Skull trip: How one human cranium awakens alone in a cave in Italy

A single cranium in an Italian cave was awakened there after being washed away from its original burial site, according to a study published on March 3, 2021 in the journal Open Access PLOS AON by Maria Giovanna Belcastro of the University of Bologna, Italy and colleagues.

In 2015, archaeologists discovered one human cranium (lower hookless skull) in a gypsum cave in Northern Italy called Marcel Loubens cave. Caves are known to have been used for burial practices in ancient Italy, but the fact that there are no other human remains in this cave has raised questions about how this skull came to be, prompting researchers in the examine this to make a detailed study. on the bone.

The bone structure indicates that it belonged to a woman between 24 and 35 years of age at the time of her death. Carbon sequestration sets the remains between 3630-3380 BC, during the Eneolithic period. A number of injuries to the bone appear to have been caused by the removal of soft tissue after death as part of a burial ritual, and other damage and degrading sediment to the bone is evidence. that it was moved by natural processes shortly thereafter.

With this evidence, the researchers reconstructed the skull tour. After being manipulated and laid down to rest in a burial place, the skull of this body was removed, possibly moved by water and mud down the slope of a sinkhole and into the cave. . Later, continued submerged activity created the modern structure of the cave, with this bone still preserved inside. In addition to revealing this fascinating story, this sample also seems to represent evidence of body burial treatment in Italy at this time.

The authors state: “An interesting antiquarian cold case: a remote human cranium was found in the gypsum Cave of Marcel Loubens (Bologna region, northern Italy) at the top of a steep slope, reached by a 12- When did he arrive? Who was he with?

The cough (or head) of an early Eneolithic young woman appears to have been manipulated and transmitted in the context of a burial or ritual and the skull, after a long and bumpy journey, was accidentally placed in the cave in the was found! ”

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Citation: Belcastro MG, Nicolosi T, Sorrentino R, Mariotti V, Pietrobelli A, Bettuzzi M, et al. (2021) Revealing Poor Postmortem Condition: The Isolated Eneolithic Cranium Found in Marcel Loubens Cave (Bologna, Northern Italy). PLoS AON 16 (3): e0247306. https: //doi.org /10.1371 /iris.pole.0247306

Funding: The authors did not receive specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have stated that there are no competing interests.

In your cover use this URL to access the article which is freely available in PLOS AON: https: //magazines.plos.org /plosone /article? id =10.1371 /iris.pole.0247306