Perimortem versus postmortem damage: The recent case of Cioclovina 1.

OBJECTIVES: Kranioti, Grigorescu, and Harvati have recently described (PLoS One 2019, 14(7),e0216718) the breakage to the Cioclovina 1 earlier Upper Paleolithic cranium as indicating fatal interhuman blunt trauma. We have reassessed their analysis in terms of the specimen's condition at discovery, its current condition, and the post-discovery history of the cranium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The original Cioclovina 1 neurocranium and currently associated pieces were visually assessed for the nature of the damage to them, and the records of its discovery, the original 1942 photographs, and their subsequent history in Bucharest were reviewed. RESULTS: The damage to Cioclovina 1, attributed by Kranioti and colleagues to perimortem blunt trauma, was not present at the time of its 1940-41 discovery in the Pestera Cioclovina Uscata. The "trauma" is from the World War II bombing of the University of Bucharest and subsequent attempts to restore the cranium. The damage does not, and cannot, document interhuman violence in the Pleistocene. CONCLUSIONS: Although other cases of antemortem and perimortem trauma are known from the earlier Upper Paleolithic, and Pleistocene humans more broadly, there is absolutely no evidence of perimortem trauma on the Cioclovina 1 cranium. Proper assessment of levels and patterns of human trauma in the Pleistocene must be based on the correct paleontological, taphonomic, and historical assessment of the fossil remains in question.

Resolving relationships between several Neolithic and Mesolithic populations in Northern Eurasia using geometric morphometrics.

OBJECTIVES: Remains from several Eastern European and Siberian Mesolithic and Neolithic sites are analysed to clarify their biological relationships. We assume that groups' geographical distances correlate with genetic and, therefore, morphological distances between them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Material includes complete male crania from several Mesolithic and Neolithic burial sites across Northern Eurasia and from several modern populations. Geometric morphometrics and multivariate statistical techniques are applied to explore morphological trends, group distances, and correlations with their geographical position, climate, and the time of origin. RESULTS: Despite an overlap in the morphology among the modern and archeological groups, some of them show significant morphological distances. Geographical parameters account for only a small proportion of cranial variation in the sample, with larger variance explained by geography and age together. Expectations of isolation by distance are met in some but not in all cases. Climate accounts for a large proportion of autocorrelation with geography. Nearest-neighbor joining trees demonstrate group relationships predicted by the regression on geography and on climate. DISCUSSION: The obtained results are discussed in application to relationships between particular groups. Unlike the Ukrainian Mesolithic, the Yuzhny Oleni Ostrov Mesolithic displays a high morphological affinity with several groups from Northern Eurasia of both European and Asian origin. A possibility of a common substrate for the Yuzhny Oleni Ostrov Mesolithic and Siberian Neolithic groups is reviewed. The Siberian Neolithic is shown to have morphological connection with both modern Siberian groups and the Native North Americans.

Tracking Childhood Lead Exposure in Early Industrial Romanians.

Childhood lead exposure has been linked to severe adverse health outcomes throughout life. Measurements of lead in teeth have established that individuals living in contaminated environments show higher levels compared to individuals living further away, although less is known about when individuals are most susceptible to these exposures. We examined lead (Pb208) concentrations (ppm) in teeth over the first 2.5 years of life in 16 children born in the late 19th to early 20th century throughout Romania. This period of intense industrialization was characterized by increases in mining, coal burning, and oil refining-activities that contaminate air, water, and food with Pb. We hypothesized the distance from an operational mine or oil refinery, or being born in a city, would be positively associated with cumulative dentine Pb exposure (CDPE). We also predicted that Pb exposures would peak in the first six months of life when gastrointestinal (GI) absorption of Pb is likely highest. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of sectioned tooth dentine followed by Bayesian statistical analyses revealed that living 30 km or more from a mine or oil refinery did not explain CDPE. However, being born in a city explained 42% of CDPE. All individuals showed maximum Pb exposures after six months of age, likely due to contaminated solid food and/or non-milk liquids. This research demonstrates how tooth formation can be coupled with comprehensive elemental mapping to analyse the context and timing of early-life neurotoxicant exposures, which may be extended to well-preserved teeth from clinical and historic populations.

Dental developmental defects in a subadult from 16th-19th centuries Bucharest, Romania.

This study examines the dental developmental defects seen in an individual recovered from the Saint Sava cemetery from Bucharest, Romania, dated to the late medieval/early modern period. The remains display extended hypoplastic alterations of the permanent dentition, including linear, pitted, and planar defects. The first permanent molars are distinctive, with multiple indentations and mottling. Given the unusual pattern of defects and the close resemblance to a series of archaeological cases recently published and assigned to congenital syphilis, a differential diagnosis is discussed, with particular reference to the effects induced not only by treponemal infection, but also by treatment with mercury and nutritional deficiency.