Arthrodendron borberensis sp. nov. is described from the Pagliaro Formation (Paleocene) of the Northern Apennines. Specimens of the new species are preserved on the sole of a turbiditic sandstone bed. Arthrodendron borberensis sp. nov. is characterized by its long chambers (some exceeding 10 mm in length), its generally straight course, and rare branching at an acute angle. This large foraminifer lived infaunally within the sediment and possibly as epifauna after exhumation by erosion, prior to the deposition of the host turbiditic sandstone bed. Assemblages of smaller agglutinated foraminifera (a flysch-type fauna) and trace fossils (Nereites ichnofacies) point to a deep-sea environment for the discussed protist
The paper analyses on a chronological typological level the decorative syntax present on impasto pottery from the Late Iron Age (Ligure III period: 475–89 BC) in lower Piedmont (inner Piedmontese Liguria), where vessel forms and decorative elements appear largely in continuity with those of the Middle Iron Age (Ligure II period: 625–475 BC). Decoration is generally present on closed shapes (situliform vases, ollae). Compared to the Middle Iron Age, the percentage of decorated pottery increases and the decorative elements become more elaborate. The most characteristic elements are the horizontal rows of finger or tool impressions, the simple zigzags, at first continuous and then interrupted (the latter evolving over time from single to double and then to multiple, sometimes with the alternate insertion of triangular or circular impressions at the corners), the impressions with or without clay, are usually on the lower part of the vessel, sometimes in combination with the zigzag motif. Shapes and decorative syntax are not found in the funerary and settlement contexts of northern Pied mont and more generally in Cispadana, while they seem to have an identifying character for the Ligurian groups of inland Piedmont.