Discovered in 1993 [1], the so-called ”uomo di Altamura” is a rare example of a rather complete non-modern human skeleton and one of the most amazing paleoanthropological specimen ever found in Europe. It represents a massive adult male Neanderthal with some peculiarities in its morphology and a very ancient age, ranging between 128 and 187 ka [2]. The preservation of the skeleton is exceptional, although largely incorporated within calcite concretions. In the last years, we started a thorough monitoring program, paired with a laser scanner acquisition and high-resolution photogrammetry of the cave, as well as of the skeletal elements emerging from the karst. Here we present the digital reconstruction of the cranium of the Altamura skeleton partially covered by concretions, virtually extracted from the whole matrix of our digital data. The superficial morphology of the cranium was digitally acquired in two steps, using different methodologies, given that the anterior components of the cranium are directly visible together with other bones of the skeleton, whereas many posterior and basal components are accessible only by techniques inspired to endoscopic surgery. The anterior components – most of the facial bones, the almost entire frontal bone, part of the right temporal and parietal bones, the labial and occlusal surface of the anterior dentition – were acquired with a high-resolution laser scanner (40 μm). By contrast, the posterior components – the occipital bone, large portions of the right parietal and of both temporal bones, the lower portions of the facial bones, and other elements of the cranial base – were acquired by technique of photogrammetry using HD microcameras. The images were processed using the software Agisoft Photoscan. The two large digital surfaces (halves) have in common the incisal edge of the anterior dentition; this allowed us to combine the two halves and adjust the mid-sagittal profile of the braincase appropriately. By means of Geometric Morphometrics, we have used 38 comparative Midto- Late Pleistocene Homo specimens (including Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis) and modern humans. The two halves of the Altamura cranium were aligned on a scaled and symmetrized version of a reference model. Using a landmark-based approach (performed separately for the anterior and posterior components), the best-fitting Neanderthal specimen for this purpose resulted to be Saccopastore 1. We have then warped the morphology of the reference specimen with dedicated software to fulfil the missing portions of the aligned two halves of Altamura. This was done in combination with mirrored part of Altamura itself; particularly, the left zygomatic process of the temporal bone, part of the right zygomatic bone and part of the lateral wall of the right parietal bone were digitally mirrored and repositioned on the corresponding missing portions on the opposite side. The complete and detailed protocol is described by Profico et al [3]. The digital reconstruction of the Altamura cranium is now suitable for morphological observations and some morphometric analyses. Among the visible features there are many traits that detach this specimen from the Neanderthal morphology. For instance, the facial districts display an advanced degree of midfacial prognathism with inflated maxillary sinuses, but the vault appears more plesiomorphic than the face: particularly the parietals are angulated in coronal section, while the mastoids are big and projecting downward. At the same time, while the occipital appears definitely Neanderthal-like in many respects – including a double-arched occipital torus and a well defined suprainiac fossa – the brow-ridges do not seem typical for a Neanderthal, since each supraorbital region (despite largely obscured by concretions) appears massive, with a marked distinction between medial and lateral aspects.
Discovered in 1993 [1], the so-called ”uomo di Altamura” is a rare example of a rather complete non-modern human skeleton and one of the most amazing paleoanthropological specimen ever found in Europe. It represents a massive adult male Neanderthal with some peculiarities in its morphology and a very ancient age, ranging between 128 and 187 ka [2]. The preservation of the skeleton is exceptional, although largely incorporated within calcite concretions. In the last years, we started a thorough monitoring program, paired with a laser scanner acquisition and high-resolution photogrammetry of the cave, as well as of the skeletal elements emerging from the karst. Here we present the digital reconstruction of the cranium of the Altamura skeleton partially covered by concretions, virtually extracted from the whole matrix of our digital data. The superficial morphology of the cranium was digitally acquired in two steps, using different methodologies, given that the anterior components of the cranium are directly visible together with other bones of the skeleton, whereas many posterior and basal components are accessible only by techniques inspired to endoscopic surgery. The anterior components – most of the facial bones, the almost entire frontal bone, part of the right temporal and parietal bones, the labial and occlusal surface of the anterior dentition – were acquired with a high-resolution laser scanner (40 μm). By contrast, the posterior components – the occipital bone, large portions of the right parietal and of both temporal bones, the lower portions of the facial bones, and other elements of the cranial base – were acquired by technique of photogrammetry using HD microcameras. The images were processed using the software Agisoft Photoscan. The two large digital surfaces (halves) have in common the incisal edge of the anterior dentition; this allowed us to combine the two halves and adjust the mid-sagittal profile of the braincase appropriately. By means of Geometric Morphometrics, we have used 38 comparative Midto- Late Pleistocene Homo specimens (including Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis) and modern humans. The two halves of the Altamura cranium were aligned on a scaled and symmetrized version of a reference model. Using a landmark-based approach (performed separately for the anterior and posterior components), the best-fitting Neanderthal specimen for this purpose resulted to be Saccopastore 1. We have then warped the morphology of the reference specimen with dedicated software to fulfil the missing portions of the aligned two halves of Altamura. This was done in combination with mirrored part of Altamura itself; particularly, the left zygomatic process of the temporal bone, part of the right zygomatic bone and part of the lateral wall of the right parietal bone were digitally mirrored and repositioned on the corresponding missing portions on the opposite side. The complete and detailed protocol is described by Profico et al [3]. The digital reconstruction of the Altamura cranium is now suitable for morphological observations and some morphometric analyses. Among the visible features there are many traits that detach this specimen from the Neanderthal morphology. For instance, the facial districts display an advanced degree of midfacial prognathism with inflated maxillary sinuses, but the vault appears more plesiomorphic than the face: particularly the parietals are angulated in coronal section, while the mastoids are big and projecting downward. At the same time, while the occipital appears definitely Neanderthal-like in many respects – including a double-arched occipital torus and a well defined suprainiac fossa – the brow-ridges do not seem typical for a Neanderthal, since each supraorbital region (despite largely obscured by concretions) appears massive, with a marked distinction between medial and lateral aspects.
