2019 excavation results of the Paphos Agora Project

The Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, has announced the completion of the 2019 excavations of the Department of Classical Archaeology of the Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, within the framework of the Pafos Agora Project (PAP). The PAP, which has been running since 2011, examines the economic infrastructure and activity of the city, not only on the basis of excavations in the Agora itself, but also outside of it, throughout the entire Archaeological Site of Kato Paphos, based on prospection with the use of non-invasive geophysical methods.

Credit: Dept. of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus

Researchers from the Warsaw Technical University and the University of Hamburg participated in the 2019 field season, which took place during August and September 2019. Two main goals were set: 1) determining the size of the Agora in the north, and 2) identifying streets flanking it from the north and from the east. Excavations were carried out at four points.

The main research focused on three trial trenches (TT): on TT.VI, which began being investigated in 2018, and on two new ones founded in 2019 on the basis of the results of a geophysical prospection carried out in previous seasons. The first is TT.VII located on the north extension of the West Portico of the Agora, the second is TT.VIII on the north extension of the East Portico, whereas the fourth point, where excavations were carried out, was in TT.II, i.e. the East Portico, where the research was continued within the room, R.22, discovered last year, and whose exploration has not been completed.

Of the research tasks mentioned above, the second goal was met. In all trial trenches, it was possible to reveal either the street surfaces themselves (in TT.VIII) or the infrastructure associated with them (channels and collector in TT.VI and TT.VII). However, the northern border of the porticos was not discovered. An important result of the research was achieved in TT.VIII, i.e. the confirmation of the further route of the street marked as P in the city plan reconstructed by J. Młynarczyk (1990), which was also revealed to the south of the theatre by the expedition from Sydney, Australia.

Credit: Dept. of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus

The PAP research in this year's season has also positively verified the route of street no. 1a, which is an extension of the internal line of the Agora’s West Portico (in TT.VII). However, street no. 2a was discovered in a slightly different place than it would appear from the reconstruction of Młynarczyk - about 20m to the east (TT.VI).

It should be emphasised that the studied area had been levelled in many places and subjected to robbery exploration, which has hindered the exploration and interpretation by the PAP. The recreation of the history of the studied area was also impeded by the unexpected discovery of several skeletal burials (TT.VII) dug into earlier structures. At present, not much can be said about the nature of this small necropolis. It cannot be ruled out that it may be related to an unearthed basilica, which may have been located a little further to the north-west from TT.VII.

The existence of this basilica was suggested during the initial analysis of geomagnetic research carried out as part of the PAP by the University of Hamburg in the area in 2016. More can be said once the research using the C14 method of dating on the remains of graves, primarily the wooden casket from grave 2, has been completed. It seems that the above-mentioned features, discovered in 2019, can be dated to the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods, while the cemetery could rather be dated to the late Roman period.

In parallel with the excavations, a small-scale geophysical survey, as well as the preservation of the metal objects and studies on conserved metal objects and coins have continued. In addition, a short study campaign on the anthropological material (skeletal remains) discovered during excavations in previous years was completed.

Source: Dept. of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus [January 23, 2020]

Mount Vesuvius blast turned ancient victim’s brain to glass

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius turned an incinerated victim’s brain material into glass, the first time scientists have verified the phenomenon from a volcanic blast, officials at the Herculaneum archaeology site said Thursday.

This photo shows a fragment of brain material of a victim incinerated by the ancient blast
of Mount Vesuvius and turned into glass [Credit: Herculaneum press office via AP]

Archaeologists rarely recover human brain tissue, and when they do it is normally smooth and soapy in consistency, according to an article detailing the discovery in the New England Journal of Medicine. The eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79 instantly killed the inhabitants of Pompeii and neighboring Herculaneum, burying an area 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the volcano in ash in just a few hours.

The remains of a man lying on a wooden bed were discovered at Herculaneum, closer to Vesuvius than Pompeii, in the 1960s. He is believed to have been the custodian of a place of worship, the Collegium Augustalium.

A team led by Pier Paolo Petrone, a forensic anthropologist at the Federico II University in Naples, determined that the victim’s brain matter had been vitrified, a process by which tissue is burned at a high heat and turned into glass, according to the new study. The fragments presented as shards of shiny black material spotted within remnants of the victim’s skull.

