Objectives: Puberty is a crucial part of life, representing the biological transition from childhood to adulthood. With the aim of expanding current knowledge of pubertal development and the life course in past populations, this study provides the first investigation of puberty in pre-Roman Italy. Materials and methods: Nine skeletal and dental puberty indicators were assessed in a sample of 84 Etruscan and Samnite individuals (8.0-23.9 years) from Pontecagnano (southern Italy, seventh-fourth centuries BC) to garner insights into the timing and duration of different pubertal stages. Results: Adolescents from Pontecagnano entered puberty at 10-12 years and completed pubertal development at approximately 20-21 years. Menarche occurred between 14 and 17 years. Remarkable variability in pubertal timing and an overall prolonged pubertal tempo were observed. Unexpectedly, females completed puberty at the same age as males. Discussion: The onset and completion of puberty in Pontecagnano are mostly in line with pubertal trends emerging from other bioarchaeological studies and historical sources. The considerable inter-individual variability in pubertal timing seen at the site probably reflects its great sociocultural heterogeneity, whilst the prolonged pubertal tempo could represent an adaptive mechanism in response to environmental disruptors. These may have included endemic diseases characteristic of Pontecagnano's marshy environment and pollutants produced by the Etruscan and Samnite metallurgical industries. Moreover, the role of catch-up growth in favouring better pregnancy outcomes could explain why female puberty appears particularly stretched. The importance of exploring pubertal development in past societies without culturally biased assumptions is emphasised.
Research aimsThere is no information on previous geophysical prospections carried out in the Archaeological Park of Pontecagnano-Faiano, in order to reconstruct the ancient settlement of Picentia, an Etrusco-Campanian and Roman settlement near Salerno (Southern Italy). Therefore, an integrated geophysical survey based on magnetic, geoelectric and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) prospections was executed in the Park. The methods provided a basic map of buried ancient structures at depth from 0.1-0.2 to about 1.5 meters. Magnetic data were processed analyzing the analytical signal of the vertical derivative of the measured gradient and this substantially reduced a strong fence effect. The results of the geophysical prospections showed archaeological structures located close to those discovered in the excavated areas. The shape of the anomalies are usually elongated with well-defined geometrical characteristics. Many anomalies are arranged along orthogonal directions and they are very coherent with the excavated structures, namely the quarters structures of the ancient Picentia.
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