An example of cranial trepanation dating to the Middle Bronze Age from Ebla, Syria.

This paper regards the discovery of a trepanated skull dating back to the end of the Middle Bronze Age II (1650-1600 B.C.). The skull was found in a funeral pit in the Syrian city of Ebla. A rectangular area of the frontal bone measuring approximately 50 by 45 mm was purposely surgically removed through the use of a blade. Deposition of new bone indicates that the subject survived for a long period after the surgery. This skull represents one of the oldest cases of trepanation with a quadrilateral form of incision found in the Near East.

Biological divergence and equality during the first millennium BC in human populations of central Italy.

The frequencies of nine discrete cranial traits are contrasted among 10 skeletal series of central Italy to assess the patterning of biological affinity or divergence. In this study various statistical applications were used: Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD), which was elaborated using the WPGMA cluster analysis, neighbor-joining method and principal coordinate analysis. The results show two main groups divided by the Apennines, which probably were a geographic barrier to biological exchange during the Italian Iron Age. This fact induced endogamous phenomena in the populations on the two sides of Italy (Adriatic and Tyrrenian) and probably increased the familial segregation of traits. The group on the western side has a further division between samples of the central coast and those of the southern coast. The latter samples seem to be more closely connected to Sardinian peoples, and this indicates gene flow and cultural contacts, which were not hindered by the sea. This segregation appears to have receded by Roman times.