Midsagittal Cranial Shape Variation in the Genus Homo by Geometric Morphometrics

Midsagittal profiles of crania referred to different taxa of the genus Homo have been analyzed by geometric morphometric techniques. Comparisons between single specimens using the thin-plate-spline function suggest a generalized reduction of the lower face, associated with antero-posterior development of the braincase occurring (possibly in parallel evolution) along distinct human lineages. Furthermore, Neandertals display a projection of the midface, and modern humans show a derived globularity of the vault associated with midsagittal parietal bulging. Principal Component Analysis demonstrates a bimodal pattern of variation, which describes an »archaic« pole (rather heterogeneous in terms of taxonomy) clearly distinguishable from the modern one. The first two principal components – that explain together 80% of the total variance in shape – involve respectively fronto-parietal expansion and midfacial prognathism. These results contribute to identify different structural patterns in human evolution, supporting discontinuity rather than continuity of cranial shape among different taxa of the genus Homo, especially when considering the differences between Neandertals and early modern humans

The one-million-year-old Homo cranium from Bouri (Ethiopia): a reconsideration of its H. erectus affinities.

[No abstract available

Behavior-induced auditory exostoses in imperial Roman society: evidence from coeval urban and rural communities near Rome.

Presence and features of auditory exostoses were investigated in two cranial samples of Roman imperial age (1st-3rd century A.D.). The skeletal material comes from the necropolises of Portus (Isola Sacra) and Lucus Feroniae (Via Capenate), two towns along the Tevere River, in close relation with the social and economic life of Rome. Deep-rooted differences between the human communities represented by the skeletal samples (83 and 71 individuals, respectively, in this study) are documented both historically and archaeologically. The results show lack of exostoses in the female sex, a negligible incidence among the males of Lucus Feroniae, but a high frequency in the male sample from Isola Sacra (31.3%). Auditory exostoses are commonly recognised as localized hyperplastic growths of predominantly acquired origin. Features of the exostoses found in the male crania from Isola Sacra (particularly in relation to the age at death of the affected individuals) support this view. Furthermore, several clinical and anthropological studies have pointed out close links between the occurrence of auditory exostoses and prolonged cold water exposure, generally due to the practice of aquatic sports, or to working activities involving water contact or diving. In this perspective, the differences observed between the two Roman populations and between the sexes (in Isola Sacra) appear to result from different social habits: the middle class population of Portus habitually used thermal baths, whereas it is probable that thermae were seldom frequented (if at all) by the Lucus Feroniae population represented in the necropolis (mostly composed by slaves or freedmenfarm laborers). As regards the relation with sex observed in Isola Sacra, the paleopathological data presented here seem to indicate some differences in thermae attendance and utilization between men and women, which has not been clearly documented so far by historical and archaeological sources

Discontinuity of life conditions at the transition from the Roman Imperial Age to the early Middle Ages: Example from central Italy evaluated by pathological dento-alveolar lesions

Teeth are highly informative in the study of past human populations. In particular, the occurrence of lesions in the masticatory apparatus relates diseases, diet, and living conditions. The dental pathology of three skeletal samples from the north-central part of Latium (central Italy) is reported. Two of them belong to the Roman Imperial Age (1st-3rd century AD): the first (including 942 permanent teeth and 1,085 tooth sockets) represents the rural town of Lucus Feroniae and is mainly composed of slaves and/or war veterans, whereas the second (872 permanent teeth and 1,325 tooth sockets) comes from the Isola Sacra necropolis at Portus Romae and represents the "middle class" segment of an urban population. The medieval sample (912 teeth and 1,097 tooth sockets), dated to the 7th century AD, belongs to the Lombard necropolis of La Selvicciola. All of the samples were examined for caries, abscesses, antemortem tooth loss, calculus, alveolar resorption, attrition, and enamel hypoplasia; standard methods were used to identify, classify, and quantify these conditions. The results reveal different patterns of dental and alveolar lesions for the three populations, indicating a different combination of dietary factors and hygienic conditions in the Roman samples compared to the Lombard series. As evidenced by multivariate correspondece analysis, the Romans show afffinites between each other, whereas the Medieval sample appears associated with the incidence of caries and the pathological conditions related to them, thus indicating increase of these lesions and deterioration of the quality of life in the transition to the early Middle Ages. These data agree with the respective archeological characterizations of the necropolises and the hypothetical social composition of each population

Geometric morphometric analysis of mid-sagittal cranial profiles in Neandertals, modern humans and their ancestors

The recent development of geometric morphometrics – and, particularly, the procedures based on the interpolating function thin-plate-spline (TPS) – combine multivariate statistics with deformation grids in the D’Arcy Thompson’s style, allowing to distinguish deformation components as well as to explore the variation of the morphological change taken as a whole. Cranial mid-sagittal profiles of fossil specimens referable to the genus Homo, spanning in time from Early to Late Pleistocene have been investigated with this method, with particular reference to the comparison between Neandertals and modern humans. The results show a clear clustering of two main groups, respectively represented by a generalised “archaic” shape and a well characterised “modern” architectural pattern. These results are discussed in the light of a working hypothesis where different archaic Homo lineages represent regional clades of the same anagenetic process of evolution. In contrast, it is suggested that the appearance of modern H. sapiens was a relatively rapid and localised cladogenetic event

CT-scanning and virtual reproduction of the Saccopastore Neandertal crania

The two early Neanderthal crania from Saccopastore (Rome, Italy) have been CT-scanned and virtually reproduced using computer-assisted techniques. The matrix, still pervading many internal volumes, was partially removed in order to identify and isolate endocranial structures and internal features. Saccopastore 1 shows high degree of mineralisation. In addition, calcareous inclusions permeates the deeper layers of the bone, involving some degree of overflow and difficulties to clearly identify part of the anatomical structures of the basicranium. Anyhow, the endocast (never described so far) is almost entirely reproduced, as well as features of dental roots, maxillary sinuses, and inner ear elements. Saccopastore 2 shows also a high level of fossilisation, but with less problems for the scan process (given also the smaller volume of the anatomical districts preserved); even in this case, dental roots, maxillary and frontal sinuses, and inner ear elements can be identified. These two important specimens, dated to a crucial (Eemian) stage along the Neanderthal evolutionary lineage, are now available for CT-based analyses and comparisons