Neolithic dental calculi provide evidence for environmental proxies and consumption of wild edible fruits and herbs in central Apennines.

ABSTRACT: Looking for a biological fingerprint relative to new aspects of the relationship between humans and natural environment during prehistoric times is challenging. Although many issues still need to be addressed in terms of authentication and identification, microparticles hidden in ancient dental calculus can provide interesting information for bridging this gap of knowledge. Here, we show evidence about the role of edible plants for the early Neolithic individuals in the central Apennines of the Italian peninsula and relative cultural landscape. Dental calculi from human and animal specimens exhumed at Grotta Mora Cavorso (Lazio), one of the largest prehistoric burial deposits, have returned an archaeobotanical record made up of several types of palaeoecological proxies. The organic fractio

SUBMITTER: D'Agostino A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9763411 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature