Un approccio biomeccanico alla ricostruzione delle strategie di sussistenza delle popolazioni neolitiche della Liguria occidentale

In questo studio, le caratteristiche strutturali dell’arto superiore (omero) e di quello inferiore (femore e tibia) sono state analizzate per ricostruire le strategie di sussitenza delle popolazione neolitiche liguri (LIG). Il metodo di indagine utilizzato consiste nello studio della geometria delle sezione a metá diafisi dell’osso. I risultati riguardanti l’omero evidenziano un livello di robustezza non dissimile da quello dei cacciatori paleolitici e significativamente più elevato rispetto alle popolazioni contemporanee, cosa che suggerisce un uso frequente dell’arto superiore nelle attività di sussistenza. Lo studio della lateralizzazione suggerisce che queste attività di sussistenza fossero radicalmente diverse nei due sessi. Infatti, i maschi presentano una elevata lateralizzazione, associabile all’uso delle asce in pietra verde così frequenti nei livelli neolitici. Al contrario, le femmine presentano un livello di lateralizzazione significativamente più basso del normale, associabile ad un frequente uso di macine a due mani per la macinatura dei cereali. Per quanto riguarda l’arto inferiore, i LIG non mostrano la riduzione nella robustezza dell’arto inferiore che è invece caratteristica del campione tardo neolitico utilizzato come confronto. I LIG risultano invece più simili, sia nei livelli di robustezza che negli indici di forma diafisaria, alle popolazioni di confronto altamente mobili del Paleolitico Superiore Recente. Inoltre, i maschi LIG risultano molto più robusti delle femmine suggerendo una marcata differenziazione dei ruoli tra i sessi. In definitiva, i risultati dell’analisi della robustezza meccanica e degli indici di forma diafisaria dell’arto inferiore suggeriscono che i LIG fossero una popolazione molto mobile su un territorio accidentato e forniscono supporto all’ipotesi basata su evidenze archeologiche che i LIG conducessero attività di sussistenza prevalentemente pastorali

New Insights into Activity-Related Functional Bone Adaptations and Alterations in Neolithic Liguria (Northwestern Italy) = Nouvelles connaissances sur les adaptations et altérations fonctionnelles osseuses liées à l’activité en Ligurie néolithique (nord-ouest de l’Italie)

This study offers a combined analysis of longbone mechanical properties (cross-sectional geometry, CSG), upper-limb enthesopathies (entheseal changes, ECs), and external auditory exostoses (EAEs) among Neolithic people from Liguria (Italy). Previous CSG studies have suggested a high degree of mobility in mountainous terrain and sexual dimorphism in the upper limbs, with males being more oriented toward unimanual activities and females performing strenuous bimanual tasks. The aims of the study were to: 1) increase the sample size of the CSG analysis via the acquisition of surface 3D models, 2) provide a solid chronological framework through direct dating in order to allow for subsampling of individuals dated to the Impresso-Cardial Complex (ICC, c. 5800–5000 BCE) and the Square-Mouthed Pottery culture (c. 5000–4300 BCE), 3) integrate the results of CSG analysis with information on ECs of the humeral epicondyles, and 4) assess possible marine activities through analysis of EAEs. Results from the CSG analysis confirmed those of previous studies, with no significant diachronic change. ECs in the humeral medial epicondyle parallelled CSG adaptations: males tended to display more changes, especially unilaterally. Only one individual from the ICC period showed bilateral EAE, suggesting that marine activities were not prevalent. This study adds to our knowledge on activity patterns in the Neolithic in Liguria, and shows that integrating structural adaptations with information from specific entheseal alterations and exostoses can improve reconstructions of past habitual activities.Nous avons analysé conjointement les propriétés mécaniques des os longs (géométrie des sections transverses, CSG), les enthésopathies des membres supérieurs (ECs) et les exostoses auditives externes (EAE) chez les sujets néolithiques de Ligurie. Des études antérieures des CSG ont suggéré une grande mobilité en terrain montagneux et un dimorphisme sexuel important pour les membres supérieurs, les hommes étant davantage orientés vers des activités unimanuelles et les femmes effectuant préférentiellement des tâches bimanuelles pénibles. Nous avons : 1) augmenté la taille de l’échantillon de l’étude des CSG par l’acquisition de modèles 3D de surface ; 2) fourni un cadre chronologique solide grâce à de nouvelles datations radiocarbones AMS directes, permettant un sous-échantillonnage d’individus datés du complexe Impresso-Cardial (ICC, c. 5800–5000 BC) et de la culture des Vases à Bouche carrée céramique à bec carré (SMP, c. 5000–4300 BC) ; 3) intégré les résultats sur les CSG avec des informations sur les ECs des épicondyles de l’humérus ; 4) évalué les activités marines possibles par l’analyse des EAE. Les résultats de l’analyse des CSG confirment les études antérieures, sans changement diachronique significatif. Les résultats pour les ECs dans l’épicondyle médial sont similaires à ceux pour les CSG du membre supérieur : les hommes ont tendance à avoir plus de changements, surtout unilatéralement. Un seul individu (daté de l’ICC) présente une EAE bilatérale, ce qui suggère des activités marines peu répandues. En plus d’enrichir nos connaissances sur les schémas d’activité dans le Néolithique ligurien, cette étude montre que l’intégration des adaptations structurelles avec les informations sur les ECs et les EAE peut améliorer les reconstructions des activités habituelles dans le passé

