ALT Who became an ‘ancestor’ in Neolithic Italy? A deposit of crania in Masseria Candelaro village, Apulia, was investigated using bioarchaeological, taphonomic, radiocarbon and isotopic studies to explore aspects of the individuals’ lives and post-mortem use histories.

ALT Radiocarbon dating showed that these crania were acquired over multiple generations in the middle of the 6th millennium BCE. They were actively used, becoming broken and worn, before they were finally buried. The ancestors in this village were mostly probably males, from adolescent to old adult in age.

ALT How were different ways of burying and interacting with the dead linked in the Neolithic of southern Italy?

ALT The Ancestors Project team analysed the microstructural preservation of bone from primary burials, disturbed or open contexts, and disarticulated remains to investigate burial environment and post-mortem treatment.

ALT They found variable preservation within sites, and even within the same burial context. Disarticulated and articulated remains showed similar extents of bacterial attack, suggesting that bones which were re-deposited were often obtained from burials.

ALT Image with abstract for the session "Big Databases: how large-scale archives can boost archaeological research" held in Jena (Germany) from the 22nd to the 25th of November 2024.