We are an eclectic bunch of scientists working on different branches of sciences and humanities, from geology to bioanthropology, from environmental to forensic sciences. Our common ground is geochemistry, a discipline that unifies knowledge from the chemistry and geological sciences. We research and explore how chemical elements interact and behave on and within the Earth and how they move between the bio-, geo-, and hydro-spheres. Ultimately, we use isotopes to determine the age and the origin of rocks and artifacts, to unravel the life histories of human and animals and to study climate changes in the past.
Some of our recent publications:
Lugli F, Cipriani A, Bruno L, Ronchetti F, Cavazzuti C, Benazzi S (2022) A strontium isoscape of Italy for provenance studies. Chemical Geology, doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120624.
Le Roux V, Urann BM, Brunelli D, Bonatti E, Cipriani A, Demouchy S, Monteleone BD (2021). Postmelting hydrogen enrichment in the oceanic lithosphere. Science Advances, 7, eabf6071.
Cavazzuti C, Hajdu T, Lugli F, Sperduti A, Vicze M, Kiss V (2021) Human mobility in a Bronze Age Vatya ‘urnfield’ and the life history of a high-status woman. Plos ONE 16, e0254360.
Nava A*, Lugli F*, Romandini M, Badino F, Evans D, Helbling A, Oxilia G, Arrighi S, Bortolini E, Delpiano D, Duches R, Figus C, Livraghi A, Marciani G, Silvestrini S, Cipriani A, Giovanardi T, Pini R, Nannini N, Tuniz C, Bernardini F, Dori I, Coppa A, Cristiani E, Dean C, Bondioli L, Peresani M, Müller W, Benazzi S (2020) Early life of Neanderthals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117,28719-28726. *contributed equally
Lugli F, Weber M, Giovanardi T, Arrighi S, Bortolini E, Figus C, Marciani G, Oxilia G, Romandini M, Silvestrini S, Jochum KP, Benazzi S, Cipriani A (2020) Fast offline data reduction of laser ablation MC-ICP-MS Sr isotope measurements via the interactive Excel-based spreadsheet ‘SrDR’. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 35, 852-862.
Lugli F, Cipriani A, Capecchi G, Ricci S, Boschin F, Boscato P, Iacumin P, Badino F, Mannino MA, Talamo S, Richards MP, Benazzi S, Ronchitelli A (2019) Strontium and stable isotope evidence of human mobility strategies across the Last Glacial Maximum in southern Italy. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 3, 905–911.
Argentino C, Lugli F, Cipriani A, Conti S, Fontana D (2019) A deep fluid source of radiogenic Sr and highly dynamic seepage conditions recorded in Miocene seep carbonates of the northern Apennines (Italy). Chemical Geology, 522, 135-147
Brunelli D, Cipriani A, Bonatti E (2018). Thermal effects of pyroxenites on mantle melting below mid-ocean ridges. Nature Geoscience, 11, 520-525.
Giovanardi T, Mazzucchelli M, Lugli F, Girardi V, Correia C, Tassinari C, Cipriani A (2018) Isotopic constraints on contamination processes in the Tonian Goias Stratiform Complex. Lithos, 310, 136-152.
Weber M, Lugli F, Jochum KP, Cipriani A, Scholz D (2018) Calcium carbonate and phosphate reference materials for bulk and microanalytical work of Sr isotopes. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 42, 77-89.
Lugli F, Cipriani A, Arnaud J, Arzarello M, Peretto C, Benazzi S (2017) Suspected limited mobility of a Middle Pleistocene woman from Southern Italy: strontium isotopes of a human deciduous tooth. Scientific Reports, 7, 8615.