Dr Carlo Cocozza
Main Focus
Carlo’s current research at the MPI-GEA aims to explore the complexity of temporal and geographic changes in diet, farming economies, infant feeding practices, and mobility in Late Roman and Medieval Europe by producing new isotopic measurements and the meta-analysis of previously published isotopic data. Carlo created and supervised some of the databases that are linked to the IsoMemo initiative, where novel Bayesian modelling tools are employed for data analysis. These include the Amalthea database that collects isotopic data measured on incremental dentine samples and the CIMA database that gathers together more than 50,000 isotopic measurements from medieval Europe and its margins.
Carlo follows a transdisciplinary approach, in which isotopic data is combined with bioarchaeological and archaeological data and information gathered from historical records. From this, multiple research questions are addressed concerning complex socio-economic and cultural phaenomena in medieval Europe.
Current Projects:
- Pandora & IsoMemo Initiatives for Big Historical Data Compilation and Modelling.
- Human Lifeways in the Ancient Mediterranean and its Periphery.
Curriculum Vitae
Carlo has a Bachelor’s degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage (Archaeology) from the Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa (Naples, Italy), a Master’s degree in Bioarchaeology from the University of York (York, UK), and a PhD in Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (Munich, Germany). He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the MPI-GEA in the Systems Archaeology group led by Dr Ricardo Fernandes. Carlo is also affiliated to the MAReA (Mediterranean bioArchaeological Research Advances) centre at the Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" and Sapienza University of Rome.
Carlo’s main interests are the study of human nutrition, infant feeding practices and spatial mobility in Classical and Medieval Europe. He is also interested in researching methodological advances within bioarchaeology. This includes sample diagenesis assessment, 'Big archaeological Data' modelling, and incremental dentine analysis.
Publications
- Formichella, G., Soncin, S., Lubritto, C., Tafuri, M.A., Fernandes, R., Cocozza, C. (2023). Introducing Isotòpia: a stable isotope database for Classical Antiquity. Preprint available at: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.19.563074
- Mantile, N., Fernandes, R., Lubritto, C., Cocozza, C. (2023). IsoMedIta: A Stable Isotope Database for Medieval Italy. Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1163/24523666-bja10032
- Cocozza, C., Teegen, W.R., Vigliarolo, I., Favia, P., Giuliani, R., Muntoni, I.M., Oione, D., Clemens, L., Groß, M., Roberts, P., Lubritto, C., Fernandes R. (2023). A Bayesian multi-proxy contribution to the socioeconomic, political, and cultural history of Late Medieval Capitanata (southern Italy). Scientific Reports 13: 4078. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30706-9
- Cocozza, C., Cirelli, E., Groß, M., Teegen, W.R., Fernandes, R. (2022). Presenting the Compendium Isotoporum Medii Aevi (CIMA) and Bayesian case studies. Scientific Data 9:354. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01462-8
- Izdebski, A., Guzowski, P, Poniat, R., Masci, L., Palli, J., Vignola, C., Bauch, M., Cocozza, C., Fernandes, R., Ljungqvist, F.C., Newfield, T., Seim, A., Abel-Schaad, D., Alba-Sánchez, F., Björkman, L., Brauer, A., Brown, A., Czerwiński, S., Ejarque, A., Fiłoc, M., Florenzano, A., Fredh, E.D., Fyfe, R., Jasiunas, N., Kołaczek, P., Kouli, K., Kozáková, R., Kupryjanowicz, M., Lagerås, P., Lamentowicz, M., Lindbladh, M., López-Sáez, J.A., Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, R., Marcisz, K., Mazier, F., Mensing, S., Mercuri, A.M., Milecka, K., Miras, Y., Noryśkiewicz, A.M., Novenko, E., Obremska, M., Panajiotidis, S., Papadopoulou, M.L., Pędziszewska, A., Pérez-Díaz, S., Piovesan, G., Pluskowski, A., Pokorny, P., Poska, A., Reitalu, T., Rösch, M., Sadori, L., Sá Ferreira, C., Sebag, D., Słowiński, M., Stančikaitė, M., Stivrins, N., Tunno, I., Veski, S., Wacnik, A., & Masi, A. (2022). Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6: 297-306. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01652-4
- Cocozza, C., Fernandes, R. (2021). Amalthea: A Database of Isotopic measurements on Archaeological and Forensic Tooth Dentine Increments. Journal of Open Archaeology Data 9: 1-7. https://doi.org/10.5334/joad.75
- Cocozza, C., Fernandes, R. (2021). Tooth Formation Age Dataset for Early Childhood Bioarchaeological and Medical Studies. Data in Brief 36: 107141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.107141
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Cocozza, C., Fernandes, R., Ughi, A., Groß, M., Alexander, M.M. (2021). Investigating Infant Feeding Strategies at Roman Bainesse through Bayesian Modelling of Incremental Dentine Isotopic Data. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 31: 429-439. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2962