Simona Arrighi

The dawn of dentistry in the late upper Paleolithic: An early case of pathological intervention at Riparo Fredian

OBJECTIVES Early evidence for the treatment of dental pathology is found primarily among food-producing societies associated with high levels of oral pathology. However, some Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers show extensive oral pathology, suggesting that experimentation with therapeutic dental interventions may have greater antiquity. Here, we report the second earliest probable evidence for dentistry in a Late Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer recovered from Riparo Fredian (Tuscany, Italy). MATERIALS AND METHODS The Fredian 5 human consists of an associated maxillary anterior dentition with antemortem exposure of both upper first incisor (I1 ) pulp chambers. The pulp chambers present probable antemortem modifications that warrant in-depth analyses and direct dating. Scanning electron microscopy, microCT and residue analyses were used to investigate the purported modifications of external and internal surfaces of each I1 . RESULTS The direct date places Fredian 5 between 13,000 and 12,740 calendar years ago. Both pulp chambers were circumferentially enlarged prior to the death of this individual. Occlusal dentine flaking on the margin of the cavities and striations on their internal aspects suggest anthropic manipulation. Residue analyses revealed a conglomerate of bitumen, vegetal fibers, and probable hairs adherent to the internal walls of the cavities. DISCUSSION The results are consistent with tool-assisted manipulation to remove necrotic or infected pulp in vivo and the subsequent use of a composite, organic filling. Fredian 5 confirms the practice of dentistry-specifically, a pathology-induced intervention-among Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. As such, it appears that fundamental perceptions of biomedical knowledge and practice were in place long before the socioeconomic changes associated with the transition to food production in the Neolithic.

Surface Modifications of Flint Tools and Their Functional Meaning

The possibility to interpret prehistoric tools function, that in many cases constitutes the only preserved evidence of a certain human group activities, allows to acquire information on the poor knowledge of prehistoric daily way of life such as subsistence strategies and environmental exploitation adopted during prehistory. Starting with the English translation, in 1964, of the reference work of the sovietic archaeologist S. A. Semenov “Prehistoric Technology”, the discipline of functional analysis on prehistoric stone tools became more and more diffused since becoming nowadays a very significant issue for the studies on stone tools operative chains. The method is based on the recognition of the microscopic alterations that endures the surface of stone tools (among which flint is one of the most used) when the rock surface enters in contact with the worked material. The information that can be obtained from this type of study regard the activity carried out by the implement (its cinematic e.g. to abrade, to cut…) and the worked material (skin, bone, wood…). The heuristic devices suitable for the observation of use-wear traces are currently optical and electronic microscopes (metallographic microscope, SEM and AFM). In this paper we propose an overview on such methodological application in the field of prehistoric studies with reference to the on going research.

I ciottoli decorati di Paglicci : raffigurazioni e utilizzo

In this paper we analyze nine pebbles (two of which are unpublished) coming from the mobiliary art assemblage of Paglicci cave (Foggia - Italy). The principals aims of the study are: - To understand the production process of artistic incisions on the pebbles, through the study of the engravings, as the starting point for deciphering their symbolic and cognitive value. Every engraved stroke has in fact retained, at a microscopic level, important technological information and by means of experimental replication of the engravings, it has been possible to retrieve microscopic indexes which allow one to re-create the link between the result of the engraving, the tools used and the action performed. The importance of re-enacting the sequence of actions which led to the creation of the artistic object is given not only by the possibility to understand in depth the technique employed during such events, but, more importantly, by the possibility to test their cultural significance. - To assess the cultural value of the artistic production, also through functional analysis. Engravings, different from cave art which has solely a symbolic value, are in this case carried out on artefacts used in every-day life. The identification of use-wear traces on such objects, or at least on those which possess the necessary characteristics to suggest their likely utilization, is undertaken in an attempt to find out whether such objects were used before and/or after they were engraved. Within the technological study of engravings and the functional analysis of pebbles, the interpretation of the archaeological data has been possible thanks to the comparison with the data obtained through replication under controlled parameters. Technological analysis of the incisions has underlined the employment of various engraving tools, or at least various active edges of the same tool. Strokes are generally redone several times to make them readable. Use-wear analysis has highlighted that the majority of pebbles has been used as retouchers or hammer stones (active percussion). Three pieces show use-wear far from the edges denoting a function of these pebbles as anvil (passive percussion) or mallet (indirect percussion). In two cases the surface has been abraded after utilization and before the engravings. All pebbles have been used before being engraved. This observation may suggest that pebbles, at a certain moment, lost a functional value for a different one. The care employed in preparing and engraving pebbles after utilization denotes the will of using no longer these objects, even though their life continues, as polish following the incisions show.

