Abstract
We present the Sr isotopic composition of enamel of the most ancient deciduous tooth ever discovered in Italy to assess human mobility in Middle Pleistocene. Reconstructing ancient mobility is crucial for understanding human strategy at exploiting temporally and spatially patchy resources, with most studies focusing on indirect evidences, ultimately affecting our interpretation on hominin territoriality and energetic costs invested by hominin groups. Here, we use the high spatial resolution and micro-destructivity options offered by the Laser Ablation Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry technique, to determine the 87Sr/ 86Sr intra-tooth variability of a human deciduous incisor from the Middle Pleistocene layers of the Isernia La Pineta site (Italy). We compared these data with the Sr isotopic signature of local micro-mammals, the broadest home-range of the macro-mammals and with modern plant samples. Our study reveals that while macro-mammals have possibly migrated through the landscape for up to 50 km, the pregnant woman from Isernia was probably local, given that the isotopic ratio of the enamel falls within the local range and is comparable with the signature of the local plants in a radius of 10 km. This is the first case study of Sr isotopic composition determination in such ancient deciduous tooth.
Highlights
Human mobility of ancient communities and the consequent interaction with the environment and other populations is often hard to define because of a lack of concrete data
Despite the great potential of the Sr isotope method application to mobility studies, there has been no attempt to use it in Middle Pleistocene specimens
The strontium isotope ratios of the human tooth and animal teeth are summarized in Table 1 and Table S1
Summary
Human mobility of ancient communities and the consequent interaction with the environment and other populations is often hard to define because of a lack of concrete data. The investigation of hominin past mobility has been achieved using different indirect evidences as, e.g., lower limb morphology[1], raw material procurement[2], diverse exploitation of faunal resources[3] and study of the camp size[4] These approaches give a patchy overview of the resource exploitation and environmental change adaption because they inform about specific hominins within the analyzed site. Mobility patterns in Middle Pleistocene hominins have only been inferred by observations of raw material exploitation for lithic artefacts, from butchery testimonies and from environmental data[3] Overall, these evidences suggest that the presence of a rich and diversified fauna coupled to a less cold environment in central and southern Italy compared to northern regions, may have led to the local adaptation of hominin groups[3]
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