Economic access influences degenerative spine disease outcomes at rural Late Medieval Villamagna (Lazio, IT).

OBJECTIVES: Degenerative joint disease in the spine is heavily influenced by genetic, environmental, and epigenetic factors, as well as exacerbated by physical activity and injury. The objective of this study was to investigate the multivariate relationship between known predictors of degenerative joint disease in the spine, such as age and sex, with mortuary indicators of economic access such as grave inclusions, burial location, and burial type. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The presence and severity of vertebral osteophytosis (VO) and vertebral osteoarthritis (VOA) was recorded for the vertebral columns of N = 106 adult individuals from the Late Medieval period at the rural monastery of San Pietro at Villamagna in Lazio, Italy (1300-1450 AD). Multiple skeletal indicators of degenerative joint disease, morphological sex, and age were compared with differences in mortuary treatment across four regions of the spine. RESULTS: There are marked differences in severe joint disease outcome between groups with more and less economic access. Relative risk ratios suggest that males and females with less economic access have elevated risk for VO and VOA in specific spine regions, although this effect is reduced among females. DISCUSSION: Current research on the consequences of economic and social inequality point to the important role of economic inequality in shaping disease outcomes. Our results suggest that biocultural effects of reduced economic access at the intraclass level may increase vulnerability to the downstream effects of risk exposure (e.g., biomechanical injure, physical activity, biochemical imbalance), and ultimately increase the risk and prevalence for severe degenerative disease outcomes in medieval Italy.

The Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12) human dental remains from Fontana Ranuccio (Latium) and Visogliano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), Italy. A comparative high resolution endostructural assessment.

The penecontemporaneous Middle Pleistocene sites of Fontana Ranuccio (Latium) and Visogliano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), set c. 450 km apart in central and northeastern Italy, respectively, have yielded some among the oldest human fossil remains testifying to a peopling phase of the Italian Peninsula broadly during the glacial MIS 12, a stage associated with one among the harshest climatic conditions in the Northern hemisphere during the entire Quaternary period. Together with the large samples from Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos, Spain, and Caune de l'Arago at Tautavel, France, the remains from Fontana Ranuccio and Visogliano are among the few mid-Middle Pleistocene dental assemblages from Western Europe available for investigating the presence of an early Neanderthal signature in their inner structure. We applied two- three-dimensional techniques of virtual imaging and geometric morphometrics to the high-resolution X-ray microtomography record of the dental remains from these two Italian sites and compared the results to the evidence from a selected number of Pleistocene and extant human specimens/samples from Europe and North Africa. Depending on their preservation quality and on the degree of occlusal wear, we comparatively assessed: (i) the crown enamel and radicular dentine thickness topographic variation of a uniquely represented lower incisor; (ii) the lateral crown tissue proportions of premolars and molars; (iii) the enamel-dentine junction, and (iv) the pulp cavity morphology of all available specimens. Our analyses reveal in both samples a Neanderthal-like inner structural signal, for some aspects also resembling the condition shown by the contemporary assemblage from Atapuerca SH, and clearly distinct from the recent human figures. This study provides additional evidence indicating that an overall Neanderthal morphological dental template was preconfigured in Western Europe at least 430 to 450 ka ago.

Social reorganization and biological change: An examination of stature variation among Iron Age Samnites from Abruzzo, central Italy.

Stature is a sensitive indicator of overall environmental quality experienced during growth and development, and can provide insights on a population's 'well-being'. This study investigated changes in estimated adult stature in a large (N=568) sample of Samnite Iron Age (800-27 BCE) people from central Italy, during a period of increasing sociopolitical complexity. Stature was analyzed diachronically, between sexes, and across social strata inferred using the 'Status Index' based on funerary treatment. It was expected: 1) a decrease in stature from the Orientalizing-Archaic period (O-A) to the fifth century BC (V SEC) and the following Hellenistic period (ELL), due to population increase and urbanization; 2) social status to positively influence the attainment of the full stature potential; 3) sexual dimorphism to be higher in more stratified groups. Results revealed no significant diachronic changes in stature (females: O-A: 154.2cm,V SEC: 154.2cm, and ELL: 153.6cm; males: O-A: 165.0cm,V SEC: 165.2cm, and ELL: 165.0cm) or sexual dimorphism. High-status males were taller than low-status (p=0.021), possibly due to a better diet, but only in the Orientalizing-Archaic period. Nonsignificant changes in females suggest either differential access to resources in women, or a better buffering from environmental optima or crises. The results of this study highlight the complex interrelation between social factors and human growth, and stress the importance of understanding the specific mechanisms leading to variation in adult stature.

Virtual histological assessment of the prenatal life history and age at death of the Upper Paleolithic fetus from Ostuni (Italy).

The fetal remains from the Ostuni 1 burial (Italy, ca 27 ka) represent a unique opportunity to explore the prenatal biological parameters, and to reconstruct the possible patho-biography, of a fetus (and its mother) in an Upper Paleolithic context. Phase-contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography imaging of two deciduous tooth crowns and microfocus CT measurements of the right hemimandible of the Ostuni 1b fetus were performed at the SYRMEP beamline and at the TomoLab station of the Elettra - Sincrotrone laboratory (Trieste, Italy) in order to refine age at death and to report the enamel developmental history and dental tissue volumes for this fetal individual. The virtual histology allowed to estimate the age at death of the fetus at 31-33 gestational weeks. Three severe physiological stress episodes were also identified in the prenatal enamel. These stress episodes occurred during the last two months and half of pregnancy and may relate to the death of both individuals. Compared with modern prenatal standards, Os1b's skeletal development was advanced. This cautions against the use of modern skeletal and dental references for archaeological finds and emphasizes the need for more studies on prenatal archaeological skeletal samples.