The cranium of the Altamura Neanderthal (Puglia, Italy): virtual extraction, digital restoration and morphological notes / DI VINCENZO, Fabio; Profico, Antonio; Tafuri, MARY ANNE; Caramelli, David; Manzi, Giorgio. - ELETTRONICO. - 5:(2016), pp. 80-80. (Intervento presentato al convegno 6th Annual Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution tenutosi a Madrid nel 14-18 September).
The cranium of the Altamura Neanderthal (Puglia, Italy): virtual extraction, digital restoration and morphological notes
DI VINCENZO, FABIO;PROFICO, ANTONIO;TAFURI, MARY ANNE;MANZI, Giorgio
2016
Abstract
Discovered in 1993 [1], the so-called ”uomo di Altamura” is a rare example of a rather complete non-modern human skeleton and one of the most amazing paleoanthropological specimen ever found in Europe. It represents a massive adult male Neanderthal with some peculiarities in its morphology and a very ancient age, ranging between 128 and 187 ka [2]. The preservation of the skeleton is exceptional, although largely incorporated within calcite concretions. In the last years, we started a thorough monitoring program, paired with a laser scanner acquisition and high-resolution photogrammetry of the cave, as well as of the skeletal elements emerging from the karst. Here we present the digital reconstruction of the cranium of the Altamura skeleton partially covered by concretions, virtually extracted from the whole matrix of our digital data. The superficial morphology of the cranium was digitally acquired in two steps, using different methodologies, given that the anterior components of the cranium are directly visible together with other bones of the skeleton, whereas many posterior and basal components are accessible only by techniques inspired to endoscopic surgery. The anterior components – most of the facial bones, the almost entire frontal bone, part of the right temporal and parietal bones, the labial and occlusal surface of the anterior dentition – were acquired with a high-resolution laser scanner (40 μm). By contrast, the posterior components – the occipital bone, large portions of the right parietal and of both temporal bones, the lower portions of the facial bones, and other elements of the cranial base – were acquired by technique of photogrammetry using HD microcameras. The images were processed using the software Agisoft Photoscan. The two large digital surfaces (halves) have in common the incisal edge of the anterior dentition; this allowed us to combine the two halves and adjust the mid-sagittal profile of the braincase appropriately. By means of Geometric Morphometrics, we have used 38 comparative Midto- Late Pleistocene Homo specimens (including Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis) and modern humans. The two halves of the Altamura cranium were aligned on a scaled and symmetrized version of a reference model. Using a landmark-based approach (performed separately for the anterior and posterior components), the best-fitting Neanderthal specimen for this purpose resulted to be Saccopastore 1. We have then warped the morphology of the reference specimen with dedicated software to fulfil the missing portions of the aligned two halves of Altamura. This was done in combination with mirrored part of Altamura itself; particularly, the left zygomatic process of the temporal bone, part of the right zygomatic bone and part of the lateral wall of the right parietal bone were digitally mirrored and repositioned on the corresponding missing portions on the opposite side. The complete and detailed protocol is described by Profico et al [3]. The digital reconstruction of the Altamura cranium is now suitable for morphological observations and some morphometric analyses. Among the visible features there are many traits that detach this specimen from the Neanderthal morphology. For instance, the facial districts display an advanced degree of midfacial prognathism with inflated maxillary sinuses, but the vault appears more plesiomorphic than the face: particularly the parietals are angulated in coronal section, while the mastoids are big and projecting downward. At the same time, while the occipital appears definitely Neanderthal-like in many respects – including a double-arched occipital torus and a well defined suprainiac fossa – the brow-ridges do not seem typical for a Neanderthal, since each supraorbital region (despite largely obscured by concretions) appears massive, with a marked distinction between medial and lateral aspects.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
