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Stable Isotope

The Stable Isotope Laboratory is part of the larger Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory. The available equipment allows chemical analysis and isotopic abundance measurements of C, H, N, S, O elements on different natural materials: water, gas, rock, organic matter. The lab allows a wide range of applications for research not only in geology and environmental science but also biology and cultural heritage. Currently, the main research topics, in which the Lab is involved, are applications of light stable isotopes (C, H, N, O) to geoarchaeology, global changes and studies in natural resources.

Location + _

Area della Ricerca di Roma 1 - Montelibretti, Via Salaria km 29,300 - 00015 Monterotondo (RM)

Scientific manager + _

Dr. Mauro Brilli

Security officer + _

Dr. Mauro Brilli

Telephone + _
+39. 06.90672645
Team + _

Mauro Brilli, e-mail: 
Francesca Giustini, e-mail:

  • Finnigan Delta+ mass spectrometer and peripherals: H/Device, GasBench II – Thermo, EA Flash 1112 -Thermo, CO2 – Laser Merchantek;
  • Elemental Analyzer EA1110 CHNS – Carlo Erba Instruments
  • Trace GC Ultra – Thermo Scientific;
  • Ion chromatograph 761 Compact – Metrohm;
  • Various vacuum extraction lines
  • Dietrich-Fruhling calcimeter
  • Stable isotopes for studying the recharge areas and circulation of the groundwater of the Rome urban area and middle Tiber Valley.
  • Isotopic and petrographic investigations on Forma Urbis, a Severian marble map of ancient Rome, Capitoline Museums – Celio Antiquarium (Resp. F. de Caprariis)
  • Aléria et ses territoires : approches croisées (2018-2021) (Resp. V. Jolivet, CNRS, Paris): investigation into the use of stone materials in the ancient Roman city of di Aléria (Eastern Corsica)
  • The Stable Isotope Laboratory currently belongs to the Excellence Center DTC Lazio (https://dtclazio.it/laboratori/laboratorio-petrografico-e-isotopi-stabili-isolab)
  • Giustini F., Brilli M., Di Salvo C., Mancini M., Voltaggio M. (in press) Multidisciplinary characterization of the buried travertine body of Prima Porta (Central Italy). Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.10.062
  • Vignaroli G., Mancini M., Brilli M., Bucci F., Cardinali M., Giustini F., Voltaggio M., Yu T-L., Shen C-C. (2020) Spatial-temporal evolution of extensional faulting and fluid circulation in the Amatrice Basin (central Apennines, Italy) during the Pleistocene. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8: 130. DOI: 10.3389/feart.2020.00130.
  • Giustini F., Brilli M. (2020) Mefite d’Ansanto, southern Apennines (Italy): the natural CO2 seep which emits the largest quantity of non-volcanic CO2 on Earth. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 109(5), 1705-1706. DOI: 10.1007/s00531-020-01857-1.
  • Brilli M., Lapuente Mercadal M.P., Giustini F., Royo Plumed H. (2020) Reply to Comments on the paper “Petrography and Mineralogy of the white marble and black stone of Göktepe (Muğla, Turkey) used in antiquity: New data for provenance determination” by M. Brilli, M.P. Lapuente Mercadal, F. Giustini and H. Royo Plumed (JAS Reports 2018, 19, 625–642). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 30, 102071. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102071.
  • Brilli M., Savin, M.C. (2019) Provenance study of the white marbles of the “Baths of Elagabalus” at the Palatine Hill in Rome. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11 (10), pp. 5539-5551.
  • Brilli M., Giustini F. (2019) The Sabina strike-slip fault at the ‘ancient marble’ quarry of Cottanello (central Apennine, Italy). International Journal of Earth Sciences, 108(6), 1959-1960. DOI:10.1007/s00531-019-01728-4.