The unfortunate victim's final resting place outside a building in Herculaneum
[Credit: Pier Paolo Petrone]

A study of the charred wood nearby indicates a maximum temperature of 520 degrees Celsius (968 degrees Fahrenheit). "This suggests that extreme radiant heat was able to ignite body fat and vaporize soft tissue," the study said.

The resulting solidified spongy mass found in the victim’s chest bones is also unique among other archaeological sites and can be compared with victims of more recent historic events like the firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg in World War II, the article said.

The flash of extreme heat was followed by a rapid drop in temperatures, which vitrified the brain material, the authors said.

"This is the first time ever that vitrified human brain remains have been discovered resulting from heat produced by an eruption," Herculaneum officials said.

Source: Associated Press [January 23, 2020]

Late Neolithic Italy was home to complex networks of metal exchange

During the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, Italy was home to complex networks of metalwork exchange, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Andrea Dolfini of Newcastle University (UK), and Gilberto Artioli and Ivana Angelini of the University of Padova (Italy).

Articulated burial and dismembered human remains from Ponte San Pietro, tomb 22.The chamber tomb is typical of
the Rinaldone burial custom, central Italy, c.3600-2200 BC. Reprinted from Miari 1995 under a CC BY licence,
with permission from Monica Miari, original copyright 1995 [Credit: Dolfini et al, 2020]

Research in recent decades has revealed that copper mining and metalwork in Italy began earlier and included more complex technologies than previously thought. However, relatively little is known about metalwork exchange across the country, especially south of the Alps. In this study, Dolfini and colleagues sought to understand how commonly and how widely copper was imported and exchanged throughout Late Neolithic (Copper Age) Italy.

The researchers conducted an analysis of 20 copper items, including axe-heads, halberds, and daggers, from central Italy dating to the Copper Age, between 3600 and 2200 BC. Comparing archaeological data and chemical signatures of these items to nearby sources of copper ore, as well as to other prehistoric sites, they were able to determine that most of the examined objects were cast from copper mined in Tuscany, with the rest sourced from the western Alps and possibly the French Midi.

Map of the sites mentioned in the article
[Credit: Dolfini et al. 2020]

These results not only confirm the importance of the Tuscan region as a source of copper for Copper Age communities in Italy, reaching as far as the Tyrolean area home of the Alpine Iceman, but also reveal the unexpected finding that non-Tuscan copper was a significant import to the region at this time. These data contribute to a growing picture of multiple independent networks of Copper Age metal exchange in the Alps and neighboring regions. The authors note that future research might uncover other early sources of copper, as well as more details of the interactions between these early trade networks.

The authors add: "The first systematic application of lead isotope analysis (a geological sourcing technique) to Copper Age metal objects from central Italy, 3600-2200 BC, has shed new light on the provenance of the copper used to cast them. The research has revealed that, while some of the copper was sourced from the rich ore deposits of Tuscany, as was expected, some is from further afield. This unforeseen discovery demonstrates that far-reaching metal exchange networks were in operation in prehistoric Europe over a thousand years before the Bronze Age."

Source: Public Library of Science [January 22, 2020]

Update to museum guidelines could see British Museum with no choice but to return Parthenon Marbles

As the fight for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their rightful home in Greece continues, there seems to be some hope on the horizon.

Part of the Parthenon sculptures currently housed at the British Museum
[Credit: WikiCommons]

British museums could face fines if they do not return pieces in their collections taken from other countries, reports the Daily Mail.

With demands for repatriation from various countries expected to rise, Arts Council England is seeking to update its current guidelines, which it claims are out of date.

The council has asked experts to bid for a £42,000 contract that will see guidelines updated to assist museums in deciding which treasures should be returned, including the Parthenon Marbles, an aboriginal shield and Ethiopian sacred tablets, among others.

The contract would be put together based on a review of existing research and evidence, as well as extensive consultation with practitioners and stakeholders across and beyond the UK museum sector “to identify key challenges, opportunities, practical and ethical issues and examples of best practice in the UK and internationally,” reads the advert, highlighting that there are “increasing calls for action by museums to address this”.

The contract, expected to be enforced next month, will also include assistance for museums from experts to deal with media attention, government policies and the future of artefacts with no value.

“The aim is to encourage a more proactive and coordinated approach across the museum sector by providing museums with a practical resource to support them in responding to all aspects of restitution and repatriation,” an Arts Council England spokesperson said.

The idea follows the promise made by French president Emmanuel Macron to repatriate colonial objects.

