Julie Arnaud

A human deciduous tooth and new 40Ar/39Ar dating results from the Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Isernia La pineta, southern Italy

Isernia La Pineta (south-central Italy, Molise) is one of the most important archaeological localities of the Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe. It is an extensive open-air site with abundant lithic industry and faunal remains distributed across four stratified archaeosurfaces that have been found in two sectors of the excavation (3c, 3a, 3s10 in sect. I; 3a in sect. II). The prehistoric attendance was close to a wet environment, with a series of small waterfalls and lakes associated to calcareous tufa deposits. An isolated human deciduous incisor (labelled IS42) was discovered in 2014 within the archaeological level 3 coll (overlying layer 3a) that, according to new 40Ar/39Ar measurements, is dated to about 583–561 ka, i.e. to the end of marine isotope stage (MIS) 15. Thus, the tooth is currently the oldest human fossil specimen in Italy; it is an important addition to the scanty European fossil record of the Middle Pleistocene, being associated with a lithic assemblage of local raw materials (flint and limestone) characterized by the absence of handaxes and reduction strategies primarily aimed at the production of small/medium-sized flakes. The faunal assemblage is dominated by ungulates often bearing cut marks. Combining chronology with the archaeological evidence, Isernia La Pineta exhibits a delay in the appearance of handaxes with respect to other European Palaeolithic sites of the Middle Pleistocene. Interestingly, this observation matches the persistence of archaic morphological features shown by the human calvarium from the Middle Pleistocene site of Ceprano, not far from Isernia (south-central Italy, Latium). In this perspective, our analysis is aimed to evaluate morphological features occurring in IS42.

Suspected limited mobility of a Middle Pleistocene woman from Southern Italy: strontium isotopes of a human deciduous tooth

We present the Sr isotopic composition of enamel of the most ancient deciduous tooth ever discovered in Italy to assess human mobility in Middle Pleistocene. Reconstructing ancient mobility is crucial for understanding human strategy at exploiting temporally and spatially patchy resources, with most studies focusing on indirect evidences, ultimately affecting our interpretation on hominin territoriality and energetic costs invested by hominin groups. Here, we use the high spatial resolution and micro-destructivity options offered by the Laser Ablation Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry technique, to determine the 87Sr/ 86Sr intra-tooth variability of a human deciduous incisor from the Middle Pleistocene layers of the Isernia La Pineta site (Italy). We compared these data with the Sr isotopic signature of local micro-mammals, the broadest home-range of the macro-mammals and with modern plant samples. Our study reveals that while macro-mammals have possibly migrated through the landscape for up to 50 km, the pregnant woman from Isernia was probably local, given that the isotopic ratio of the enamel falls within the local range and is comparable with the signature of the local plants in a radius of 10 km. This is the first case study of Sr isotopic composition determination in such ancient deciduous tooth.

A Neanderthal deciduous human molar with incipient carious infection from the Middle Palaeolithic De Nadale cave, Italy

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study is the assessment of Nadale 1, a Neanderthal deciduous tooth recently discovered in Northeastern Italy in the De Nadale cave (Middle Palaeolithic). Together with the clear archaeological context of the site, this study brings new insight on Neanderthal behavior and dental morphological variability. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used microCT data to provide a morphological description and morphometric analysis (diameter measurements and dental tissue volumes) of the Nadale 1 human tooth. Microwear analysis, taphonomical investigation and caries identification were performed using a stereomicroscope and Scanning Electron Microscope. RESULTS In terms of morphology (i.e., incipient tuberculum molare, marked mesial marginal ridge and well-developed mid-trigonid crest connecting the protoconid and the metaconid, deep anterior fovea) and size, Nadale 1 presents features frequently observed in Neanderthal lower first deciduous molars. Microscope investigations reveal the presence of a small pit which could be correlated to an incipient caries. CONCLUSION Nadale 1 expands the Italian Middle Palaeolithic fossil record and provides further information on Neanderthal dm1s in terms of dimensional and morphological variability. Furthermore, the presence of an incipient caries brings further data on Neanderthal diet.

Tooth wear pattern analysis in a sample of Italian Early Bronze Age population. Proposal of a 3-D sampling sequence

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence, distribution and intensity of tooth wear in a sample of an ancient Italian population in order to explain the pattern in terms of dietary habits and/or non-dietary tooth-use behaviors during the Early Bronze Age, with a focus on possible age-group and sex differences. DESIGN Well-preserved permanent teeth of individuals from the Bronze Age site of Ballabio (Lecco) in northern Italy were examined for tooth wear by different methods. Eight 3D models of teeth at increasing severity of wear were created. RESULTS In total, 357 permanent teeth belonging to male and female individuals were included in the study. Dental wear was present in 96.6% of the total sample. Males showed significantly greater levels of wear than females in the mandibular teeth. Both sexes exhibited a significantly different wear direction between the anterior (oblique and flat) and posterior (oblique and concave) teeth. Significant age differences were observed in the direction and level of wear in the incisors, canines and premolars, with higher wear in the older group. Complete and rotatable virtual 3D images of different wear patterns are proposed. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the present study confirm the data from archaeological studies on this site and on northern Italian habits during the Early Bronze Age suggesting a diet rich in vegetables. The observed wear patterns can be related both to the diet of this Bronze age population, based on hard and abrasive food requiring vigorous mastication, and to sex differences in cultural practices.

XX CONGRESSO DELL’AAI “VARIABILITA’ UMANA TRA PASSATO E PRESENTE” Ferrara, 11-13 settembre 2013

A proposito di Antropologia Tutti noi oggi siamo nella condizione di raccontare la nostra storia e descrivere cosa siamo, con dovizia di particolari, da piu punti di vista. Molti obbiettano che c’e ancora molto da capire e da scoprire, ma non bisogna dimenticare che lo sviluppo delle conoscenze sulla nostra realta ha avuto, in particolare negli ultimi decenni, un’impennata vertiginosa. Il motivo di tutto questo risiede nell’interdisciplinarieta, modalita di intervento scientifico che raggruppa ricercatori di ambiti differenti, talvolta anche decisamente diversi tra loro, in grado di contribuire al trasferimento di competenze e alla creazione di quella rete di discussione che esula dai confini del settorialismo dei risultati acquisiti. A questo proposito e fondamentale ricordare che l’interdisciplinarieta e la diretta quanto immediata conseguenza di quello che e stato definito metodo sperimentale, in grado da un lato di mettere in dubbio il sistema di visone unico e assoluto del mondo antico e dall’altro di metterci nella condizione di riappacificarci col mondo della natura. In questa nuova dimensione, la relazione Uomo/Natura acquista un significato del tutto nuovo. La Natura e in grado sperimentalmente di supportare o negare le nostre supposizioni. Ecco che allora i reperti fossili e le molecole sono tra le principali prove tangibili dell’evoluzione e della nostra attuale realta; analogamente i prodotti delle attivita umane e i sedimenti che li conservano contribuiscono alla definizione di scale cronologiche e della successione degli antichi ambienti naturali di vita, dalle origini fino al contesto attuale, ricco di innumerevole variabilita; adattamenti e stato di salute possono essere indagate in dettaglio e cosi di seguito per una infinita di aspetti. La stessa umanita attuale e al centro dell’attenzione attraverso molteplici e differenziati punti di vista. Ne discende che si prende atto, non senza pregiudizi, di essere in tutto e per tutto esseri biologici con regole biologiche scritte con quel numero infinito di molecole che si interfacciano e che concorrono a definire la nostra “memoria” di specie. Questi sono i contenuti che caratterizzano l’Antropologia, in un’ampia gamma di interessi ancor piu evidente di altre discipline. Ne consegue che l’Antropologia risponda all’esigenza di una profonda interdisciplinarieta e il XX Congresso degli Antropologi Italiani, che si tiene a Ferrara, e un ottimo esempio di tutto questo, con le sue numerose sezioni che abbracciano molteplici tematiche, quali Paleantropologia, Ecologia preistorica, Biologia scheletrica, Antropologia forense, Antropologia del vivente, Biodemografia, Collezioni antropologiche e Antropologia molecolare. Carlo Peretto Antropologo, Universita di Ferrara