First observations on some traits of the oral cavity in the Neanderthal from Altamura

The Murgia plateau (Apulia, southern Italy) is a geographic area rich of karstic formations such as dolines, blind valleys and caves. One of these formation is the Lamalunga cave, part of a wider karstic complex. During a speleological survey in 1993, in a small chamber, delimited by speleothemes, speleologists found a hominin specimen with the skull stuck in the walls of the chamber and other bones laying on the ground and covered by calcareous concretions. Anthropologists visited the cave in the following years and revealed that the specimen, most likely in primary deposition, preserves most of the bones in excellent state and probably represents one of the most complete fossil hominins in Europe. Observations of the skeletal features suggested the presence of mixed archaic and Neanderthal derived traits, placing the specimen in the variability of the European Late-Middle Pleistocene. A few years ago, the extraction of a scapula fragment, allowed the conduction on new analysis that on the one hand confirmed the attribution to the Neanderthal hypodigm (morphometric analyisis and ancient DNA), and on the other, dated the specimen between 130.1 ± 1.9 ka and 172 ± 15 ka. Recently, in the context of a broader project financed by the PRIN program of the Italian government, it has been possible taking more precise observations on several features of the specimen. In this work, we present preliminary observations on the dentition and the oral cavity of the Neanderthal from Altamura, made possible also by the use of a fiberscope, which allowed observing some hidden parts of the mandible and of the palate. The dentition of the specimen is almost complete, except for two teeth (upper right P3 and upper left M1) lost in vitam and four teeth (lower right I1 and P3 and lower left I1 and I2) lost post-mortem. Dental wear is marked. The inversion of the compensation curve of Wilson in M1s and M2s is clear, supporting the hypothesis that the individual is an adult. The general state of the periodontal bone is difficult to assess because it is covered by a calcite layer; however, no periodontal pockets are visible, except in correspondence of one of the lost teeth. Therefore, the high extent of root exposure might be related to bone resorption and/or compensative eruption linked to the marked dental wear. A frontal x-ray image on the skull revealed the presence of a periapical lesion in the upper right central incisor. Some features we observed, i.e. taurodontism and the presence of a retromolar space confirm, along with the cranial general morphology and the morphometric analysis of the scapula, the attribution to the Neanderthal hypodigm. Also, a well-developed palatine torus is documented, a feature whose occurrence in Neanderthals, to the best of our knowledge, has not been described so far.