title: Middle Paleolithic and Uluzzian human remains from Fumane Cave, Italy.
abstract: The site of Fumane Cave (western Lessini Mountains, Italy) contains a stratigraphic sequence spanning the Middle to early Upper Paleolithic. During excavations from 1989 to 2011, four human teeth were unearthed from the Mousterian (Fumane 1, 4, 5) and Uluzzian (Fumane 6) levels of the cave. In this contribution, we provide the first morphological description and morphometric analysis of the dental remains. All of the human remains, except for Fumane 6, are deciduous teeth. Based on metric data (crown and cervical outline analysis, and lateral enamel thickness) and non-metric dental traits (e.g., mid-trigonid crest), Fumane 1 (lower left second deciduous molar) clearly belongs to a Neandertal. For Fumane 4 (upper right central deciduous incisor), the taxonomic attribution is difficult due to heavy incisal wear. Some morphological features observed in Fumane 5 (lower right lateral deciduous incisor), coupled with the large size of the tooth, support Neandertal affinity. Fumane 6, a fragment of a permanent molar, does not show any morphological features useful for taxonomic discrimination. The human teeth from Fumane Cave increase the sample of Italian fossil remains, and emphasize the need to develop new methods to extract meaningful taxonomic information from deciduous and worn teeth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: stefano_benazzi@eva.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Shara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, I-44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peresani
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcello A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mannino
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università di Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, I-44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romandini
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z1 Canada.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hublin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D059552:Caves; D005580:Fossils; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007558:Italy; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D059125:Neanderthals / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010161:Paleodontology; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Deciduous teeth; Homo neanderthalensis; Homo sapiens; Late Pleistocene; Southern Europe