BBC historian David Olusoga is among those encouraging the ‘decolonisation’ of collections in Britain, saying there is a ‘moral imperative’ for relics to be returned, calling the case of the Parthenon Marbles “such a stark case of theft”.

Mr Olusoga also said that it could be beneficial for Britain’s relationship with the Commonwealth after Brexit.

While organisations are currently requested to follow diversity procedures, it is uncertain as yet whether the council’s 828 members will face fines for keeping treasures from abroad in their procession, Arts Council England said.

Source: Neos Kosmos [January 21, 2020]

2019 excavation results at ancient Greek city of Sikyon

In 2019, fieldwork in Old Sikyon was carried out from late June to the end of July and included archaeological excavations, a geoarchaeological survey and the study of architectural spolia.

Drone picture of Trench 3A from southeast with the ‘Heroon’ and its surroundings
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

The excavations concentrated on six trenches in four different fields, four of which had already been started during previous seasons. In Field 3 north-east of the supposed city centre, the excavation of a late Classical building was continued in order to reveal a room to its full depth as well as part of its surroundings. The partly underground rectangular room (6.30 x 4.40 m) was made of walls of monumental blocks on two sides and of walls of mixed material on its two other sides and was originally covered with a tiled roof. Stairs led down into it from its north-eastern corner and maybe also from its south-western corner.

In direct contact with the bottom of the north, west and east walls, three Archaic graves (ca. 610-555 BC) cut into the bedrock were revealed. They contained multiple burials (men, women and children) and were marked by particular stones, but only one of them featured grave goods, including nine aryballoi and one askos (small vases) in the form of a hare dated to the early to middle Corinthian period. The building had at least two different construction phases and went probably out of use in the 2nd half of the 4th cent. BC, perhaps in connection with the destruction of the city in the year 303 BC.

On the base of the uncovered remains including the large amounts of pottery and various figurines found within this room, it can be interpreted as a sort of Heroon, where an ancestors’ cult and maybe also the veneration of chthonic deities were practiced. South of this room, a grave of the 5th cent. BC was uncovered, which contained as the only grave goods the remains of the shoes of the deceased, in the form of two iron frames, which originally were nailed to wooden soles.

Grave from the 5th cent. BC next to the ‘Heroon’ in Trench 3A, with remains
of the shoes of the deceased [Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

In Field 7 further to the northeast in the outskirts of the city, a Classical or Early Hellenistic grave monument (ca. 350-300 BC) was further revealed (Trench 7C). Its architectural front of 4,60 m length was oriented along a road on its northern side. Only the lowest course over the foundation is preserved consisting of large limestone blocks connected by Z-clamps and featuring a cyma reversa.

On the western and eastern sides, two symmetrically placed blocks mark the limits of the monument. Two stone cist graves with a single burial of a grown-up in each were excavated within the monument, yielding rich and well-preserved grave goods: fine drinking cups, lidded lekanis bowls, miniature vases, lamps, a silver coin and iron strigiles.

In a higher level, the burned remains of a grave ritual were found, including dozens of fragments of human and animal figurines and numerous shapes (e.g. bowls, plates and pouring vessels) of a special type of red-slipped pottery stamped with a characteristic egg decoration. This type of pottery was probably produced locally between 340 and 275 BC. Just next to the monument, a deposit from the 5th cent. BC including six Attic lekythoi (one of which white-ground) and a kotyle was revealed, indicating the funeral use of this area at least from this time onwards.

The grave monument from the late Classical or early Hellenistic period in Trench 7C
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

50 m northwest of this grave monument in an area outside the borders of the settlement, Classical building remains were found (Trench 7A), which, judging from the resistivity survey, could belong to a large building complex of ca. 18 x 20 m. A large room (2.50 x 2.50 m) and an adjacent smaller, corridor-like storage room (ca. 2.90 x 0.90 m) were completely revealed, while another room to the south was only partly excavated. On the base of many large fragments of storage vessels, the few fragments of fine-ware pottery, loom weights and coins might indicate an extra-urban workshop or agricultural context.

In Field 8 in the south-eastern part of the town, a new trench was opened on top of a large positive linear anomaly found with geomagnetic prospection, which could have indicated the trace of the city wall. Instead, part of a monumental late Classical building and in direct connection with it an early Hellenistic grave covered with tiles were excavated. The building might have had a public, cultic or funeral function.