Le potenzialità del GIS nella ricostruzione delle strutture sociali e delle strategie economiche ed insediative degli accampamenti musteriani in Italia centro-meridionale

Lo studio mediante sistemi GIS del comportamento neandertaliano in Italia centro-meridionale e una delle linee di ricerca dell’U.R. di Preistoria e Antropologia (DSFTA) dell’Universita di Siena. Protocolli analitici multidisciplinari integrati sono attualmente adottati sui contesti stratigrafici di Grotta Grande e Riparo il Molare (San Giovanni a Piro, SA; Ronchitelli et al. 2011, Boscato et al. 2002), Riparo l’Oscurusciuto (Ginosa, TA; Marciani et al. 2016, Spagnolo et al. 2016) e Grotta dei Santi (Monte Argentario, GR; Spagnolo 2017). Le caratteristiche di tali siti offrono la possibilita di osservare i fenomeni insediativi in una prospettiva multi-scalare: dall’alta risoluzione temporale alla lettura diacronica dei processi storici, dall’intra-site alla scala geografica territoriale. Le strategie insediative dei cacciatori-raccoglitori neandertaliani sono argomento di un intenso dibattito scientifico che vede attivi, su vari livelli, studiosi afferenti a diverse discipline. Questo, oltre ad evidenziare la vastita della problematica, mostra altresi la necessita di adottare metodi di studio sempre piu integrati. La dimensione contestuale e multi-scalare della Spatial Archaeology diviene pertanto un ambiente ideale in cui realizzare l’integrazione dei risultati della Ricerca preistorica. A scala intra-site nel campione finora indagato e stato possibile cogliere diversi modi di gestione degli accampamenti. Questo, se da un lato potrebbe essere espressione di variabili genuinamente spaziali (es. superficie indagata rispetto all’accampamento), in taluni casi sembrerebbe piuttosto riflettere strategie insediative differenti (es. occupazioni brevi vs occupazioni protratte nel tempo). Il grado di “visibilita archeologica” delle aree di attivita e direttamente proporzionale alla risoluzione temporale dei contesti, per cui living floors e short palimpsests offrono letture molto piu chiare rispetto ai palinsesti lunghi. D’altro canto, la disponibilita di serie stratigrafiche articolate in diversi livelli di occupazione, spesso con un eccellente stato di conservazione, e un fattore-chiave per cogliere continuita e discontinuita dei modelli insediativi. Le fluttuazioni di tali cambiamenti, oltre ad esprimere forme di adattamento ai contesti ambientali locali, costituiscono una sorta di proxy delle strutture sociali e di uno dei silenziosi motori della Storia: il rapporto dialettico tra “memoria del gruppo” e “Longue duree”. A scala geografica territoriale, infine, le analisi spaziali, integrate con i parametri paleoambientali, i dati tecno-economici dei complessi litici e le composizioni tassonomiche degli insiemi faunistici, offrono un contributo alla definizione delle strategie di mobilita e alla ricostruzione dei “play ranges” dei gruppi di cacciatori-raccoglitori. GIS potentialities in reconstructing social structures and economic and settling strategies in Mousterian sites of Central-Southern Italy The study of Neandertal behaviour in Central-Southern Italy using GIS systems is one the research topics explored by the R.U. of Prehistory and Anthropology (DSFTA) of the University of Siena. Multidisciplinary and integrated analytic protocols have been applied in a number of stratigraphic contexts of Central-Southern Italy: Grotta Grande and Riparo del Molare (MIS 5; San Giovanni a Piro, SA; Ronchitelli et al. 2011, Boscato et al. 2002), Riparo l’Oscurusciuto (MIS 3; Ginosa, TA; Marciani et al. 2016, Spagnolo et al. 2016) and Grotta dei Santi (MIS 3; Monte Argentario, GR; Spagnolo 2017). These sites are particularly suitable for being observed under a multi-scale perspective: from the high-resolution diachronic reading of historical processes to the intra-site investigation at a territorial scale. Settling strategies of Neandertal hunter-gatherers are the pivot around which a lively scientific debate has developed among scholars of different disciplines, highlighting the magnitude of the problem in terms of involved research fields. As a consequence increasingly integrated methodologies of study are needed. Thus, the contextual multi-scale dimension of Spatial Archaeology is becoming the ideal “scenario” where the integration among single results of prehistoric research can occur. According to investigations carried out at an intra-site scale, the different organization of space in Neandertal camps of the examined sample is probably the expression of merely spatial variables (e.g. size of the investigated area), even if, sometimes, it seems to actually mirror real differences in settling strategies (e.g. brief vs. long occupations). As expected, the degree of “archaeological visibility” of the activity areas is directly proportional to how much the contexts under study lasted in time. Consequently, living floors and short-lived palimpsests can be obviously read more clearly than long-lasting palimpsests. Moreover, the availability of stratigraphic sequences with several occupational layers, often very well preserved, is a key-factor for detecting continuity and discontinuity of settlement patterns. Settlement fluctuations and changes, besides representing adaptations to local environmental contexts, work as proxies for social structures and for one of the “quiet motors” of history: dialectic relation between “group memory” and “ Longue duree ”. On a territorial geographical scale, spatial analyses, integrated by palaeo-environmental evidence and by techno-economic data from lithic assemblages and faunal associations contribute to the reconstruction of mobility strategies and of “ play ranges ” of hunter-gatherer groups.

The Iceman’s lithic toolkit: Raw material, technology, typology and use

The Tyrolean Iceman, a 5,300-year-old glacier mummy recovered at the Tisenjoch (South Tyrol, Italy) together with his clothes and personal equipment, represents a unique opportunity for prehistoric research. The present work examines the Iceman’s tools which are made from chert or are related to chert working - dagger, two arrowheads, endscraper, borer, small flake and antler retoucher - and considers also the arrowhead still embedded in the shoulder of the mummy. The interdisciplinary results achieved by study of the lithic raw material, technology, use-wear analysis, CT analysis and typology all add new information to Ötzi‘s individual history and his last days, and allow insights into the way of life of Alpine Copper Age communities. The chert raw material of the small assemblage originates from at least three different areas of provenance in the Southalpine region. One, or possibly two, sources derive from outcrops in the Trentino, specifically the Non Valley. Such variability suggests an extensive provisioning network, not at all limited to the Lessini mountains, which was able to reach the local communities. The Iceman’s toolkit displays typological characteristics of the Northern Italian tradition, but also comprises features typical of the Swiss Horgen culture, which will come as no surprise in the toolkit of a man who lived in a territory where transalpine contacts would have been of great importance. Ötzi was not a flintknapper, but he was able to resharpen his tools with a medium to good level of skill. Wear traces reveal that he was a right-hander. Most instruments in the toolkit had reached their final stage of usability, displaying extensive usage, mostly from plant working, resharpenings and breaks. Evidently Ötzi had not had any access to chert for quite some time, which must have been problematic during his last hectic days, preventing him from repairing and integrating his weapons, in particular his arrows. Freshly modified blade tools without any wear suggest planned work which he never carried out, possibly prevented by the events which made him return to the mountains where he was killed by a Southern Alpine archer.