Three-Dimensional Topographic Survey of the Human Remains in Lamalunga Cave (Altamura, Bari, Southern Italy)

The aim of the Research Unit, in the framework of the »Programma Nazionale di Ricerca – MURST (Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica) 1998–2000«, was to study human fossil remains and sites of paleoanthropological interest; the observations regard sites and remains found principally in Apulia, amongst which, the Lamalunga Cave – Altamura. The results of the survey phases of the cave and the three-dimensional topographic distribution of the human remains are reported. Three-dimensional spatial coordinates describing the collocation of the skeleton were sampled. These points were used as reference points for the spatial positioning of numerical models reproducing elements of an adult male skeleton. The survey allows the interactive observation of the remains and their relationship with the site, so that the remains can be observed from points of view actually impossible. On the basis of such views, it was possible to better deduce the relationship between the skeletal elements, confirming the hypothesis that the skeletonization phenomenon occurred in the actual site where the remains are now found

Shape Analysis of the Mid-Sagittal Craniogram in Some European Middle and Upper-Paleolithic Adult and Subadult Crania

In order to evaluate the lateral shape contour of the Neanderthal cranium, the midsagittal profiles (glabella-opisthocranion) in adult and subadult Neanderthal remains were examined and compared with those of other specimens of fossil Homo. Size normalized boundaries were digitally acquired as ordered series of coordinates; the series of the distances from the glabella opisthocranion axis, was decomposed in Fourier polynomials; the extracted amplitudes and phase angles were used as variables to carry out multivariate discriminant analysis (PCA). The first and the second components accounted for 70% of the total variance. Neanderthal and European Upper Paleolithic subadults differ from adults of their respective groups: the subadult Homo sapiens are more similar to the adult, as the element characterizing the group is constituted by a steep craniogram with a noticeable equilibrium between the anterior and posterior district. In Neanderthal subadults, the adult model seems partially delineated and the mature cranial architecture is reached trough a phase of local allometric differentiation

METRIC CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF THE DISTINCTIVE MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE GREATER SCIATIC NOTCH ON A RECENT ITALIAN SAMPLE OF KNOWN SEX

Abstract Vladimir Novotný’s approach to identifying skeletal sex entails a deep understanding of anatomy in relation to the evolutionary implications and adaptive constraints that determine the differentiation of the pelvic region in humans. Considering the sacroiliac and ischiopubic traits as regions that are evolutionarily and functionally distinct leads to a better understanding of the significance of the pelvis structures in relation to sexual dimorphism. Although optimal diagnosis implies the whole combination of the characters in the two districts, some features of the pelvis, such as those in the ischiopubic district, are more informative. Among the structures of the sacroiliac district, the greater sciatic notch has been widely analyzed, but it is difficult to assess since its size and morphology may vary greatly due to its dependence on two anatomical subsystems. To facilitate the analysis, Vladimir Novotný, in his “ideal shape analysis of form” formalizes the evaluation of the morphology of the greater sciatic notch by identifying three essential features that define its general architecture: length and proportion of the branches, symmetry of the branches, and recurvate course of the superior ramus of the notch. These three features are visually evaluated and then scored in order to reduce the level of subjectivity of the diagnosis. These features can be quantified through conventional and geometric morphometric procedures. It was therefore verified whether morphometric characterization can detect the information expressed through these three features of the morphology of the notch and whether it may be used for diagnostic purposes. To this end, metrical and morphological characterization of the great sciatic notch was carried out for a series of recent coxal bones from a collection housed at the Istituto di Medicina Legale at Bari University (Italy). A total of 171 isolated coxal bones all belonging to 92 identified adult skeletons (45 males and 47 females) were considered for the study. The projective image of the greater sciatic notch contours in the trait was analyzed, from the base of the ischial spine to the top of the piriform tubercle, both as a whole and by separating the anterior and posterior branches. The sample was initially characterized metrically on the basis of linear and angular measurements, but also by evaluating the development of the branches and the areas underlying them. The data obtained were then used to perform multivariate exploratory and discriminant analysis. By using variables extracted from the notch as a whole and separately from the two branches, certain discriminant functions able to correctly sex between 90% and 93% of cases were defined. Overall differences in shape were also visualized by changes between configuration landmarks. The variables that were most effective in the analysis were re-considered and discussed

Ostuni, Torre dell'Alto, Notes; Altamura (in coll. con V. Pesce Delfino); Ca' Verde, Quinzano, San Bernardino (in coll. con G. Alciati)

http://web.uniba.it/progettiricerca/catalogorestifossili

Evoluzione dell’uomo, fossili, repliche digitali e stampa 3D - Un’esperienza di laboratorio

Per “evoluzione” umana si intendono i processi naturali attraverso cui, da Primati estinti, hanno avuto origine le forme umane attuali e del passato. La nostra specie, una forma di Primate bipede a stazione eretta capace di produrre cultura, è comparsa probabilmente in Africa circa 300.000 anni fa evolvendosi da forme più antiche. Numerose prove fossili indicano che, per milioni di anni è stata preceduta da altri Ominidi e da altre forme dello stesso genere Homo e che, alcune di esse, per un certo periodo, hanno vissuto contemporaneamente alla nostra specie. Attualmente Homo sapiens è l’unica specie vivente di un gruppo tassonomico che gli zoologi chiamano “Hominini”. La comune ascendenza tra l’uomo, gli Ominini e gli altri Primati viventi e estinti è largamente accettata da antropologi e biologi sulla base di evidenze fossili e molecolari. Tuttavia, le relazioni evolutive tra di essi sono state oggetto di dibattito sin da quando il grande naturalista inglese Charles Darwin pubblicò le sue opere: On the Origin of Species (1859) e The Descent of Man (1871). Tali relazioni evolutive, piuttosto che da un modello lineare di discendenza in cui le varie specie si susseguono temporalmente separate da “anelli mancanti”, sono meglio descritte da modelli a cespuglio in cui le forme ancestrali costituiscono nodi da cui divergono linee che nel tempo, separandosi, tendono a diversificare

Metric characterization of the human coxal bone on a recent Italian sample and multivariate discriminant analysis to determine sex.

The ability of human pelvic bones to sexually differentiate has been of great interest in forensic anthropology for quite some time as it allows for the determination of skeletal sex by combining metric and morphological data. However, the criteria for determining the sex of a skeleton must be calibrated according to the variability of the population to which it belongs. The aim of this work is the metric characterization of the human coxal bone on a recent sample (of known sex) from the region of Apulia, in southern Italy, in order to establish its efficacy in sex determination by way of multivariate discriminant analysis. Seventeen standard anthropological measurements used in sex determination were taken from 168 coxal bones (78 males and 90 females) all belonging to 86 adult skeletons (40 males and 46 females). The bones used were taken from subjects who had died in the 1960s and 1970s in Apulia. The results obtained define the variability in size and proportion of the sample analyzed with respect to the variations of other skeletal populations. Nine discriminant functions, utilizing between 4 and 11 variables, have been shown to be useful in determining the sex of coxal bones, whether they be complete, partial, or fragmented. All of the functions selected resulted in an attribution error equal to zero, and differ only in the number of variables utilized and by the degree of separation between the groups. The results of this study confirm the validity and utility of diagnostic techniques based on discriminant functions as reported in the literature for other population groups. The combination of metric characteristics from various regions of the coxal bone is, therefore, a valid aid in the correct attribution of skeletal sex even when the combination of variables is numerically limited, but sufficient in sex determination from partial coxal bones