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Knüsel CJ, Thibeault A, Villotte S. A cranial injury from the earliest Gravettian at the Cro-Magnon rock shelter (Vézère Valley, Dordogne, southwest France). J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103329. [PMID: 36870149 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Discovered over 150 years ago, the early Upper Paleolithic human remains from the Cro-Magnon rock shelter have an iconic status, but because of skeletal commingling after discovery, their bio-profiles remain incomplete and contentious. The defect on the frontal bone of the cranium known as Cro-Magnon 2 has been interpreted as both an antemortem injury and a postmortem (i.e., taphonomic) artifact previously. This contribution considers the cranium in order to clarify the status of the defect on the frontal bone and to situate these remains among others of Pleistocene date with similar types of lesions. The diagnostic criteria used to assess the cranium are drawn from recent publications of actualistic experimental studies of cranial trauma and from those associated with cranial trauma due to violence in forensic anthropological and bioarchaeological contexts. The appearance of the defect and comparison with more recent documented cases from the preantibiotic era suggest that the defect is a result of antemortem trauma with survival for a short period. The location of the lesion on the cranium provides growing evidence for interpersonal aggression in these early modern human groups, and the place of burial also provides insight into related mortuary behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Adrien Thibeault
- UMR 5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, 33600 Pessac, France
| | - Sébastien Villotte
- UMR7206 Éco-Anthropologie, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Cité, 75116 Paris, France; Operational Directory Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium; Unité de Recherches Art, Archéologie Patrimoine, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
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Nicolosi T, Mariotti V, Talamo S, Miari M, Minarini L, Nenzioni G, Lenzi F, Pietrobelli A, Sorrentino R, Benazzi S, Belcastro MG. On the traces of lost identities: chronological, anthropological and taphonomic analyses of the Late Neolithic/Early Eneolithic fragmented and commingled human remains from the Farneto rock shelter (Bologna, northern Italy). ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2023; 15:36. [PMID: 36874257 PMCID: PMC9974402 DOI: 10.1007/s12520-023-01727-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED The present study examines the prehistoric human skeletal remains retrieved starting from the 1920s in the deposit of the Farneto rock shelter, situated in the area of the 'Parco dei Gessi Bolognesi e Calanchi dell'Abbadessa' (San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, northern Italy). An exact dating and a reliable interpretation of the assemblage had not been reached so far because of the lack of contextual data useful for dating purposes, the inaccurate recovery procedures of the remains and their state of preservation. In fact, the skeletal remains from the Farneto rock shelter are highly fragmented and commingled, whereas reliable information about their original position and their recovery procedures are not available. Despite these difficulties, radiocarbon analyses allowed the precise dating of the remains to a final phase of the Neolithic and an early phase of the Eneolithic period in Emilia Romagna (northern Italy). The study of the assemblage enabled to clarify the use of the context for funerary purposes. Moreover, the anthropological and taphonomic analyses of the skeletal remains shed light on the biological profile of the individuals and on some events that occurred after their death. In particular, the analysis of perimortem lesions highlighted the existence of intentional interventions related to corpse treatment, referable to dismembering/disarticulation and scarnification, i.e. cleaning of bones from soft tissues. Finally, the comparison with other Italian and European Neo/Eneolithic funerary contexts enabled a better understanding of these complex ritual practices. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-023-01727-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Nicolosi
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Cultural Heritage, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Valentina Mariotti
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Chemistry ‘Giacomo Ciamician’, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Monica Miari
- Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la città metropolitana di Bologna e le province di Modena, Reggio Emilia e Ferrara, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Gabriele Nenzioni
- Museo della Preistoria ‘Luigi Donini’, San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, Italy
| | - Fiamma Lenzi
- Museo della Preistoria ‘Luigi Donini’, San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, Italy
| | - Annalisa Pietrobelli
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Rita Sorrentino
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Cultural Heritage, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Maria Giovanna Belcastro
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Knüsel CJ. The unwritten history of medical treatment: Evidence for ritual-healers and their activities in the pre-literate past. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY 2021; 34:206-216. [PMID: 34332208 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To reveal the presence and activities of healers from funerary contexts. MATERIALS Ethnohistoric and ethnographic textual descriptions and the bioarchaeological record. METHODS A synthesis of human remains, grave contexts, and funerary objects. CONCLUSIONS The capacity to act as a "healer" forms part of the social identity of a diverse range of uniquely specialized individuals cross-culturally who also perform a variety of other roles associated with transcendent ideologies, beliefs, and religion. They are ambivalent, capable of doing both good and ill. They defend the health and well-being of the individual and the community but, using the same knowledge, are also implicated in attacks on individuals and groups within and outside their communities. This ambivalence, combined with a lack of defined institutional organization and the great diversity of medico-religious healers in the recent ethnographic past and historically, makes the identification of such individuals in the archaeological record controversial, but they are present. SIGNIFICANCE Not only are healers identifiable in the archaeological record, but their practices disproportionately influence it, acting as a powerful complement to historical sources for the development of medicine and medical knowledge. LIMITATIONS Published literature is of variable detail, which means that healing practices and healers are under-appreciated and under-represented in reconstructions of past societies. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH Application of archaeothanatological approaches to recording and synthesis of the funerary context with the remains of the deceased can be used to identify objects and practices used in healing that have been more recently superseded by scientific approaches to health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Knüsel
- De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, UMR 5199 PACEA, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, Pessac Cedex, 33615, France.
