Inferring the mobility of a middle Upper Paleolithic female skeleton from Caviglione (Liguria, Italy): Impact of trauma and mountainous terrain

Tony Chevalier; Thomas Colard

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103428

Inferring the mobility of a middle Upper Paleolithic female skeleton from Caviglione (Liguria, Italy): Impact of trauma and mountainous terrain

J Hum Evol. 2023 Nov:184:103428. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103428. Epub 2023 Sep 21.

Authors

Tony Chevalier¹, Thomas Colard²

Affiliations

¹ UMR 7194 HNHP, University of Perpignan via Domitia, EPCC-CERP de Tautavel, Avenue Léon Jean Grégory, Tautavel 66720, France. Electronic address: tony.chevalier@univ-perp.fr.
² UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC; Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS50023, Pessac F-33615, France; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Lille, CHU Lille, Lille F-59000, France.

PMID: 37741140
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103428

Abstract

Mobility and territory occupation, the participation of injured individuals in group activities, and the role of women in early human groups are crucial issues in human evolution. Previously, a biomechanical study showed evidence of several traumas to the upper limb of the well-preserved middle Upper Paleolithic (UP) female skeleton from Caviglione (Caviglione 1, Liguria, Italy) but did not characterize their impact on locomotor behavior. Furthermore, mobility in the European UP context is thoroughly documented in males but not in females. Therefore, we examined whether this trauma-affected female skeleton shows bone adaptation to high mobility, as expected in UP groups, and to frequent foot eversion and inversion, as expected, given the mountainous area in which it was discovered. This study investigated the structural properties of the femur, tibia, fibula, and first metatarsal to infer the mobility level and pattern of Caviglione 1. We analyzed the diaphyseal 'shape', robusticity, fibular cortical distribution, and relative robusticity (fibula versus tibia). No substantial findings were derived from the first metatarsal. The fibular cortical distribution can discriminate 'active' (nomadic or settled) and recent sedentary human groups; these findings indicated Caviglione 1 belonged to the former. Interestingly, compared with ancient and recent sedentary humans and some UP individuals, Caviglione 1 had femurs with strong relative anteroposterior rigidity and robust tibias and fibulas reflecting an adaptation to extremely high levels of mobility. The very high relative fibular robusticity of Caviglione 1, higher than that of Middle UP males, is consistent with bone adaptation to frequent travel through mountainous terrain. Such fibular robusticity may also be a consequence of imbalance, due to upper limb traumas, when traveling downhill. These findings indicate that injured individuals may have participated in subsistence activities in past populations and describe an UP female with bone adaptations to habitual high mobility, notably in mountainous terrain.

Keywords: Cross-sectional properties; Fibular robusticity; Gender-related behavior; Lower limb bones; Mountain mobility.