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Perimortem cranial injury in the Bronze Age. A blunt object to the right parietal caused trauma in a preadolescent individual from Mokarta (Salemi-Sicily)
No full textSicilian protohistory was characterized by a progressive flow of indigenous populations towards the hills of the western Sicilian hinterland. Especially during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the island's hinterland was marked by isolated settlements due to Siculi, Ausoni, Morgeti, and Elimi invasions and Phoenician and Greek colonization. In this scenario, Mokarta is an example of territorial autonomy and ethnic isolation (Sicanian) within an area of Elimi colonization. Its demise in the 11th century B.C.E, presumably at the hands of the Elimi, was rapid and violent as the settlement was suddenly abandoned following its destruction by fire. Symbolic of this event is an individual found at the entrance of a burned and collapsed hut who appears to have died from a cranial injury. This paper focuses on the osteological analysis of this skeleton, highlighting the perimortem injury, related to his death, and places the results within a forensic archeological context. The morphological pattern of the lesion is the result of a high-energy impact by a circular blunt object. The fracture, involving both the meningeal vessels and the brain, could have led to a fatal neurological trauma. The analysis of the cranial fracture and an anatomical evaluation of the affected area led us to conclude that the perimortem injury, inflicted on the right parietal, probably was the cause of death. The case proposed highlights how an integrated approach based on bioarcheology and forensic anthropology helps in interpreting an archeological scenario and formulating hypotheses about the circumstances of an individual's death
Chromosome Painting in Cercopithecus petaurista (Schreber, 1774) Compared to Other Monkeys of the Cercopithecini Tribe (Catarrhini, Primates)
Full text linkThe Cercopithecini tribe includes terrestrial and arboreal clades whose relationships are
controversial, with a high level of chromosome rearrangements. In order to provide new insights
on the tribe’s phylogeny, chromosome painting, using the complete set of human syntenic probes,
was performed in Cercopithecus petaurista, a representative species of the Cercopithecini tribe. The
results show C. petaurista with a highly rearranged karyotype characterized by the fission of human
chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, and 12. These results compared with the literature data permit us to
confirm the monophyly of the Cercopithecini tribe (fissions of chromosomes 5 and 6), as previously
proposed by chromosomal and molecular data. Furthermore, we support the monophyly of the
strictly arboreal Cercopithecus clade, previously proposed by the molecular approach, identifying
chromosomal synapomorphies (fissions of chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 11, 12). We also add additional
markers that can be useful for deciphering arboreal Cercopithecini phylogeny. For example, the
fission of chromosome 8 is synapomorphy linking C. petaurista, C. erythrogaster, and C. nictitans among
the arboreal species. Finally, a telomeric sequence probe was mapped on C. petaurista, showing only
classic telomeric signals and giving no support to a previous hypothesis regarding a link between
interspersed telomeric sequences in high rearranged genome
The Paleolithic Site of San Teodoro
No full textDescription of the Second Stop in The Excursion at the SanTeodoro Cav
Archivio per l’Antropologia e la Etnologia
No full textThis paper describes the study of human fibrocartilaginous entheses in a multiple
indigenous sicanian Sicilian burial dated between VI and V century BC. The tomb, a cave burial, was
altered by grave robbers. From the collected osteologic material it was possible to perform the sorting
method and to extrapolate the NMI. The research was focused on the scoring and on the analysis
of the Entheseal Changes (EC) of the long bones of upper limb and calcaneus; to extrapolate likely
patterns of muscle activity according to the approach of the MSM applied in literature we have utilized
the Coimbra Method. This method is a new record method who intends to replace Hawkey and Merbs
already-established method, and it applies only to this kind of entheses. The data interpretation led
to the conclusion of a typical rural-agropastoral occupational activity, and to confirm the hystoricalarchaeological
data.
From sepulchre to butchery-cooking: Facies analysis, taphonomy and stratigraphy of the Upper Palaeolithic post burial layer from the San Teodoro Cave (NE Sicily) reveal change in the use of the site
No full textof Sicily from the Italian continent. Furthermore the site is a paradigmatic horizon in the Pleistocene faunal
record, demonstrating a progressive transition from mega faunas to smaller-sized, Boreal, faunas. The site has
been repeatedly studied and excavated, with different aims and approaches, leading to an interpretation of
Epigravettian burial site and daily attendance. Here we propose a reappraisal of the study of the stratigraphy of
the site, and in particular of the bone-rich layer (PAL) accumulated over the red ochre layer that apparently
sealed all the different burials, with the exception of one. The study has been conducted starting from a new,
consistent collection of materials from the PAL layer previously identified by Bonfiglio and co-authors, and
moved from the morphological and microscopical identification of faunal remains and their taphonomy, to the
accurate geological, petrographical and pedological definition of the sediments by stereomicroscope (SM), polarized
light microscope (PLM) and X-Ray diffractometry (XRD) analyses.