Directly southeast of it, a four-sided floor-like surface was probably used for workshop activities. In the early Byzantine period, the area was used in an agricultural context, which is indicated by a large pithos with a preserved diameter of 1.40 m set up in an (indoor or outdoor) area bordered by walls. Also the large amount of burnt olive stones found in the corresponding layers and a large olive press in the neighbouring field indicate the production of olive oil.

Remains of a grave ritual in Trench 7C with burned figurines and pottery
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

Private house remains from the 2nd half of the 4th cent. BC found in 2018 in Field 9 (Trench 9A) in the core of the city were further investigated this year. It was revealed that the walls of this habitation context were dug into a large floor from a slightly earlier phase and that floors of stamped earth belong to the phase of the walls.

Remains of earlier constructions were not found in this trench. An extension of the trench to the west (after a gap of 3 m due to a modern water pipe) yielded the continuation of the building complex in several walls belonging to different construction phases, which witness of continued domestic activity including reuse and rebuilding trough a longer period of time.

Another trench (9B) was opened on the south-western end of the same field and revealed the first archaic construction remains ever found in the area of Old Sikyon. The four Archaic walls are arranged around an area which could have formed a courtyard. In the Classical period, more walls and a drain made of roof-tiles were constructed, which were covered in the late Classical/early Hellenistic period again by a larger drain carefully made of Π-shaped stone blocks.

Drone picture of Trench 7B with Classical building remains
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

In the eastern part of the trench, a boulder was installed earlier in the Classical period and surrounded by miniature vessels dating mainly to the 5th cent. BC, which indicates cultic activity. In the Hellenistic period the Π-shaped drain and its surroundings were covered and two perpendicular walls decorated with red- and yellow-painted stucco with a mortared pebble floor between them were installed. This representative private room indicates the sporadically continued use of the area for habitation also after the destruction of the old city.

3D documentation of the excavations was applied again by Toke Hansen (Museum of South-Eastern Denmark). For large-scale archaeobotanical studies, a particularly high number of 290 soil samples were collected and processed this year. In addition to that, samples for starch analysis were collected, particularly fragments from cooking and storage vessels, in order to investigate their content.

The 2019 field season was exceptionally rich in finds, many of excellent character, which were again processed at the Ephorate’s depot at Archaia Sikyona/Vasiliko. From Trench 3A particularly the Archaic grave goods have to be emphasized, but also the iron shoe frames as a special find. Furthermore, this trench yielded a high number of complete or partly complete vessels of all types, ranging from transport amphorae, vessels used for preparation and cooking of food and drinking cups in particular.

Part of a monumental building from the late Classical period in Trench 8A
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

From Trench 7A, the high amounts of storage vessels stand out, while the late Classical grave goods of Trench 7C along with the Attic lekythoi and the remains of a ritual pyre represent particularly excellent material, providing a proof for the existence of an independent and high-quality Sikyonian pottery production.

The grave goods from Trench 8A form an interesting Hellenistic ensemble. Trench 9B yielded a few fragments of Helladic pottery and many impressive fine-ware fragments from the Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods, indicating continuous activity in this area over a long period.

Also in terms of coins, the season was particularly yielding. They were studied again by Michael Ierardi (Bridgewater State University). All in all, 24 coins were found, most of which are from Sikyon (one from the 5th cent. BC and five to six from the 4th c. BC), others from other Greek states including Corinth, Salamis (Cyprus), Mykonos and Syracuse.

Removal of the large Byzantine pithos from Trench 8A
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

The stone objects were again studied by Pernille Foss (University of Copenhagen), some skeletons were investigated by Mette Arenfeldt (Museum of Southern Jutland) and the conservation of the most important finds was, as in previous years, taken over by the conservator Angeliki Kandri. In the framework of a Master’s thesis, Melanie Nguyen (University of Regensburg) studied the spolia from the former church of Agia Varvara in the southwest of the study area.

The geoarchaeological survey was continued by Chris Hayward (University of Edinburgh), who identified more rock varieties used in excavated structures and undertook further systematic surveys of exposures of bedrock within the Sikyonia to identify the types and exploitable volumes of construction stone available and traces of ancient quarrying. The results suggest that the high-quality oolitic limestone used in Old Sikyon originated from Corinthian, rather than Sikyonian sources, while calcarenite suitable for ashlar masonry is present near to the city’s location and plentiful supplies of conglomerate and local calcarenites were available for rubble construction.

