Archaeorganics 2019. The first Italian workshop on the analysis of archaeological organic remains. Introduction to the special issue

This special issue is the result of the publication of papers presented at ArchaeOrganics: the 1st Italian Workshop on the Analysis of Archaeological Organics Remains held in 2019 at Sapienza University in Rome. The concept behind the workshop was to discuss the state of the art of bioarchaeological investigations carried out by Italian researchers. This resulted in a heterogeneous assemblage of papers, of which some were selected for the special issue. The common theme that brings together the different contributions is food, investigated in a variety of contexts, from mostly the Western-central Mediterranean area, and different chronological periods. In particular, the issue provides examples of investigation on production (including herding strategies) and transportation of food, the differential consumption of commodities due to social status, milk intake in children, the differentiation between congenital and acquired metabolic stress, as well as methodological applications aimed at testing methods or providing better insights into data interpretation. The publication of this issue aims to precede the next Archaeorganics meeting to be held again in Rome in 2025/2026, and act as a basis upon which new developments in the discipline to be discussed.