Effect of Neolithic transition on an Italian community: Mora Cavorso (Jenne, Rome)

Abstract

The present research, an integrative study combining archeology, skeletal biology, and molecular anthropology, deals with skeletal remains recovered in Mora Cavorso Cave (Jenne, Rome, Italy). Burial activity there dates to 6275 ± 45 BP (5322–5084 cal.) and 6405 ± 35 BP (5472–5314 cal.), according to 14 C analyses of a charcoal fragment and a human bone, respectively. This range of dates ascribes the human remains and the archeological materials to a late phase of the Early Neolithic of Central Italy. The human skeletal remains were scattered throughout the cave. We performed morphological examinations and carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses—using bone collagen—to reconstruct the paleobiology and the paleodiet of the community. The complex comprised at least 28 individuals, including adult males and females and sub-adults. The skeletal remains exhibited a high degree of biomechanical stress and several cases of degenerative and infectious diseases; one of them showed a sclerosing mastoiditis. The stable isotope analyses suggested a diet rich in terrestrial food sources in particular sheep and goat livestock. These results seem to point out that no dietary shift occurred during the Neolithic period in this community, suggesting the maximum use of the environmental resources that these early Neolithic had available. It is worth noting that two individuals showed high nitrogen values, likely the result of nutritional stress brought on by limited protein intake or metabolic diseases.