In the 1990s a major discovery was made in the vicinity of Cortina d'Ampezzo -- a famed holiday destination (and the site of the next winter Olympics) in the Italian Dolomites. This discovery had the shape of tiny amber grains, embedded in rocks and soils that were dated to be around 230 million of years old. Further studies, conducted mostly at the University of Padova and through major international collaborations, yielded precious results: in those droplets, scholars found the oldest confirmed organisms preserved in amber, including arthropod, bacteria, and fungi.
In July, Alessandro had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Cortina with some of the protagonists of this discovery, and authors of studies that continue to this very day. The gathering was organised by Eugenio Ragazzi, a retired professor from the University of Padova who has written extensively about amber in palaeontology, chemistry, and the history of medicine. In Cortina, Alessandro met Paolo Fedele, a local fossil expert who found the amber specimen that led to over two decades of research and friendship; and Guido Roghi, a geologist at the Italian National Research Council, in Padova, who focuses on stratigraphy, biostratigraphy and paleobotany of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sequences with a particular focus on the Alps.
Together, they visited the local paleontological museum, named after Rinaldo Zardini, a self-trained palaeontologist who inspired and mentored Paolo Fedele (and who noticed, already in the 1970s, the presence of amber in those valleys). Alessandro also visited one of the main amber outcrops in the area, just above the Rifugio Dibona and in the area of the famed Tofane -- the impressive dolomite rock walls that are the site of extensive mountain tourism. There, secluded from view and squeezed by white-coloured dolomia, a few centimetres of palaeosol contain a precious treasure: amber droplets, fragments of a prehistoric forest predating the dinosaurs, and coinciding with a great phase of environmental upheaval known as the Carnian Pluvial Episode.
