Life history and ancestry of the late Upper Palaeolithic infant from Grotta delle Mura, Italy
The biological aspects of infancy within late Upper Palaeolithic populations and the role of southern refugia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum are not yet fully understood. This study presents a multidisciplinary, high temporal resolution investigation of an Upper Palaeolithic infant from Grotta delle Mura (Apulia, southern Italy) combining palaeogenomics, dental palaeohistology, spatially-resolved geochemical analyses, direct radiocarbon dating, and traditional anthropological studies. The skeletal remains of the infant - Le Mura 1 - were directly dated to 17,320-16,910 cal BP. The results portray a biological history of the infant's development, early life, health and death (estimated at ~72 weeks). They identify, several phenotypic traits and a potential congenital disease in the infant, the mother's low mobility during gestation, and a high level of endogamy. Furthermore, the genomic data indicates an early spread of the Villabruna-like components along the Italian peninsula, confirming a population turnover around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, and highlighting a general reduction in genetic variability from northern to southern Italy. Overall, Le Mura 1 contributes to our better understanding of the early stages of life and the genetic puzzle in the Italian peninsula at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum.
Authors
- Gregorio Oxilia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5412-0997)
- Matteo Romandini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2271-9991)
- Owen Alexander Higgins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1264-5853)
- Elena Rosangela Dellu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3227-6357)
- David Caramelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6468-1675)
- Alessandra Modi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9514-9868)
- Annamaria Ronchitelli
- Eugenio Bortolini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6751-5680)
- Federico Lugli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5642-2216)
- Stefano Ricci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4289-954X)
- Cosimo Posth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8206-3907)
- Costanza Cannariato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3669-1002)
- Stefano Benazzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4305-6920)
- Giovanni Di Domenico (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8500-6764)
- Yu He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1323-4730)
- Mauro Calattini
- Stefania Vai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3844-5147)
- Matteo Rossini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2279-5055)
- Francesco Boschin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5795-9050)
- Martina Lari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7832-8212)
- Wolfgang Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5368-8011)
- Alessia Nava (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6319-0425)
- Sahra Talamo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-3132)
- Valentina Zaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2902-225X)
- Luca Bondioli
- Antonino Vazzana
- Fabio Baruffaldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8784-5652)
- Maria Angela Diroma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1427-8946)
- Luigi Magnone
- Adriana Moroni
Institutions
- University of Siena (IT)
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- University of Padua (IT)
- University of Ferrara (IT)
- Peking University (CN)
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE)
- Department of Cultural Heritage (LT)
- Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli (IT)
- University of Florence (IT)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51150-x
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 20.47
Funders
- Università degli Studi di Siena
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Stiftung
- HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme