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Stay informed about the groundbreaking discoveries and community initiatives emerging from the É«É«Ñо¿Ëù’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment (IASCE). This resource hub highlights our ongoing commitment to transdisciplinary research, ranging from evolutionary theory and the Anthropocene to the study of ancient nutrition and global trade. By exploring the stories below, you can track how our faculty and students are bridging the gap between the humanities and sciences to solve complex, socially-relevant problems across the globe.

Unlocking Malta’s Prehistoric Diet: USF Davide Tanasi Leads Groundbreaking Paleoproteomic Study

In a pioneering study published in the journal Amino Acids, Professor Davide Tanasi and his international research team have achieved a scientific first. They successfully conducted what is called a paleoproteomic analysis of organic residues preserved in prehistoric Maltese pottery. This technique refers to the identification of ancient protein on artifacts.   

The research provides novel data on the diet and food practices of Late Bronze (~1500 BCE to 700 BCE) and Early Iron Age (700–218 BCE) communities in Malta.  Malta is famous for the extensive Neolithic temples and later Bronze age monumental sites. Tanasi and his team obtained new evidence for the central role of wheat in the daily lives of the Bronze Age inhabitants.

Tanasi, a USF archaeologist specializing in Mediterranean prehistory led the project. He successfully  integrated archaeological methods with state-of-the-art biochemical science. His long-term research at the site of Il-Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija, a key settlement dating from the 11th to 8th centuries BCE, has revised our understanding of Malta at the dawn of history. Tanasi previously argued that the site was an emergent semi-urban society. The site now yields biochemical proof supporting its economic sophistication and role on the island.

The study applied high-resolution mass spectrometry to proteins extracted from nine ceramic vessels obtained from excavations from a century ago. These objects were archived in the national museum. Paleoproteomics remains exceptionally challenging when applied to pottery. Ceramics preserve only trace biomolecules. These are usually heavily degraded. Tanasi’s team developed techniques to deal with these obstacles using contamination control and state-of-the-art analytical techniques.

The results are remarkable. Several large storage jars yielded a rich profile of proteins from cereals, most notably wheat. These are clear biochemical markers of wheat storage and processing. This research provides the first bio-molecular evidence that wheat was an important component in the Baħrija community.

The study also addressed a major challenge in paleoproteomics. It is difficult to distinguish authentic ancient residues from modern contamination. By analyzing patterns of protein degradation the team demonstrated that food-derived proteins exhibited significantly higher age-related modification than human-sourced contaminants. Milk proteins were also identified in strainer vessels traditionally interpreted as cheese-making tools. These findings indicate that dairy processing was part of the food culturally-specific preparations at Baħrija.  

For Tanasi, this research represents more than a technical achievement. It exemplifies a new interdisciplinary frontier in archaeology where chemical science complements excavation and typological analysis and interpretation. In contexts like Malta biomolecular archaeology offers a new pathway to understand ancient lifeways. By combining archaeological methods and novel  laboratory techniques, Professor Tanasi’s work not only illuminates the dietary habits of a prehistoric Mediterranean community but also demonstrates the potential of paleoproteomics to assist us to understand the rich and complex history of our human ancestors.

This study marks a milestone in Maltese archaeology and positions Tanasi at the forefront of biomolecular approaches to understanding the ancient Mediterranean world.

Read more here: D. Tanasi, A. Cucina, V. Cunsolo, R. Saletti, A. Di Francesco, E. Greco, S. Foti 2021, , in Amino Acids 53, pp. 295-312. 

 

The Brew of Bes: Science Reveals Psychoactive Ritual in Ancient Egypt

A fascinating new study led by Davide Tanasi has transformed our understanding of ritual practice in ancient Egypt, placing a remarkable object from the Tampa Museum of Art (TMA) at the center of an international scientific breakthrough. Published in Scientific Reports, the research presents the first comprehensive biomolecular investigation of a Ptolemaic-period Bes-vase using cutting-edge proteomics, metabolomics, ancient DNA sequencing, and synchrotron radiation-based FTIR spectroscopy. This is an Egyptian ceramic drinking vessel shaped as the head of the protective deity Bes. The vessel likely originated in the famous Fayum region of Egypt 

Thanks to the Museum’s stewardship and willingness to support advanced scientific analysis, this small but extraordinary vessel has yielded unprecedented insights into ancient Egyptian ritual life. Tanasi and his multidisciplinary team discovered that the mug once contained a brew of many elements including plants with psychoactive properties.  The team’s analyses identified residues of a plant called colloquially as Syrian rue, and flowering plant native to the region that contains alkaloids.  Another plant known as the blue water lily and the botanically-incorrect but more poetic name of the Blue lotus.  This plant is iconic in ancient Egyptian art.  Residue from another plant from the genus Cleome was also found.. These flowering plants are known for their spidery blossoms and are used up to today for traditional medicine. 

