The project aims to analyse sedimentary ancient DNA of a set of lake sediment cores from the submerged Early Neolithic settlement site “La Marmotta” in Lake Bracciano, Italy, to reconstruct past vegetation changes in the lake catchment, the arrival of domesticated plants and animals and the aquatic biodiversity development from the onset of the Neolithic to modern times. This will add a new dimension to the ongoing study of this fascinating and important Neolithic site in the Mediterranean basin and the analysis of the lakes’ sediment record will further allow a detailed reconstruction of aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity changes and human-environment interactions in the lake and its catchment area. The information of this study will not only provide insights into the lake environment during the occupation of “La Marmotta”, but throughout history from the Neolithic to the modern period. This will add to the available historical knowledge of human presence in this region and the understanding of climatic variations. The climatic effects on the aquatic biodiversity and water quality of the lake can then be used to support modern day lake management as an important freshwater resource for human supply in this region. As a core task, the researcher will use molecular tools based on ancient DNA to reconstruct past vegetation changes in the lake catchment, the arrival of domesticated plants and animals and the aquatic biodiversity development from the onset of the Neolithic to modern times. Willingness to perform sampling trips to Italy is mandatory.
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