When Giovanna Marras opens the door to her home in Bolotana, a mountain village in central Sardinia, her eyes are bright with curiosity as she sizes up her visitors.
asserted
she → open → visitors
Her sister, Mariangela, peeks out too, soon ushering her guests inside and handing out dishes of ice-cream.
asserted
sister → peek → cream
The sisters are full of life, talking animatedly.
asserted
sisters → talk → life
Sitting in their living room, Giovanna swiftly recaps her life story: she excelled at school before moving to Cagliari, the capital of the Italian island, at 18 to train as a seamstress.
asserted
she → sit → seamstress
The sisters went on to run a successful tailoring business in Bolotana before travelling the world after retirement.
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sisters → go → retirement
Neither married.
asserted
Neither → marry → ?
“Someone did come to the house and ask my parents for my hand in marriage,” Giovanna said.
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Giovanna → come → marriage
“I told them to tell him to go away – I mean, a woman should at least know her future husband.”
asserted
woman → tell → husband
“I didn’t want to get married …
asserted
I → want → ?
I walk my own path, I don’t need support.”
asserted
I → walk → support
The details of their lives are now being examined as part of a broader pattern of exceptional longevity in Bolotana, where women are driving a trend that could put the village, population 2,266, in the running to be the world’s sixth “blue zone” – geographic areas with unusually high concentrations of centenarians.
uncertain
that → examine → centenarians
Sardinia was home to the first such zone, identified more than 25 years ago.
asserted
Sardinia → identify → zone
A study by professors at the University of Sassari and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Aging last week, found that 13.8% of women in Bolotana who reach the age of 70 will live to 100 – placing it second in the world for female longevity after Hong Kong.
asserted
who → publish → Kong
By the end of this year, two other women are expected to reach the milestone, and in 2027 two more, including Mariangela.
asserted
women → expect → Mariangela
The last male centenarian, Giovanni Madau, died in July, a few months short of his 102nd birthday.
asserted
centenarian → die → birthday
Tore Pedde, the president of Orminas, a cultural association, played a crucial role in uncovering Bolotana as a potential longevity hotspot after painstakingly searching its demographic archives, even tracking down centenarians born in the village who had long since moved overseas.
asserted
who → play → village
Records of people born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925 showed that 38 had lived beyond 100, putting their longevity rate at 57% higher than the Italian national average.
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38 → bear → average
“Up until the early 1900s, Bolotana followed a trend whereby men significantly outnumbered women among the elderly,” Pedde said.
asserted
Pedde → follow → elderly
“From the early 20th century onwards, however, the trend shifted and women began to outnumber men.
asserted
women → shift → men
Later, the number of female centenarians started to far exceed the male ones, and this trend continues today.
asserted
trend → start → ones
While it has already been well established that women live longer for biological reasons, scientists behind the study are tracing family trees in search of genetic clues to Bolotana’s female longevity.
asserted
scientists → establish → longevity
They are also exploring the roles of diet, physical activity and social connections.
asserted
They → explore → diet
The Marras sisters still cook for themselves, eating a varied but clean diet without forsaking meat, cheese or wine.
asserted
sisters → cook → meat
Mariangela does the shopping, which entails a walk down a hilly street and back.
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which → do → street
The women have grit and are remarkably lucid.
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women → have → grit
Filomena Scarpa, a former language teacher who turned 100 in January, began learning German in her 90s and was a voracious reader before a problem with her left eye started to hinder her.
asserted
problem → turn → her
“It saddens me not to be able to read with the same level of consistency,” she said.
asserted
she → sadden → consistency
She goes to a personal trainer twice a week.
asserted
She → go → trainer
“Because I can’t sit around all day.”
asserted
I → sit → ?
Scarpa, who has two sons, is a childhood friend of Falchi, who now lives with her daughter about an hour away in Oristana.
asserted
who → have → Oristana
The pair speak often.
asserted
pair → speak → ?
Falchi is notorious in Bolotana for smoking like a trooper.
asserted
Falchi → smoke → trooper
“I told her to quit because it’s not good for her health,” Scarpa said.
asserted
Scarpa → tell → health
“But she said: ‘It hasn’t got me so far, so I shall carry on.’
asserted
I → say → me
Bolotana is situated in Sardinia’s Marghine mountains, about 70 miles (110km) from the island’s original blue zone – a cluster of villages nestled on the slopes of the central and eastern provinces.
asserted
Bolotana → situate → provinces
“What’s special here is that for the first time we’ve identified an area where women live to a great age, whereas the original blue zone was predominantly male,” said Giovanni Mario Pes, who led the study and is a co-creator of the blue zone concept.
asserted
who → ’ → concept
“We therefore need to explain why longevity specifically affects women here.”
asserted
longevity → need → women
Unlike the original villages, Bolotana is relatively close to cities, including Sassari and Alghero on the west coast.
asserted
Bolotana → include → coast
Still, its streets are steep, providing residents with unavoidable exercise.
asserted
streets → provide → exercise
The environment is unspoiled and most people still eat fruit and vegetables grown in their gardens.
One thing Pes noted among its female residents was a “strong sense of sisterhood”.
asserted
Pes → eat → sisterhood
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
