Rita dal Martello

Background

About Rita dal Martello

I specialize in the analysis of ancient plant remains from archaeological sites in China and Central Asia as the first line of evidence to investigate past subsistence practices. In addition to direct plant remains, I also analyse material culture and textual evidence related to past plant use and dispersal to reconstruct the development of complex agrarian societies and trace ancient routes of contact and trade in Eurasia during late prehistoric and early historic times. More broadly, I am interested in agricultural and culinary traditions along ecological frontier zones in East Asia, and I investigate the spread of crops outside their domestication centres. I have a particular interest in how the movement of plants and people impacted changes in agricultural societies through time and space, with special attention to the production and consumption of local minor crops and the shaping of local culinary identities.