We propose the first 14C AMS dating of the layer PAL, performed on a Bos primigenius sample that has been
dated to 12624 ± 59 BC, 15224–14708 cal yr BP. This date does not differ much from the dates obtained with
analogous methodology on buried human remains. Despite the difficulty of a reconstruction of biological times
and human behaviours that are not chronologically traceable, we can nonetheless state that the site had at least
two main moments of attendance in the late Upper Palaeolithic: one linked to burials, excavated in a cave still
sporadically visited by humans, and a second period of intense attendance, industrial production of quartz
arenite lithics and rare flint, intensive slaughter of late-glacial Boreal fauna and presence of many combustion
residues
Una cerva nella grotta del Tuono a Marettimo. Recupero, analisi e significato scientifico
No full textThe Egadi archipelago includes three islands: Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo. The island of Favignana is the closest to Sicily, about 7 km from the mainland coast and about 13 km from Trapani. Levanzo and Marettimo are roughly 13 and 36 km from Trapani, respectively. During the last glacial, Favignana and Levanzo
were reachable by land since they were joined to the mainland as a result of glacial marine regression. On the other hand, Marettimo was never connected to Sicily, even during the last glacial maximum, due to a sea channel about 1.8 km wide and very deep. According to the most recent and reliable reconstructions, the island of
Favignana was separated from Sicily around 7.35 thousand years ago (calibrated dating - 7.35 ka cal BP) and Levanzo around 9.2 thousand years ago (calibrated dating - 9.2 ka cal BP). The finding at the Cave of Thunder, on Marettimo Island, of Patella (spp.) and the remains of Cervus elaphus opens an intriguing debate regarding
the first human peopling on the island and its navigational activities towards Marettimo from a period between 8.9 and 8.6 ka cal BP. Due to the high scientifi c value of the fi ndings and to valorize the impressive sea cave and the faunal remains discovered, a joint sampling and study intervention was planned involving several specialists
Prospezione speleoarcheologica della falesia «Piana di Sopra» a San Vito lo Capo (TP)
Full text linkThe northern coast of Trapani is characteristed
by a series of phenomena linked to Quaternary
glaciations. These phenomena have modeled
esplanades, terraces, cliffs, leaf grooves and caves
of great natural beuaty. The extreme strip of the
Peninsula of S. Vito lo Capo, the Piana di Sopra, is
made up of parareciphal limestones with Orbitoline
and Rudist from the Cretaceous. This area has a strong
density of cavities of marine origin estimated at four
cavities per kilometer. These cavities are an important
anthropological testimonly to a continual human
presence from deep prehistory onwards. A fundamental
prerequisite for a study of the prehistory of an area
is its geomorphologic description which includes the
mapping of sites of paleontological and anthropological
interest. Here we present the unpublished research
of this territory carried out in 1987-88 by Giovanni
Mannino and his collaborators. This research, although
it makes a signficant contribution to our knowledge of
the prehistory of this region, was unfortunately never
published. Now, a few months after Giovanni's death
we are offer, with its publication here, a sign of our fond
memory and our esteem
NEW ANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA FROM THE ARCHAIC NECROPOLIS AT MOTYA (2013 EXCAVATION SEASON)
No full textIn this paper we present the most recent anthropological study on bones of the archaic tombs of Motya (Sicily, Italy), where a large necropolis has been brought to light since the first excavations of Joseph Whitaker. The newly acquired data suggest that this portion of the Motya archaic cemetery was not exclusively devoted to the incineration of particular classes of age but the urns and cists could contain multiple burials of very different ages.
Analisi paleogenetica dei cacciatori-raccoglitori della Sicilia: nuovi dati sul primo popolamento dell’isola
No full textThe first undisputed colonization of the island has been linked to Late or Final Epigravettian groups after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), as evidenced by the fossil record. Two significant sites to investigate this issue are the Grotta di San Teodoro (Acquedolci, Messina) and the Grotta d’Oriente (Favignana island). The Grotta di San Teodoro has yielded the oldest and largest human skeletal sample yet found in Sicily. Inside the cave, during field excavations carried out in the 1937-1947 years, seven human adults have been discovered (ST1-ST7). In the Grotta d’Oriente four prehistoric burials assigned to Late Upper Paleolithic (Oriente A and C) and Mesolithic (Oriente B and X) were unearthed during two campaign of ex-cavations (1972 and 2005). Thanks to the recent development of new methods for the analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) coupled with Next Generation Sequencing technologies (NGS), it is nowadays possible to go deep inside the migration movements of human past populations. In order to better understand the peopling dynamics of Sicily during the Late Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic, we analyzed and compared three complete mitochondrial genome sequences of ST2, Oriente C and Oriente B specimens. ST2 is an almost complete cranium attributed to a male, housed at the “G.G. Gemmellaro” Geo-logical Museum of the University of Palermo. The ST2 individual was buried near the ST1 skeleton, which was radiocarbon dated to 15,232-14,126 cal. BP. Oriente C individual was found during excavations of 2005. Two radiocarbon dates on char-coals are consistent with typical Late Epigravettian stone assemblages and refer Oriente C, a female only represented by the upper half of the skeleton, to a period spanning about 14,200-13,800 cal. BP. The Mesolithic Oriente B was unearthed in 1972. This individual, an almost complete skeleton attributed to an adult female, has been directly dated to 10,683-10,544 cal. BP. Paleogenetic analysis reveals a significant homogeneity in Sicilian Paleo-Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, and our data suggest a strong genetic relationship with Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers from Southern Italy, supporting the hypothesis that the first humans to arrive in Sicily could have originated from Epigravettian groups that migrated from the Italian pen-insula soon after the LGM
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