ZooMS analysis of two Châtelperronian faunal assemblages

Human Origin

The Atapuerca sites and the Ibeas hominids

The Atapuerca railway Trench and Ibeas sites near Burgos, Spain, are cave fillings that include a series of deposits ranging from below the Matuyama/Bruhnes reversal up to the end of Middle Pleistocene. The lowest fossil-bearing bed in the Trench contains an assemblage of large and small Mammals including Mimomys savini, Pitymys gregaloides, Pliomys episcopalis, Crocuta crocuta, Dama sp. and Megacerini; the uppermost assemblage includes Canis lupus, Lynx spelaea, Panthera (Leo) fossilis, Felis sylvestris, Equus caballus steinheimensis, E.c. germanicus, Pitymys subtenaneus, Microtus arvalis agrestis, Pliomys lenki, and also Panthera toscana, Dicerorhinus bemitoechus, Bison schoetensacki, which are equally present in the lowest level. The biostratigraphic correlation and dates of the sites are briefly discussed, as are the paleoclimatic interpretation of the Trench sequences. Stone artifacts are found in several layers; the earliest occurrences correspond to the upper beds containing Mimomys savini. A set of preserved human occupation floors has been excavated in the top fossil-bearing beds. The stone-tool assemblages of the upper levels are of upper-medial Acheulean to Charentian tradition. The rich bone breccia SH, in the Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo, Ibeas de Juarros, is a derived deposit, due to a mud flow that dispersed and carried the skeletons of many carnivores and humans. The taxa represented are: Vrsus deningeri (largely dominant), Panthera (Leo) fossilis, Vulpes vulpes, Homo sapiens var. Several traits of both mandibular and cranial remains are summarized. Preliminary attempts at dating suggest that the Ibeas fossil man is older than the Last Interglacial, or oxygen-isotope stage 5

The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age

Human Origin

A New Chronology for Rhafas, Northeast Morocco, Spanning the North African Middle Stone Age through to the Neolithic

Human Origin

Dental development of the Taï Forest chimpanzees revisited

Developmental studies consistently suggest that teeth are more buffered from the environment than other skeletal elements. The surprising finding of late tooth eruption in wild chimpanzees (Zihlman et al., 2004) warrants reassessment in a broader study of crown and root formation. Here we re-examine the skeletal collection of Taï Forest juvenile chimpanzees using radiography and physical examination. Several new individuals are included, along with genetic and histological assessments of questionable identities. Only half of the Taï juveniles employed by Zihlman et al. (2004) have age of death known with accuracy sufficient for precise comparisons with captive chimpanzees. One key individual in the former study, misidentified during field recovery as Xindra (age 8.3), is re-identified as Goshu (age 6.4). For crown formation we find that onset and duration greatly overlap captive chimpanzees, whereas root development may be more susceptible to acceleration in captive individuals. Kuykendall's (1996) equation relating captive tooth formation stage to age gives reasonable estimates of young wild subjects' true ages. Direct comparisons of tooth eruption ages are limited. A key 3.76 year-old individual likely possessed an emerging mandibular M1 at death (previously estimated from the maxillary molar as occurring at 4.1 years). Wild individuals appear to fall near the middle or latter half of captive eruption ranges. While minor developmental differences are apparent in some comparisons, our reanalysis does not show an “unambiguous pattern” of slower tooth formation in this wild environment. These data do not undermine recent developmental studies of the comparative life histories of fossil hominins.Human Evolutionary Biolog

Stratégies de subsistance et analyse culturelle de populations néolithiques de Ligurie: Approche par l’étude isotopique (δ13C et δ15N) des restes osseux

For the last ten millennia humans have learned how to manage and produce their own food resources. In Liguria, the exploitation of the marine and coastal environment as well as the acquisition and use of agriculture and pastoralism at the time of Neolithisation (i.e. 6th millennia BC) are evidenced by both archaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies. However, it is difficult, using these methods, to determine the relative contributions to human diets made by foods from these difference sources, especially throughout the Neolithic period. The presence of human burials and animal remains from various sites from this region allows the use of isotopic methods, and in particular the study of the δ13C and δ15N values of bone collagen, which provides information on the sources of dietary protein. This method is able to determine the relative importance of marine foods in the diets of the early Neolithic agriculturalists and pastoralists, as well as indicate dietary differences between contemporary populations. Two coastal Neolithic sites were the subject of our study: Pendimoun (France) and Arene Candide (Italy). The results show, contrary to expectations, the absence of regular consumption of marine resources and the food differences within the populations

Earliest evidence of proto-dental treatment in the late Upper Paleolithic.

Prehistoric dental treatments have been known from the Neolithic 9,000-7,500 years before present (BP) [1], when the adoption of early farming culture caused an increase of carious lesions [2]. Only a few early cases have been documented [3], some were characterized by in vivo perforation of the crown surface made by a drilling tool [1]. Here we document the earliest evidence of proto-dental therapeutic intervention on a Late Upper Paleolithic modern human lower right third molar (RM3) from a burial in Northern Italy [4]. The RM3 belongs to a young male individual (ca. 25 years old) unearthed in 1988 from the Epigravettian deposit of Riparo Villabruna (Sovramonte – Belluno, Italy), and dated around 14,160-13,820 BP. This tooth presents a large occlusal cavity, with a polished internal surface and extensive enamel chipping traces on the steep mesial wall. Within the cavity four caries are present. The cavity is sub-squared on the lingual and mesial sides but rounded on the buccal and distal sides. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) we show the presence of striations within the cavity, which fade out towards the occlusal surface probably as a consequence of tooth wear. The striations have a ”V” shaped transverse section and microstriations at the bottom, sharply defined, with a high apex, steep sides, narrow cross-sections and well-defined parallel ancillary ridging, as typically displayed by cutmarks on teeth [5]. Based on in vitro experimental replication and a complete functional reconstruction of the Villabruna dental arches, we confirm that the identified striations and the associated extensive enamel chipping on the mesial wall of the cavity were produced ante-mortem by pointed flint tools during scratching and chiseling activities. The Villabruna specimen is therefore the oldest known evidence of dental caries intervention, suggesting rudimentary knowledge of disease treatment well before the Neolithic. This study also suggests that primitive forms of carious treatment in human evolution entail an adaptation of the well-known toothpickings for levering and scratching rather than drilling practices

Late neandertals in central italy. High resolution chronicles from Grotta dei Santi (Monte Argentario - Tuscany).

Most of the Middle Palaeolithic evidence of Central Italy still lacks a reliable chrono-cultural framework mainly due to research history. In this context Grotta dei Santi, a wide cave located on Monte Argentario, on the southern coast of Tuscany, is particularly relevant as it contains a very well preserved sequence including several Mousterian layers. Research carried out at this site in the last years (2007e2017) allowed for a preliminary estimation of its chronology based on a set of radiometric determinations which place the investigated sequence in the time interval between 50 and 40 ka BP. Alongside the chronological issue, this paper mainly focuses on the geoarchaeological and zooarchaeological (micro and macro fauna) studies carried out on the materials retrieved during the 2007e2014 excavation fieldworks. The results of these studies are consistent with those from the radiometric chronology. A state of art concerning the MIS3 Italian sites is also provided in order to highlight the key role Grotta dei Santi may play in the assessment of late Neandertals’ behaviour within the framework of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition of Central Ital