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Belcastro MG, Nicolosi T, Sorrentino R, Mariotti V, Pietrobelli A, Bettuzzi M, Morigi MP, Benazzi S, Talamo S, Miari M, Preti N, Castagna L, Pisani L, Grandi L, Baraldi P, Zannini P, Scarponi D, De Waele J. Unveiling an odd fate after death: The isolated Eneolithic cranium discovered in the Marcel Loubens Cave (Bologna, Northern Italy). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247306. [PMID: 33657148 PMCID: PMC7928464 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
An isolated human cranium, dated to the early Eneolithic period, was discovered in 2015 at the top of a vertical shaft in the natural Marcel Loubens gypsum Cave (Bologna area, northern Italy). No other anthropological or archaeological remains were found inside the cave. In other caves of the same area anthropic and funerary use are attested from prehistory to more recent periods. We focused on investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of this individual, since the cranium shows signs of some lesions that appear to be the results of a perimortem manipulation probably carried out to remove soft tissues. Anthropological analyses revealed that the cranium belonged to a young woman. We analysed the taphonomic features and geological context to understand how and why the cranium ended up (accidentally or intentionally) in the cave. The analyses of both the sediments accumulated inside the cranium and the incrustations and pigmentation covering its outer surface suggested that it fell into the cave, drawn by a flow of water and mud, likely from the edges of a doline. The accidental nature of the event is also seemingly confirmed by some post-mortem lesions on the cranium. The comparison with other Eneolithic archaeological sites in northern Italy made it possible to interpret the find as likely being from a funerary or ritual context, in which corpse dismemberment (in particular the displacement of crania) was practiced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Giovanna Belcastro
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Teresa Nicolosi
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Rita Sorrentino
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department for the Cultural Heritage, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Valentina Mariotti
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Annalisa Pietrobelli
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Matteo Bettuzzi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Maria Pia Morigi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department for the Cultural Heritage, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Monica Miari
- Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the provinces of Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara, Bologna, Italy
| | - Nevio Preti
- Gruppo Speleologico Bolognese (GBS)—Unione Speleologica Bolognese (USB), Bologna, Italy
| | - Lucia Castagna
- Gruppo Speleologico Bolognese (GBS)—Unione Speleologica Bolognese (USB), Bologna, Italy
| | - Luca Pisani
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Gruppo Speleologico Bolognese (GBS)—Unione Speleologica Bolognese (USB), Bologna, Italy
| | - Luca Grandi
- Gruppo Speleologico Bolognese (GBS)—Unione Speleologica Bolognese (USB), Bologna, Italy
| | - Pietro Baraldi
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of the Studies of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Paolo Zannini
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of the Studies of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Daniele Scarponi
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Jo De Waele
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Infant funerary behavior and kinship in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco. J Hum Evol 2019; 135:102637. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 07/02/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Tooth fractures in the Krapina Neandertals. J Hum Evol 2018; 123:96-108. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2017] [Revised: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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Kefi R, Hechmi M, Naouali C, Jmel H, Hsouna S, Bouzaid E, Abdelhak S, Beraud-Colomb E, Stevanovitch A. On the origin of Iberomaurusians: new data based on ancient mitochondrial DNA and phylogenetic analysis of Afalou and Taforalt populations. Mitochondrial DNA A DNA Mapp Seq Anal 2016; 29:147-157. [PMID: 28034339 DOI: 10.1080/24701394.2016.1258406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The Western North African population was characterized by the presence of Iberomaurusian civilization at the Epiplaeolithic period (around 20,000 years before present (YBP) to 10,000 YBP). The origin of this population is still not clear: they may come from Europe, Near East, sub-Saharan Africa or they could have evolved in situ in North Africa. With the aim to contribute to a better knowledge of the settlement of North Africa we analysed the mitochondrial DNA extracted from Iberomaurusian skeletons exhumed from the archaeological site of Afalou (AFA) (15,000-11,000 YBP) in Algeria and from the archaeological site of Taforalt (TAF) (23,000-10,800 YBP) in Morocco. Then, we carried out a phylogenetic analysis relating these Iberomaurusians to 61 current Mediterranean populations. The genetic structure of TAF and AFA specimens contains only North African and Eurasian maternal lineages. These finding demonstrate the presence of these haplotypes in North Africa from at least 20,000 YBP. The very low contribution of a Sub-Saharan African haplotype in the Iberomaurusian samples is confirmed. We also highlighted the existence of genetic flows between Southern and Northern coast of the Mediterranean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rym Kefi
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Meriem Hechmi
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Chokri Naouali
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Haifa Jmel
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Sana Hsouna