The results of the 2019 campaign greatly enhance our knowledge of the private architecture of different phases of Old Sikyon including home decor and storage facilities, and of workshop arrangements. Moreover, a great range of important information about burial rites and practices over time, grave rituals, ancestors’ cult and burial monuments was collected.

Drone picture of Trench 9A with domestic structures
[Credit: Hellenic Ministry of Culture]

After the results of the 2019 season and the range of information gained in the field seasons of the first phase of the project, it would be particularly desirable to continue the research in Old Sikyon in a second project phase, in order to clarify the remaining important questions of topography, which concern the different parts of fortification, the more detailed form of the harbour and the harbour town and the inner organisation of the city including the city centre and the street grid, in order to gain a more thorough insight into Old Sikyon’s material culture, including the famous Sikyonian sculpture and local pottery, and in order to investigate the social and cultural practices of life in the old city over time.

The rich material collected in the field seasons 2015-2019 represents an excellent base for such studies, but needs to be complemented for both, a broader overview and a deeper insight.

Credit: Danish Institute at Athens [January 21, 2020]

Malta Survey Project finds ancient farm complex under Bidnija fields

A Ground Penetrating Radar installed during studies carried out in the Malta Survey Project discovered the presence of extensive buried structures in a number of Bidnija fields, believed to be those of a farm complex, or villa rustica, of Roman date. This discovery involved the joint effort of the University of Malta, the University of Ghent (Belgium) and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage between 2008 and 2012.

Fieldwalkers collecting artefacts from the surface of a Bidnija field
[Credit: Nicholas Vella, University of Malta]

The Olea Project, as it is being called, was presented by Prof Nicholas Vella from the Department of Classics and Archaeology at UM and David Cardona, Senior Curator of Phoenician and Roman Sites at Heritage Malta.

In this respect, a trilateral agreement between the University of Malta, Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage was recently signed as a sign of collaboration in the study and conservation of a rural site in Bidnija with significant archaeological potential.

The Malta Survey Project was carried out to understand long-term development and exploitation of Malta’s countryside in ancient times – mainly through a field walking technique in which teams of archaeologists walked across open areas and fields, collecting artefacts, such as pottery fragments, from the surface.

Limestone vat, probably of Roman date in a field in Bidnija
[Credit: Nicholas Vella, University of Malta]

Until 2012, more than 60,000 artefacts consisting of fragments of pottery, worked stone, tile, marble, plaster, and glass were catalogued. ‘Hotspots’ with high artefact densities were identified in three fields situated around the Bidnija olive grove containing trees that are at least 1800-years-old. The remains of the farm complex lie below one of these fields. Preliminary studies have also indicated another buried structure in the vicinity which seems to be a sizeable underground cistern.

For many years, this area has been known for the presence of archaeological remains, including a stone vat that was probably meant for storing olive oil. Similar vats were discovered at the well-known Roman villa site of San Pawl Milqi located just half a kilometre away from Bidnija, above the village of Burmarrad.

The Lands Authority has now transferred the title of lease of the Bidnija site to Heritage Malta in order to protect the buried archaeological remains and the olive grove, and to facilitate research as part of the Olea project.

1,800-year-old olive grove in Bidnija [Credit: Nicholas Vella,
University of Malta]

University of Malta Rector, Prof. Alfred J. Vella, commended this agreement and said that such a project epitomises what universities should be doing; engaging with their partners in society and with important national agencies in order to generate knowledge.

He also noted the introduction of a modest sum in this year’s national budget dedicated to academic research at the University of Malta. In an area dominated for so long by foreigners, he insisted that it was due time for local scholars to assert a national research agenda independently whilst drawing up external collaboration when this is required.

Joseph Magro Conti, Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, welcomed this unprecedented agreement where the three entities are pooling resources to address research questions about an archaeological landscape. He declared that such projects will lead to a better working relationship between the entities. He also advocated the setting up of a formal research agenda so that the respective entities could work towards convergent aims, objectives and deliverables in a systematic manner.

An archaeologist doing ground-penetrating radar runs
[Credit: Nicholas Vella, University of Malta]

Heritage Malta CEO, Noel Zammit, explained that the Agency’s mission is to ensure that those elements of cultural heritage entrusted to it are protected and made accessible to the public. However, the real added value of this mission is the ability to do research and produce information about Malta’s cultural heritage that is disseminated to society in a timely manner. He explained that such collaborations with other entities are the way forward and more resources should be invested in support of such worthy initiatives.

