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Snow Harvesters and the Origins of Gelato
Like the tomato sauce on pasta, there are few things that today say Italian as much as gelato. Particularly gelato from a local gelateria. Dozens of flavours can be found: pistacchio, stracciatella, panna cotta, nocciola, anguria, amarena and fragola among many others. While we can translate some of the names (pistachio, hazelnut, melon, strawberry) it is only in tasting such a locally produced gelato that you really get an idea of what all the fuss is about. Although similar to supermarket bought ice cream, the local production (and usually entirely natural ingredients) just makes for something better. Particularly in the summer months, a stop at the gelateria is a natural…
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Genes and the Intimacy of Place
The pictures above were made by scientists who study genes. They tell a story. Two completely different kinds of information are combined to tell it: a map of Europe from our physical world and overlaid on it, the genetic relationship of 1378 people from Europe, shown in two dimensions. The scientific paper from which the diagram comes actually looks at these patterns around the world, and similar patterns are found worldwide to a greater or lesser degree. They were not the first to notice such patterns, but they took their study worldwide. They observe: “geography plays a strong role in giving rise to human population structure“. By “structure” they mean clustering…
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The Fifty-Three Known Forefathers of the Italian People: Latest Discoveries from Genetics
This is a story about Italian y-DNA. But putting it that way is misleading. For there is not a single coherent story of “Italianness” that stretches back in time. And that story is almost inseparable from the stories of the surrounding populations with which developments in Italy are intimately connected. But it is the case that the science of genetics is gradually unfolding a richer picture of the past than was known before. If we go back far enough (thousands of years) we find (along the patrilineal line) that virtually all Italians are descended from only fifty-three men. Why there are so few, we will see below. Casual labels are…
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The Resurrection of Don Paolo: Il Drago Part 5
In this fifth instalment of Il Drago, Don Paolo comes back to life. After the unexpected battle between the Old Dragon and the Witch, the children’s old lives with her have been swept away. Don Paolo’s long dead daughters, Lisa and Giovanna, have risen from the grave. And the Old Dragon has much to do. The previous instalments of Il Drago are accessible at the end of this article. The Resurrection of Don Paolo Within two days the house was unrecognizable. In one room, two made up beds could be seen, one next to the other. The Old Dragon had put them together, assisted by the two girls, who had entertained…
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Earthquakes – La Terra Trema
Italy’s changeable landscape is as much a character in her history as the people who live within her. Repeatedly, earthquakes are written into that history. Yet Italy often appears as a garden of Eden, full endlessly of the good things of the Earth: ancient olive groves, vines, fields of wheat, and much more; a bounty elicited by human industry and knowledge over many generations. Even the most apparently barren and uncultivated rocky slope may abound with edible plants and herbs of all kinds. From the sea, fishers still harvest. Everywhere potable water springs from Italy’s permeable limestone. This gentle and generous Mother Earth is at times savage. For Italy lies…
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Doctor Who? Trotula of Salerno
She was a doctor and a master of the art of healing who taught others. She is usually called Trotula, although her true name was Trota or Trocta. For three centuries medical works on the health and treatment of women circulated under her name: “The Trotula”. She has been lauded as among the finest doctors of the European Middle Ages or she has been so forgotten that it has been said that she did not even exist. It was only at the end of the 20th century that her true practice of medicine was recovered. Salerno Trotula lived in Salerno: but the Salerno of Trotula’s time is almost as little known…
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Sicily’s Medieval Map of the World
It must have been magnificent to see: a vast world map made of pure silver. For three centuries no better map was made. The glittering silver original graced the Palermo court of Roger II, the Italo-Norman King of Sicily and Southern Italy. It was made for him by his scholar geographer friend Muhammad Al Idrisi. The map represented one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of its day taking more than 15 years to complete. It was imagined by a king famed for his learning at the height of his kingdom’s powers. It took almost 150 kilograms of silver to make and showed the world in 7 climates. To make…
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Italy’s Day of the Dead
Signora Maria of Castellaneta observes: “… the dead are our brothers, our children, our husbands, our parents… they cannot be monsters”. Her comment captures the essential spirit of Italy’s Day of the Dead in comparison with Halloween. The festival involves children, food, and visiting (and visits from) departed loved ones. Although beyond the scope of this article such “days of the dead” are found around the world, and many involve remembering family members no longer with us. In Australia, the North American tradition of trick or treating children dressed up as ghosts, ghouls and witches is being taken up with enthusiasm. Although Italy has its own “Day of the Dead”, the…
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Baby Wrapping – Traditional Baby Swaddling in Italy and Beyond
Baby wrapping or traditional baby swaddling is an ancient practice that was once widespread in Italy and much of Europe and the Mediterranean. It was still used in baby care in parts of 1960s Italy. How did this custom of baby wrapping arise? The image above, in which the baby is in a bassinet at a spinner’s feet, involved wrapping a newborn in a long broad strip of cloth that constrained the movement of the baby with its legs straightened out and its arms by its sides. This particular image comes from a 12th century English illustration for the Hunterian Psalter. Swaddling is still used today throughout the world to…
