A combination of paleogenomics and dental histology offers a new perspective on life in prehistoric Southern Italy
A multidisciplinary study has reconstructed the biological history of a child who lived approximately 17,000 years ago in Southern Italy during the Upper Paleolithic. The research, led by a team from the universities of Florence, Bologna, and Siena, sequenced the oldest genome ever found in Italy. This allowed researchers to gain insight into the child’s development, physical traits, and potential causes of death. The study was published in Nature Communications under the title “Life history and ancestry of the Late Upper Palaeolithic infant from Grotta delle Mura, Italy”.
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The skeletal remains of the child, uncovered in the late 1990s, were found at Grotta delle Mura, an archaeological site located in Monopoli, in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. This site has provided significant insights into human populations from the Upper Paleolithic. The excavation, directed by Professor Mauro Calattini from the University of Siena, revealed one of the few well-preserved infant skeletons from this period in Europe. The child died at approximately 16.5 months of age, and the preservation of the skeleton provided researchers with an exceptional opportunity to apply a range of advanced analytical techniques.
The remains date to around 17,000 years ago, a crucial period in human history marked by the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. This era witnessed significant changes in human populations across Europe, including migration patterns and interactions between different hunter-gatherer groups.
The team employed a variety of techniques to analyze the skeleton, integrating traditional anthropological methods with cutting-edge genetic, histological, and geochemical analyses. These methods allowed the researchers to reconstruct the child’s genome, developmental history, and living conditions.
Genetic analysis was carried out by extracting DNA from the petrous bone, a dense part of the temporal bone that is known to preserve genetic material well even in ancient remains. Using a few milligrams of bone powder, the team was able to sequence nearly the entire genome of the child. The analysis revealed that the child was male and had blue eyes, dark skin, and curly hair. These traits were common among populations in Central and Southwestern Europe at the time. The genetic data also indicated that the child’s parents were closely related, likely first cousins. This level of kinship is rare in the Paleolithic but became more common during the Neolithic.
Paleo-histological analysis, performed at the University of Bologna, focused on the child’s dental development. Thin sections were made of two teeth, allowing researchers to examine the microstructure under a microscope. By analyzing dental growth layers, the team was able to track the child’s development from the fetal stage through infancy. The study identified several periods of physiological stress during the child’s early life, which could have been caused by environmental factors or health problems.
In total, nine episodes of stress were detected, three of which occurred in utero. These stress markers are consistent with periods of malnutrition or illness. The researchers suggested that the child may have suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart condition that can lead to sudden death. This diagnosis is supported by both the genetic evidence and the number of stress markers found in the teeth.
The geochemical analysis was conducted at the Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center (FIERCE) in Germany. This part of the study focused on the strontium isotope ratios in the child’s teeth, which provided information about the geographical area in which the child and their mother lived. Strontium isotopes are absorbed into teeth and bones through food and water, and their ratios vary depending on the geological makeup of the region.
The analysis showed that the child’s mother had limited mobility during the final months of her pregnancy, and both she and the child likely remained in the same area during this time. This finding is consistent with other evidence suggesting that some groups of hunter-gatherers in Southern Italy may have been relatively sedentary during certain periods, particularly during the Late Upper Paleolithic.
The genetic data gathered from the child’s remains also provided insights into broader population movements in Southern Italy at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. The study found that the child’s genome contained elements that were introduced to the region by groups migrating from the Balkans. These populations likely moved into Italy from the northeast, gradually spreading southward.
The genetic makeup of the child and their contemporaries reflects a period of significant demographic change in the region. The arrival of these groups marked the beginning of a new phase in the settlement of the Italian peninsula, as different hunter-gatherer communities interacted and intermingled. This study adds to the growing body of evidence indicating that Southern Italy was a key crossroads for human populations during this period.
The combination of genetic, anthropological, and geochemical analyses has provided an unprecedented level of detail about the child’s life, death, and the broader social and environmental context in which they lived.
The team hopes that further research will continue to uncover valuable information about the ancient populations that lived in Italy during and after the Last Glacial Maximum. Future studies may focus on expanding the genetic and isotopic databases for the region, as well as conducting more in-depth analyses of other human remains from the same period.
Topics: genetic sequencing of Paleolithic child, ancient human migration to Southern Italy, dental histology in prehistoric research, Upper Paleolithic child genome Italy, interdisciplinary study of prehistoric remains
Source: Università degli studi di Pisa
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