New data on Late Upper Paleolithic upper limb cross-sectional geometry from Arene Candide: implications for Tardiglacial hunting practices

European Late Upper Paleolithic people display levels of bilateral asymmetry in humeral mechanical strength comparable to professional tennis players. This highly-characteristic trait has been associated with the use of throwing weapons to “kill at a distance”, an activity that likely required extensive training that began at a young age. Previous studies have pooled European samples to increase sample size. This pooling may have masked regional behavioral variation associated with the fragmentation of populations during the Tardiglacial period (ca. 16-10,000 BP). We collected new data on upper limb (humerus and ulna) bilateral asymmetry for torsional robusticity (via cross-sectional geometry) on four adult males (AC 2, 3, 4, 12) and one adolescent (13 y.o., AC 16) from Arene Candide (northwestern Italy). Results indicate that all adult individuals show high levels of mid-distal humeral bilateral asymmetry (40% to 110%). Ulnar asymmetry was less pronounced (50% in two individuals, 5% in the remaining two). Despite the expectations of an early onset of throwing behavior, the adolescent individual displayed low humeral (12%) and ulnar (16.5%) asymmetry. Conversely, an adult with congenital x-linked ypophosphatemic rickets displayed high humeral asymmetry (40%). The genetic disorder affecting this individual resulted in low stature, diffused enthesopathies, and bowing deformities, which likely affected his ability to perform high-mobility tasks. Yet, results are suggestive of highly-asymmetrical upper limb torsional loadings, which may indicate participation in throwing behavior. The study of functional adaptations of physically-impaired prehistoric individuals may contribute to the understanding of how they integrated into the subsistence practices of their group

A 6500-year-old Middle Neolithic child from Pollera Cave (Liguria, Italy) with probable multifocal osteoarticular tuberculosis

Clear skeletal evidence of prehistoric tuberculosis (TB) is rare, especially in children. We describe and differentially diagnose the pathological changes displayed by a five-year-old child, Pollera 21 (PO21) dated to the Middle Neolithic of Liguria (Italy), or 5740 ± 30 BP (Beta-409341; 6635–6453 cal BP, 2σ, OxCal 4.2). PO21 shows a number of osteoarticular lesions, mainly of a lytic nature with very little bone proliferation: the vertebral column, the shoulder and pelvic girdles, and the ribcage are involved. Given the nature and pattern of the lesions, we propose a diagnosis of multifocal (or multiple) bone TB. Attempts to detect TB aDNA through molecular analysis gave negative results, but this alone is not sufficient to prove that PO21 was not infected with TB. The lesions observed in PO21 share similarities with other published evidence, such as spinal and joint involvement, and disseminated cyst-like lesions. Conversely, PO21 does not show diffuse bone deposition, such as hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) or endocranial modifications such as serpens endocrania symmetrica (SES). PO21 adds to our knowledge of patterns of TB manifestation in archaeological skeletal remains, which is especially important considering the variability in types and patterns of osteoarticular lesions seen today in people with TB

Complex mortuary dynamics in the Upper Paleolithic of the decorated Grotte de Cussac, France

