, held during the Festa del Saslà.

ONFOODS: food and drink in Bronze Age villages in the Po Valley 

Abstract ⤵️

During the early Bronze Age (2300-1350 BC), the Po Valley experienced a period of significant population growth. A great variety of villages sprang up, especially in the Emilia region, often very close to each other, reflecting the densely populated nature of the area. Among these, the site of Rocca di Bazzano is a particularly crucial example for understanding the organization and quality of life, with particular reference to the area between Modena and Bologna. 

What made this expansion possible? Archaeologists are trying to answer this question, and one of the main hypotheses is economic prosperity linked to abundant food production. However, the latter was not due to external factors, such as a favorable climate or the introduction of new technologies; it was rather the result of prudent and sustainable management of local resources—a model of balance between humans and the environment from which we can still learn today. 

A recent project by the University of Bologna has allowed us to explore these aspects in greater depth, studying archaeological remains that attest crop yields, livestock products, and even... fermented beverages, which have been part of human life for over 5,000 years.
The presentation will be an opportunity to discover how these communities lived, what they ate, how they organized their territory, and, above all, what we can learn from their example today. From sustainability to food education, prehistory still has much to teach us.

LX Scientific Meeting IIPP - Funerary contexts and landscapes between the Eneolithic and the Early Bronze Age

Department of History, Culture, and Civilization
Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna
📍 Piazza S. Giovanni in Monte 2, Bologna
📆 October 22-25, 2025

We are delighted to announce the lively participation of our research group in the LX Scientific Meeting of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory, to be held in Bologna from October 22 to 25, 2025.

The Department of History, Culture and Civilization at the University of Bologna has collaborated in the organization of this important event, dedicated to funerary evidence from the Copper Age and Early Bronze Age (ca. 3500-1700 BC).

Scientific Committee: Paola Aurino; Claudio Cavazzuti; Antonio Curci; Andrea Dolfini; Stašo Forenbaher; Maja Gori; Wolfgang Haak; Olivier Lemercier; Monica Miari; Roberto Risch; Paola Salzani

Organizing Committee: Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory; Department of History, Culture and Civilization - Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna

We invite everyone to consult the complete conference program and to participate in the sessions, which promise to be full of ideas and reflections!

Prehistory of Pantelleria: a journey into the past for the island's tourism development

📍 Pantelleria Castle

📆 July 16, 2025

Research carried out by the University of Bologna has brought to light an exceptional archaeological heritage. Maurizio Cattan, director of the excavations in Mursia, presents the potential of prehistoric sites for the purposes of dissemination and tourist attraction.

Archeology, between research and innovation
Discovering ancient civilizations: Oman excavation at Ra's al-Hadd HD-7

📍 Auditorium of the “A. Loria” Library, Carpi (MO)

📆 February 22, 2025

On Saturday, February 22, at the auditorium of the “A. Loria” Library in Carpi, Prof. Maurizio Cattani (professor of Prehistory and Protohistory) and Dr. Francesca Barchiesi, an archaeologist from Carpi, talked about the excavation and archaeological research activities carried out in the Sultanate of Oman by the team of archaeologists and anthropologists from the University of Bologna.