  • De Angelis F., Scorrano G., Martínez-Labarga C., Giustini F., Brilli M., Pacciani E., Silvestrini M., Calattini M., Volante N., Martini F., Sarti L., Rickards O. (2019) Eneolithic subsistence economy in Central Italy: first dietary reconstructions through stable isotopes. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences,11(8), 4171-4186. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-019-00789-5.
  • Scorrano G., Baldoni M., Brilli M., Rolfo M.F., Fornaciari G., Rickards O., Martínez-Labarga C. (2019) Effect of Neolithic transition on an Italian community: Mora Cavorso (Jenne, Rome). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11 (4), pp. 1443-1459.
  • Giustini F., Ciotoli G., Rinaldini A., Ruggiero L., Voltaggio M. (2019) Mapping the geogenic radon potential and radon risk by using Empirical Bayesian Kriging regression: A case study from a volcanic area of central Italy. Science of the Total Environment, vol. 661, 449-464. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.146.
  • Calcagnile L., Sardella R., Mazzini I., Giustini F., Brilli M., D’Elia M., Braione E., Conti J., Mecozzi B., Bona F., Iurino D.A., Lembo G., Muttillo B., Quarta G. (2019) New radiocarbon dating results from the Upper Paleolithic-Mesolithic levels in Grotta Romanelli (Apulia, Southern Italy). Radiocarbon 61, 1211-1220. DOI:10.1017/RDC.2019.8.
  • Scardozzi G., Brilli M., Giustini F. (2019) Calcite alabaster artefacts from Hierapolis in Phrygia, Turkey: Provenance determination using carbon and oxygen stable isotopes. Geoarchaeology, vol. 34, 169-186. DOI: 10.1002/gea.21699.
  • Brilli M., Giustini F., Kadıoğlu M. (2019) Black limestone used in antiquity: recognizing the limestone of Teos. Archaeometry, 61(2), 282-296. DOI: 10.1111/arcm.12426
  • Bellucci L., Biddittu I., Brilli M., Conti J., Germani M., Giustini F., Iurino D.A., Mazzini I., Sardella R. (2019) First occurrence of the short-faced bear Agriotherium (Ursidae, Carnivora) in Italy: biochronological and palaeoenvironmental implications. Italian Journal of Geosciences, 138, 124-135. DOI:10.3301/IJG.2018.31.
  • Fayek A., Brilli M., Guyennon N., Giustini F., Voltaggio M. (2018) Palaeoclimatic records from travertine channel deposits at Hierapolis of Phrygia (Denizli, Turkey). Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary, vol. 31, pp. 125-129. ISSN: 22797327.
  • Giustini F., Bona F., Brilli M., D’Agostino A., Lembo G., Mazzini I., Mecozzi B., Muttillo B., Sardella R. (2018) An introduction to the early Holocene eolian deposits of Grotta Romanelli, Apulia, southern Italy. Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary, vol. 31, pp. 135-139. ISSN: 22797327
  • Giustini F., Brilli M., Mancini M. (2018) Geochemical study of travertines along middle-lower Tiber valley (central Italy): genesis, palaeo-environmental and tectonic implications. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 107, 1321-1342. DOI: 10.1007/s00531-017-1535-0.
  • Sardella R., Mazzini I., Giustini F., Mecozzi B., Brilli M., Iurino D.A., Lembo G., Muttillo B., Massussi M., Sigari D., Tucci S., Voltaggio M. (2018) Grotta Romanelli (Southern Italy, Apulia): legacies and issues in excavating a key site for the Pleistocene of the Mediterranean. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 124(2), 247-264. DOI:10.13130/2039-4942/9983.
  • Brilli M., Lapuente Mercadal M.P., Giustini F., Royo Plumed H. (2018) Petrography and mineralogy of the white marble and black stone of Göktepe (Muğla, Turkey) used in antiquity: New data for provenance determination. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 19, 625-642. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.03.037.
  • Brilli M., Giustini F., Barone P.M., Fayek Ali Elmoughazi A., Scardozzi G. (2018) Characterizing the Alabastro listato or fiorito of Hierapolis in Phrygia: a simple method to identify its provenance using carbon stable isotopes. Archaeometry, 60(3), 403-418. DOI: 10.1111/arcm.12315.
Cagliari
Milano
Montelibretti
Roma