Source: University of Malta [January 21, 2020]

Triple Copper Age burial discovered in Croatia

While excavating one of the trenches in the highest part of Kovači in 2019, we discovered a triple Copper Age (?) burial, possibly dating to the period of Kostolac Culture (3250-3000 BCE). Burials of this kind are extremely rare in Croatia and this seems to be the earliest one (other similar examples are known from the famous site of Vučedol, but are connected to the later layers of Vučedol culture).

Credit: Lovas Archaeological Project

The burial was discovered in almost completely sterile soil above the bedrock, with no traces of a grave pit. Three individuals were buried together and numbered from 1 to 3 (left to right in the above photo).

The bodies of Individuals 1 and 3 were positioned in the same way. They were on their backs, but with their legs leaning to the right, as if they were stepping forward. Their arms were bent in the elbows and pulled to their chests.

Their faces were probably facing east. Individual 1 was a 20-30-year-old female and Individual 3 a 25-35-year-old male. The individual in the middle (Individual 2) was a female between 30 and 40 years of age. She was facing the ground.

Her legs were entangled with the legs of the female on her left, while her right arm was crossed with the right arm of the male individual on her right. Her left arm was extended towards the right and exhibited evidence of severe trauma, possibly caused by beating.

The grave was found almost empty. Only a few sherds and a shell were recovered from the soil surrounding the burials, but they were probably part of the fill of the grave pit (despite the fact that it was not possible to define one). The only burial gift might be a large fragment of a Kostolac culture vessel, which was found below the spine of Individual 1.

The position of the sherd within the grave suggests that it was deposited there at the same time as the deceased individuals and gives us a terminus ante quem non for this grave, but the exact date of this grave could not be determined with certainty.

Another sherd, which joins the one discovered below the spine of Individual 1, was found just above the grave on the border between the sterile layer in which the skeletons were buried and the Bronze Age layer above it.

It is plausible that the sherd discovered in association with the Bronze Age layer came from the destroyed upper layers of the graves. A certain level of disturbance is clear from the fact that the left leg of Individual 2 is missing, as it was destroyed in a later period, but not after the Middle Bronze Age.

However, we are positive that the two sherds were not deposited in the grave in the form of a complete vessel, as Individual 1 was deposited on top of one of the sherds. Therefore, the vessel must have been fragmented before it was deposited in the grave.

Alternatively, both sherds could have originated from the Copper Age layers which were disturbed during the Middle Bronze Age. One of the sherds might have been deposited in the grave together with the fill of the grave, while the other might have remained mixed with the rest of the Middle Bronze Age material.

This could suggest that the grave should be dated to the Middle Bronze Age, but since the grave was covered with Middle Bronze Age layers, this is the latest possible date. The future C14 dating should provide us with the date for the grave.

Source: Lovas Archaeological Project [January 20, 2020]

The drawbacks of the modern face of 'Homo antecessor'

A study led by the University of Bordeaux and the Dental Anthropology Group of the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), which has been published this week in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, reveals that the species Homo antecessor, found in level TD6 of the Gran Dolina site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos), already endured the drawbacks of having insufficient space for the third molar or wisdom tooth to erupt.

Credit: CENIEH

Analysis of the maxilla ATD6-69, "the face" of Homo antecessor, using high-resolution techniques such as micro-computed tomography carried out at the CENIEH, has enabled the identification of signs matching ectopic development, that is, outside the proper location for the third molar, and the secondary impacting pf the second molar with its retention within the alveolar bone.

"Specifically, the wisdom tooth was undergoing development upon the crown of the second molar," says Laura Martín-Francés, principal author of this study.

In this study, the hypothesis of whether the ectopic molar of this individual, whose approximate age was 10 years, was due to a combination of factors such as the characteristic modern face and the large size of the teeth of this child from Atapuerca, is discussed for the first time.

This peculiarity would have led to the lack of space for the normal development of the wisdom tooth and the consequent retention of the second molar.

"While the particular evolution in this individual is unknown, the prognosis in these cases includes the development of caries, periodontitis and even cysts. Thus, we can be sure that around one million years ago, this person would have suffered from severe toothache," affirms Martín-Francés.

For the moment, evidence of this anomaly is only known from a single individual of this species, although the imminent excavation of the entire surface of level TD6 at Gran Dolina will offer new fossil remains to find out whether this circumstance was typical of Homo antecessor due to its modern face.

Source: CENIEH [January 18, 2020]