In 2013, I had the opportunity to study human fossils from the site of Riparo Fredian in Tuscany as part of my dissertation fieldwork funded by the Leakey Foundation. The human remains were being re-analyzed at the time by researchers at the University of Florence under the direction of Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi. At the end of 2018, a revision of the human skeletal series from Riparo Fredian was published in the open access journal Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary that followed-up on an earlier paper describing the a probable case of “early dentistry” for one of these Late Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers (Fredian 5) in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Location of Riparo Fredian in Northern Tuscany. The original assessment of the Fredian fossils described 39 isolated teeth and 3 postcranial remains. However, the new paper notes that 18 of the teeth were anatomically misidentified, 2 teeth were not human, and only 2 of 3 of the postcranial remains could be securely attributed to humans. Furthermore, the new analysis identified 2 new human teeth among the remains. Among the fossils, there are at least 2 infants, 2 young adults, and 1-2 mature adults. We cannot be certain about the mature adults because the very worn anterior (incisor and canine) teeth of Fredian 5 and three lesser-worn molars (Fredian 4) could belong to the same individual. The very worn upper incisors and canines from Fredian 5. Not that the pulp chambers of the central incisors are exposed. An earlier paper (Oxilia et al., 2017) describes the evidence for prehistoric dentistry associated with this pathology. This short manuscript is another example of the useful information that can be obtained when we re-examine old archaeological and skeletal collections. I have a feeling there are many more exciting papers to come out on Italian Late Upper Paleolithic human paleobiology as more of these skeletal collections from older excavations are re-assessed in the future. References:
Boschian G, Mallegni F, Tozzi C. 1995. The Epigravettian and Mesolithic site of Fredian Shelter (N Tuscany). Quaternaria Nova, 5, 45-80. Oxilia G, Fiorillo F, Boschin F, Boaretto E, Apicella SA, Matteucci C, Panetta D, Pistocchi R, Guerrini F, Margherita C, Andretta M, Sorrentino R, Arrighi S, Dori I, Mancuso G, Crezzini J, Riga A, Serrangeli MC, Vazzana A, Salvadori P, Vandini M, Tozzi C, Moroni A, Feeney RNM, Willman JC, Benazzi S, Moggi-Cecchi J. 2017. The dawn of dentistry in the Late Upper Paleolithic: An early case of pathological intervention at Riparo Fredian. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 163(3):446-461, doi:doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23216. OPEN ACCESS! Riga A, Dori I, Vierin S, Boschian G, Tozzi C, Willman JC, Moggi-Cecchi J. 2018. At the Upper Paleolithic – Mesolithic boundary: revision of the human remains from Riparo Fredian (Molazzana, Lucca, Italy). Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary 31(1):49-57, doi:https://doi.org/10.26382/AMQ.2018.04.
0 Comments
|
John C. Willman
A place to find updates about my research. Archives
July 2021
Categories
All
|