The Mid-Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) karstic Grotte de Cussac (France) contains two areas of human remains in the context of abundant (and spectacular) parietal engravings. The first area (loci 1 and 2) includes the skeleton of a young adult male in a bear nest, rearranged by postdecomposition inundation, and the variably fragmentary remains of at least two individuals distributed across two bear nests, sorted anatomically and with most of the elements constrained to one side of one nest. The second area (locus 3) retains remains of two adults and an adolescent, in upper hollows and variably distributed down the slope, largely segregated into upper versus lower body groups. The only decoration associated with the human remains is red pigment on some of the bones or underlying sediment. The human remains indicate variable nonnatural deposition and manipulation of human bodies, body portions, and skeletal elements of at least six individuals. Moreover, Cussac is unusual in the association of these remains with exceptional parietal art. The complex Cussac mortuary pattern joins growing evidence from other Gravettian sites of variable treatment of individuals after death, within and across sites, in terms of formal deposition of the body versus postmortem manipulation versus surface abandonment. It provides a window onto the social diversity and the complex interactions of the living and the dead among these successful Late Pleistocene foragers

The re-discovery of Arma dell'Aquila (Finale Ligure, Italy): New insights on Neolithic funerary behavior from the sixth millennium BCE in the north-western Mediterranean

Evidence of Neolithic occupation at Arma dell'Aquila (Finale Ligure, Italy) had been unearthed in the 1930s, with the discovery of nine burials and a number of scattered human remains. The material, however, had never been systematically studied and characterized chronologically until recently. We performed a complete re-assessment of funerary behavior at the site, and studied for the first time the scattered human remains, cross-referencing the anthropological data with the spatial and stratigraphic information contained in the original excavation diaries, and with new direct radiocarbon dates on human bone. Results reveal the funerary use of the site throughout the sixth millennium BCE, when various cultural horizons belonging to the Impresso-Cardial cultural complex have succeeded one another, and during the fifth millennium BCE, when the Square Mouthed Culture was attested in Liguria. Five burials spanning the second half of the sixth millennium BCE were aligned head-against-head and feet-against-feet, crouched on their left side, and may be part of an organized funerary space used over a relatively long period of time. Among the nine individuals recognized from the scattered human remains, three date to c. 5750-5650 BCE, and represent the oldest human remains from a Neolithic context in the north-western Mediterranean. Arma dell'Aquila now constitutes an important source of information on the funerary behavior and biological makeup of Neolithic people of the sixth millennium BCE, a period for which little information was previously present in the region

Human remains from Arma di Nasino (Liguria) provide novel insights into the paleoecology of early Holocene foragers in northwestern Italy

We report the discovery and analysis of new Mesolithic human remains—dated to ca. 10,200–9000 cal. BP—from Arma di Nasino in Liguria, northwestern Italy, an area rich in Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic attestations, but for which little information on Early Holocene occupation was available. The multi-proxy isotopic profile of the two individuals reveals that—despite the proximity of the site to the Mediterranean seashore and the use of shellfish as decorative elements in burials—the ecology of these foragers was based on the exploitation of high-altitude resources, presumably in the nearby western Alps. This constitutes the first direct evidence in northwestern Italy of a significant ecological shift towards higher altitudes following deglaciation, especially when compared to isotopic data of the Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from the nearby site of Arene Candide Cave, who exploited terrestrial resources nearer to the coast and at lower altitudes. While the biochemistry of Nasino’s skeletal assemblage revealed new details on Early Holocene lifeways in the area, the osteobiography of one individual offers glimpses into the life experience of a specific female forager, depicting a scenario of early skeletal trauma, developmental disturbances, long-term impairments, and resilience amongst the last European hunter-gatherers.</p

Human remains from Arma di Nasino (Liguria) provide novel insights into the paleoecology of early Holocene foragers in northwestern Italy

We report the discovery and analysis of new Mesolithic human remains—dated to ca. 10,200–9000 cal. BP—from Arma di Nasino in Liguria, northwestern Italy, an area rich in Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic attestations, but for which little information on Early Holocene occupation was available. The multi-proxy isotopic profile of the two individuals reveals that—despite the proximity of the site to the Mediterranean seashore and the use of shellfish as decorative elements in burials—the ecology of these foragers was based on the exploitation of high-altitude resources, presumably in the nearby western Alps. This constitutes the first direct evidence in northwestern Italy of a significant ecological shift towards higher altitudes following deglaciation, especially when compared to isotopic data of the Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from the nearby site of Arene Candide Cave, who exploited terrestrial resources nearer to the coast and at lower altitudes. While the biochemistry of Nasino’s skeletal assemblage revealed new details on Early Holocene lifeways in the area, the osteobiography of one individual offers glimpses into the life experience of a specific female forager, depicting a scenario of early skeletal trauma, developmental disturbances, long-term impairments, and resilience amongst the last European hunter-gatherers.</p

Archaeothanathology and palaeopathology of the burials and “scattered human remains” from Arma dell’Aquila (Finale Ligure, Savona)

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