‘Here for you a smiling garden of everlasting flowers’ is the inscription in Latin of a 16th century Italian herbarium kept in Leiden, the Netherlands, since 1690. The origin and botanical content... Show more‘Here for you a smiling garden of everlasting flowers’ is the inscription in Latin of a 16th century Italian herbarium kept in Leiden, the Netherlands, since 1690. The origin and botanical content of this herbarium, one of the oldest in existence today, have remained largely unknown. Here we present the plants included in this so-called ‘En Tibi’ herbarium, which comprises 473 specimens (455 taxa, 97 families), and discuss the geographical provenance of the book based on certain plant traits. The En Tibi is of great historical value as it contains some of the earliest herbarium records of numerous species, among which are useful plants such as oregano, thyme, tomato and hot pepper. Although prepared as a present, the En Tibi is a fine example of new botanical trends that arose in 16th century Italy. It is an attempt to reconstruct the herbals of classical authors such as Dioscorides, Theophrastus and Pliny, not with illustrations but with actual plant individuals. More than just a collection of medicinal plants, the En Tibi shows an emerging interest in the study of taxonomy and the discovery of new plants, unknown to classical authors. Analysis of the intrinsic and extrinsic traits of the plants reveals a temperate-Mediterranean origin, suggesting that the book was made in central or north–central Italy. Our botanical identification is the first necessary step to further elucidate the origin of the En Tibi and trace the mysterious compiler of this magnificent collection. Show less
Avila-Arcos, Maria C.; Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Schroeder, Hannes; Carpenter, Meredith L.; Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo; Wales, Nathan; ... ; Thomas, P. 2015
We have examined a 5th to 6th century inhumation from Great Chesterford, Essex, UK. The incomplete remains are those of a young male, aged around 21–35 years at death. The remains show osteological... Show moreWe have examined a 5th to 6th century inhumation from Great Chesterford, Essex, UK. The incomplete remains are those of a young male, aged around 21–35 years at death. The remains show osteological evidence of lepromatous leprosy (LL) and this was confirmed by lipid biomarker analysis and ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis, which provided evidence for both multi-copy and single copy loci from the Mycobacterium leprae genome. Genotyping showed the strain belonged to the 3I lineage, but the Great Chesterford isolate appeared to be ancestral to 3I strains found in later medieval cases in southern Britain and also continental Europe. While a number of contemporaneous cases exist, at present, this case of leprosy is the earliest radiocarbon dated case in Britain confirmed by both aDNA and lipid biomarkers. Importantly, Strontium and Oxygen isotope analysis suggest that the individual is likely to have originated from outside Britain. This potentially sheds light on the origins of the strain in Britain and its subsequent spread to other parts of the world, including the Americas where the 3I lineage of M. leprae is still found in some southern states of America. Show less
Schroeder, Hannes; Avila-Arcos, Maria C.; Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo; Poznik, G. David; Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Carpenter, Meredith L.; ... ; Gilbert, M.T.P. 2015