The presence of harmaline and related alkaloids, confirmed through mass spectrometry and spectroscopy, provides the earliest direct chemical evidence linking Bes-vessels to mind-altering substances . The study also revealed fermented fruit residues, likely grape-based, indicated by tartaric salts and yeast proteins, alongside traces of honey or royal jam.  Perhaps the most surprising and striking find was that of human proteins in the concoctions.  These proteins are most likely from mucus, blood and breast milk.  

Together, these findings point to a carefully prepared, symbolically charged drink that combined psychoactive plants, fermented beverage, sweeteners, and human biological components. The authors note how Bes was associated with protection, fertility, childbirth, music, and ecstatic experience. Ancient texts describe rituals involving sleep, dreams, and oracular visions in Bes sanctuaries. The chemical profile of the TMA vase now provides tangible evidence that such rites may have involved the ingestion of psychoactive substances to produce altered states of consciousness and perhaps serve as medical treatments.

This discovery makes the Tampa Museum of Art’s Bes-vase as one of the most scientifically significant Egyptian ritual vessels ever studied. By enabling these kinds of scientific analyses, the Museum contributes to reframing the history of ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean religion. More broadly, the study demonstrates the power of integrating archaeology, molecular science, and museum collections. What once appeared to be a small ceramic mug has emerged as a key to understanding ancient Egyptian ritual pharmacology, myth, and embodied religious practice.

Through the collaboration between Tanasi’s research team and the Tampa Museum of Art, a 2,200-year-old vessel has finally revealed its secret. It represents a key element in a  carefully made psychoactive brew at the heart of Bes devotion.

Read more here: D. Tanasi, B. F. van Oppen de Ruiter, F. Florian, R. Pavlovic, L. M. Chiesa, I. Fochi, C. Stani, L. Vaccari, D. Chaput, G. Samorini, A. Pallavicini, A. S. Gaetano, S. Licen, P. Barbieri, E. Greco 2024, , Scientific Reports 14, 27891 (2024). 

 

Unlocking Ancient Alloys: Analysis of Malta’s Earliest Metals

In The Emergence of Copper-Based Metallurgy in the Maltese Archipelago: an archaeometric perspective, Davide Tanasi and his team conducted research that helps us understand how and when metallurgy began in Malta. This work has implications for centering Malta’s place in the Bronze Age (2300-700 BCE) exchange networks in the Mediterranean.

A number of bronze and copper artifacts dated to between the 17th and 12th centuries BCE have been recovered in archaeological excavations on the island over the last two generations. These objects have been interpreted and imports, primarily from Sicily. These observations were interesting, and like any good science research, it raised more and new questions. Were these objects really bronze? How did Malta integrate itself in the cultural changes taking place in the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age?

Tanasi’s work used a non-destructive chemical analysis of archaeological materials.  His team used hand-held X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) technology on 19 artifacts housed at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. These included axes, daggers, awls, rivets, a ring, a needle, and an ingot from sites on the island including Tarxien Cemetery, Ghar Mirdum, and Bahrija. All of the Early Bronze Age objects from the Tarxien Period were almost pure copper. There were only trace amounts of arsenic demonstrating that these were not tin bronze, but raw copper. The Middle and Late Bronze Age objects from Ghar Mirdum and Bahrija, in contrast, were tin bronze. The ingot from Ghar Mirdum, in contrast, was pure copper.

The findings help us define the technological shifts on the island. We know that Malta lacks native ore sources. This means that the industry on the island was dependent upon a brisk trade in the Mediterranean. The research indicates that the early metals reach Malta from trade with Sicily. The presence of tin bronze on Malta was only possible after the technology was established on Sicily, reinforcing the strong historical and cultural links between the two islands. Tanasi’s team compared the data from Malta with similar pXRF studies from Sicily. The research shows that Malta was not technologically backward, but was integrated into an evolving interaction network in the Mediterranean.  When tin bronze was established in Sicily, the technology basically followed trade routes throughout the region.

This research also demonstrates the power of archaeometry as an analytical technique. Most significantly, the analysis was non-destructive. One big lesson from the research reinforces the observation that the Bronze Age in Malta cannot be understood in isolation. Instead, the research shows us that Malta was integrated  into the growing Mycenaean and Mediterranean exchange systems. His work moves Maltese prehistory into the center of Mediterranean history and prehistory.

Read more here: D. Tanasi, R. H. Tykot, S. Hassam, A. Vianello, , 5.2, pp. 127–137.