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | - Eric Bouzaid
- c Institut National de Police Scientifique Laboratoire de Marseille , Marseille , France
| | - Sonia Abdelhak
- a Laboratory of Biomedical Genomics and Oncogenetics , Institut Pasteur de Tunis , Tunis , Tunisia.,b University Tunis El Manar , Tunis , Tunisia
| | | | - Alain Stevanovitch
- c Institut National de Police Scientifique Laboratoire de Marseille , Marseille , France
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Abstract
The funerary practices of the Taforalt population (Morocco, about 15-12500 Cal BP), already investigated by the authors in previous studies, were reconstructed through anthropological analyses of human remains (excavated by J. Roche in the 1950s) and examination of the available field documentation. The results indicated that the burial area included primary and secondary depositions, sometimes within the same grave, of approximately 40 adolescents and adults, as well as several children. There is evidence of treatment of the cadavers (disarticulation and defleshing) and manipulation of dry bones. The funerary practices at Taforalt involved a sequence of actions revealing a ritual character. These reflect the tripartite structure of Van Gennep's rites of passage, implying that death was conceived as a passage into another social dimension.The aim of this study is to analyse thepost morteminterventions on these human remains (corpses and bones) and to offer interpretative hypotheses as to their possible meaning, drawing on the findings of ethnographic research. We suggest that the collective dimension of the group was valued more highly than the members of the group as individuals, and that dry bones were imbued with symbolic meaning. We also suggest that the cultural and social management (through rites) of natural events (death), associated with a strengthening of the bonds with earth (inhumation) and territory (cemetery), may be interpreted as heralding the emergence of a Neolithic pattern of thought.
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Milella M, Mariotti V, Belcastro MG, Knüsel CJ. Patterns of Irregular Burials in Western Europe (1st-5th Century A.D.). PLoS One 2015; 10:e0130616. [PMID: 26115408 PMCID: PMC4482629 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2015] [Accepted: 05/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Irregular burials (IB—burials showing features that contrast with the majority of others in their geographic and chronological context) have been the focus of archaeological study because of their relative rarity and enigmatic appearance. Interpretations of IB often refer to supposed fear of the dead or to social processes taking place in time-specific contexts. However, a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of IB for various geographical contexts is still lacking, a fact that hampers any discussion of these burials on a larger scale. Methods Here, we collected a bibliographic dataset of 375 IB from both Britain and Continental Europe, altogether spanning a time period from the 1st to the 5th century AD. Each burial has been coded according to ten dichotomous variables, further analyzed by means of chi-squared tests on absolute frequencies, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and cluster analysis. Results Even acknowledging the limits of this study, and in particular the bias represented by the available literature, our results point to interesting patterns. Geographically, IB show a contrast between Britain and Continental Europe, possibly related to historical processes specific to these regions. Different types of IB (especially prone depositions and depositions with the cephalic extremity displaced) present a series of characteristics and associations between features that permit a more detailed conceptualization of these occurrences from a socio-cultural perspective that aids to elucidate their funerary meaning. Conclusions and Significance Altogether, the present work stresses the variability of IB, and the need to contextualize them in a proper archaeological and historical context. It contributes to the discussion of IB by providing a specific geographic and chronological frame of reference that supports a series of hypotheses about the cultural processes possibly underlying their occurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Milella
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Valentina Mariotti
- Laboratorio di Bioarcheologia e Osteologia Forense, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 3, 40126, Bologna, Italy; UMR 7268 ADÉS-Anthropologie Bioculturelle, Droit, Ethique et Santé CNRS / Université d'Aix-Marseille / EFS Faculté de Médecine-Secteur Nord, CS80011, Boulevard Pierre Dramard 13344, Marseille Cedex 15, France
| | - Maria Giovanna Belcastro
- Laboratorio di Bioarcheologia e Osteologia Forense, Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 3, 40126, Bologna, Italy; Centro Fermi, Piazza del Viminale 1, 00184 Roma, Italy
| | - Christopher J Knüsel
- UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, Pessac Cedex 33615, France
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Upper Palaeolithic ritualistic cannibalism at Gough's Cave (Somerset, UK): The human remains from head to toe. J Hum Evol 2015; 82:170-89. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.02.