Forensic data and microvariant sequence characterization of 27 Y-STR loci analyzed in four Eastern African countries.

By using the recently introduced 6-dye Yfiler® Plus multiplex, we analyzed 462 males belonging to 20 ethnic groups from four eastern African countries (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya). Through a Y-STR sequence analysis, combined with 62 SNP-based haplogroup information, we were able to classify observed microvariant alleles at four Y-STR loci as either monophyletic (DYF387S1 and DYS458) or recurrent (DYS449 and DYS627). We found evidence of non-allelic gene conversion among paralogous STRs of the two-copy locus DYF387S1. Twenty-two diallelic and triallelic patterns observed at 13 different loci were found to be significantly over-represented (p<10-6) among profiles obtained from cell lines compared to those from blood and saliva. Most of the diallelic/triallelic patterns from cell lines involved recurrent mutations at rapidly mutating loci (RM Y-STRs) included in the multiplex (p<10-2). At haplotype level, intra-population diversity indices were found to be among the lowest so far reported for the Yfiler® Plus, while statistically significant differences among countries and ethnic groups were detected when considering haplotype frequencies alone (FST) or by using molecular distances among haplotypes (ΦST). The strong population subdivision observed is probably the consequence of the patrilineal social organization of most eastern African ethnic groups, and suggests caution in the use of country-based haplotype frequency distributions for forensic inferences in this region.

Geographical and temporal changes of anthropometric traits in historical Yemen.

This study investigates secular changes of anthropometric variables among four geographic groups in historical Yemen, to evaluate possible regional differences in the evolution of living standards. Nineteen somatic and cephalic measures collected by Coon in 1939, and 8 anthropometric indices in 1244 Yemenite adult males were analyzed. The individuals were divided into 10-year age groups. Within-group variations were tested by One-way ANCOVA (age as covariate). ANCOVA (controlling for age), and Forward stepwise discriminant analysis were used to evaluate and represent regional differences. ANCOVA and discriminant analysis confirmed and enhanced previous findings. At the time, the Yemenite population presented high intergroup heterogeneity. The highest mean values of height at all ages were found in the "mountain" region, which is characterized by very fertile soils and where, nowadays, most of the cereals and pulses are grown and where most livestock is raised. Within-group variations were limited and generally inconsistent in all geographic regions and concern vertical dimensions, but mean values of height never differed. The prolonged internal isolation of these groups resulted in significant regional morphometric differentiation. The main evidence comes from height which suggests that socioeconomic factors have played a role. Nevertheless, the possible better living conditions experienced by the "mountain" group, with the highest mean values of stature in all periods, did not allow the secular trend to take place in that region, too.

A health assessment for imperial Roman burials recovered from the necropolis of San Donato and Bivio CH, Urbino, Italy.

Imperial Roman burials recovered from the sites of San Donato and Bivio CH, located in the city of Urbino, Italy were examined for skeletal lesions. Observed pathologies include arthritis, trauma, periostitis, cranial pitting and enamel hypoplasia. All of the adults exhibited at least one enamel hypoplasia. In general, the adult males exhibit greater rates of skeletal pathologies than the females. Clearly, chronic health problems appear to be common among all adults; nearly 89% of them exhibit at least one form of skeletal lesion. This is in stark contrast to what is seen for the sub-adults. Only one sub-adult showed skeletal lesions. Acute health problems may have been the primary contributing factors for the death of the children recovered from the site. Despite previous research and attention to malaria as a critical health problem of Roman sub-adults, it does not seem to be an issue for this burial sample. We compare the frequency of cranial pitting and periostitis for the Urbino burials to several other Imperial Roman skeletal samples as a means to assess the potential for malaria and other casual factors for the observed lesions. In conclusion, we see the extreme rate of skeletal lesions for this community as indication of an extremely poor quality of life for these Romans.

Italian populations during the Copper Age: assessment of biological affinities through morphological dental traits.

The Copper Age (3rd millennium BC) was characterized by considerable socioeconomic transformations and coincided with the discovery of metallurgy. In this study we reconstruct the peopling of Italy during this period on the basis of dental morphology traits. Dental remains from 41 sites throughout Italy were analyzed; only three of the sites (Laterza and two from Sicily) span from the late Copper Age to the early Bronze Age. To work with adequate samples, we pooled the collections into nine geographically and culturally homogeneous groups. Dental morphological traits were scored on 8,891 teeth from 1,302 individuals using the ASUDAS scale. The correlation between the mean measure of divergence and geographic distances (calculated as air distances) was computed. Multidimensional scaling with the minimum spanning tree and maximum-likelihood methods was applied to assess the relationships between groups. The results revealed a substantial genetic homogeneity among the populations throughout the Italian peninsula during the Copper Age with the exception of Sardinia, which tends to diverge from the continental samples. Phenetic and geographic distances correlate highly significantly only when the southern samples from Sicily and Laterza are removed from the analysis, which indicates that these groups may have experienced genetic admixture with external populations.