Proposed complementary osteological indicators: Advancing the estimation of puberty stages in Bioarcheology.

OBJECTIVES: The study of puberty is a well-established area of bioarcheological research, which greatly enhances our understanding of adolescence and growth in the past. Since the publications of Shapland and Lewis' works, which have become "standards" for estimating puberty in skeletal material, no additional osteological indicators of puberty have been proposed. Nevertheless, clinical practice constantly develops skeletal maturation markers that could be useful in bioarcheology. This study aims to assess the applicability and reliability of novel puberty indicators as a complementary tool to estimate puberty in skeletal remains. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four new maturation markers including spheno-occipital synchondrosis, humeral head ossification, calcaneal apophysis ossification, and mandibular premolar mineralization were selected and applied to a sample of 85 adolescents from pre-Roman southern Italy (Pontecagnano, 7th-4th BCE). RESULTS: Despite some limits in adapting the original clinical methods to osteoarcheological material, the use of these novel skeletal indicators had moderate to excellent scoring repeatability and an overall high agreement with the puberty and menarche status previously estimated with standard methods. These results encourage us to apply these markers in bioarcheology. In some cases, minor adaptations of the original scoring systems are suggested to enhance reliability. DISCUSSION: Including the proposed indicators in routine puberty data collection allows us to refine puberty estimation and improve the ability to identify key growth milestones in poorly preserved skeletons. Further application to osteological collections with diverse chronology and geographical differences is needed to assess how and to what extent the newly proposed maturation markers perform.

Diets, stress, and disease in the Etruscan society: Isotope analysis and infantile skeletal palaeopathology from Pontecagnano (Campania, southern Italy, 730-580 BCE).

Susceptibility to morbidity and mortality is increased in early life, yet proactive measures, such as breastfeeding and weaning practices, can be taken through specific investments from parents and wider society. The extent to which such biosocialcultural investment was achieved within 1st millennium BCE Etruscan society, of whom little written sources are available, is unkown. This research investigates life histories in non-adults and adults from Pontecagnano (southern Italy, 730-580 BCE) in order to track cross-sectional and longitudinal breastfeeding and weaning patterns and to characterize the diet more broadly. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of incrementally-sampled deciduous and permanent dentine (n = 15), bulk bone collagen (n = 38), and tooth enamel bioapatite (n = 21) reveal the diet was largely based on C3 staple crops with marginal contributions of animal protein. Millet was found to play a role for maternal diet and trajectories of breastfeeding and feeding for some infants and children at the site. The combination of multiple isotope systems and tissues demonstrates exclusive breastfeeding was pursued until 0.6 years, followed by progressive introduction of proteanocius supplementary foods during weaning that lasted between approximately 0.7 and 2.6 years. The combination of biochemical data with macroscopic skeletal lesions of infantile metabolic diseases and physiological stress markers showed high δ15Ndentine in the months prior to death consistent with the isotopic pattern of opposing covariance.

Trichuris trichiura in a post-Colonial Brazilian mummy

Trichuris trichiura is a soil-transmitted helminth which is prevalent in warm, moist, tropical and subtropical regions of the world with poor sanitation. Heavy whipworm can result either in Trichuris dysenteric syndrome - especially in children - or in a chronic colitis. In heavy infections, worms can spread proximally and may cause ileitis. Here we provide first microscopic evidence for a T. trichiura adult worm embedded in the rectum of a post-Colonial Brazilian adult mummy. During Colonial and post-Colonial times, many European chroniclers described a parasitic disease named Maculo whose symptomatology coincides with heavy helminthiasis. Based on our findings and on comparison of ancient textual evidence with modern description of heavy whipworm, we feel confident in considering that the two syndromes are expressions of the same pathological condition.

"Royal" pediculosis in Renaissance Italy: lice in the mummy of the King of Naples Ferdinand II of Aragon (1467-1496)

Pediculosis seems to have afflicted humans since the most ancient times and lice have been found in several ancient human remains. Examination of the head hair and pubic hair of the artificial mummy of Ferdinand II of Aragon (1467-1496), King of Naples, revealed a double infestation with two different species of lice, Pediculus capitis, the head louse, and Pthirus pubis, the pubic louse. The hair samples were also positive for the presence of mercury, probably applied as an anti-pediculosis therapy. This is the first time that these parasites have been found in the hair of a king, demonstrating that even members of the wealthy classes in the Renaissance were subject to louse infestation.