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2013] [Revised: 11/03/2014] [Accepted: 02/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Were Upper Pleistocene human/non-human predator occupations at the Témara caves (El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra, Morocco) influenced by climate change? J Hum Evol 2014; 78:122-43. [PMID: 25281232 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2014] [Revised: 08/14/2014] [Accepted: 08/14/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The influence of climate change on human settlements in coastal areas is a central question for archaeologists. This paper addresses this issue by focusing on the Témara region in Morocco. The study area was selected for two main reasons. First, it contains numerous caves with Upper Pleistocene deposits, which have yielded remains of anatomically modern humans in association with Aterian and Iberomaurusian artifacts. Second, these caves are currently located on the shore, thus this region is particularly sensitive to major climate change and sea level fluctuations. Diachronic taphonomic study of faunal remains from two sites in the region, El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra caves, shows alternating human/non-human predator occupations. The lower layers of El Mnasra Cave dating to Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 5 have yielded diverse ungulate remains with significant anthropogenic impact marks, together with numerous mollusk shells, Nassarius shell beads, hearths, lithics, some bone tools and used pigments. Faunal remains from the upper layers dating to OIS 4, 3 and 2 of El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra caves, largely dominated by gazelles, provide evidence of carnivore activities, such as tooth marks, numerous semi-digested bones and coprolites alongside some anthropogenic signatures (cut marks and burnt bones). Non-human predators appear to be the main agents responsible for faunal modifications and accumulations. The 'non-intensive' nature of human occupation is confirmed by analyses of the lithic industry at El Harhoura 2. The 'intensive' human occupations date to OIS 5 and could have taken place during wet periods in connection with high sea levels, which allowed the exploitation of shellfish in this area. 'Non-intensive' human occupations generally correspond to arid periods and lower sea levels, during which the Témara area was further inland and may have been less attractive to humans.
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Earliest evidence for caries and exploitation of starchy plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:954-9. [PMID: 24395774 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1318176111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Dental caries is an infectious disease that causes tooth decay. The high prevalence of dental caries in recent humans is attributed to more frequent consumption of plant foods rich in fermentable carbohydrates in food-producing societies. The transition from hunting and gathering to food production is associated with a change in the composition of the oral microbiota and broadly coincides with the estimated timing of a demographic expansion in Streptococcus mutans, a causative agent of human dental caries. Here we present evidence linking a high prevalence of caries to reliance on highly cariogenic wild plant foods in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from North Africa, predating other high caries populations and the first signs of food production by several thousand years. Archaeological deposits at Grotte des Pigeons in Morocco document extensive evidence for human occupation during the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age (Iberomaurusian), and incorporate numerous human burials representing the earliest known cemetery in the Maghreb. Macrobotanical remains from occupational deposits dated between 15,000 and 13,700 cal B.P. provide evidence for systematic harvesting and processing of edible wild plants, including acorns and pine nuts. Analysis of oral pathology reveals an exceptionally high prevalence of caries (51.2% of teeth in adult dentitions), comparable to modern industrialized populations with a diet high in refined sugars and processed cereals. We infer that increased reliance on wild plants rich in fermentable carbohydrates and changes in food processing caused an early shift toward a disease-associated oral microbiota in this population.
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Iberomaurusian funerary behaviour: Evidence from Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco. J Hum Evol 2012; 62:261-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2011] [Revised: 11/08/2011] [Accepted: 11/09/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Bello SM, Parfitt SA, Stringer CB. Earliest directly-dated human skull-cups. PLoS One 2011; 6:e17026. [PMID: 21359211 PMCID: PMC3040189 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2010] [Accepted: 01/19/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The use of human braincases as drinking cups and containers has extensive historic and ethnographic documentation, but archaeological examples are extremely rare. In the Upper Palaeolithic of western Europe, cut-marked and broken human bones are widespread in the Magdalenian (∼15 to 12,000 years BP) and skull-cup preparation is an element of this tradition. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we describe the post-mortem processing of human heads at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Gough's Cave (Somerset, England) and identify a range of modifications associated with the production of skull-cups. New analyses of human remains from Gough's Cave demonstrate the skilled post-mortem manipulation of human bodies. Results of the research suggest the processing of cadavers for the consumption of body tissues (bone marrow), accompanied by meticulous shaping of cranial vaults. The distribution of cut-marks and percussion features indicates that the skulls were scrupulously 'cleaned' of any soft tissues, and subsequently modified by controlled removal of the facial region and breakage of the cranial base along a sub-horizontal plane. The vaults were also 'retouched', possibly to make the broken edges more regular. This manipulation suggests the shaping of skulls to produce skull-cups. CONCLUSIONS Three skull-cups have been identified amongst the human bones from Gough's Cave. New ultrafiltered radiocarbon determinations provide direct dates of about 14,700 cal BP, making these the oldest directly dated skull-cups and the only examples known from the British Isles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia M Bello
- Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom.
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