Paleobiological examination of the Bronze Age human skeletal remains from Luogovivo (Taranto, southern Italy).

This study focuses on the determination of the Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) of the human skeletal sample from Luogovivo (Pulsano, Italy), a Bronze Age cave where multiple inhumations were excavated at the beginning of the 1990s. Archaeological data are consistent with the ‘typical’ Bronze Age characterisation of this part of southern Italy, particularly in the use of caves as burial ground. Skeletal remains were commingled, and the poor state of preservation could not allow for a detailed investigation, however data obtained may be evaluated within the anthropological scenario known for Italian Bronze Age, adding relevant bioarchaeological information from a still unknown site. Preliminary results revealed relatively good health conditions at Luogovivo; comparative analysis with coeval skeletal series suggested a possible selective use of the cave as burial space for ‘important’ section of the population.