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Taphonomic modifications to Neolithic human skeletal remains from six rock-cut tombs in Malta has provided key information about funerary practices and the local environment. Application of microscopic analysis, computed tomography (CT) scanning, and 3D imaging of the modifications has allowed their comparison with similar examples in modern and archaeological skeletal material. The modifications are interpreted as pupal chambers and feeding damage by dermestid beetles. Based on observation of the behaviour and ecology of dermestid beetles, we suggest several scenarios for funerary practices at the Xemxija tombs which nuance our current understanding of collective burial during the late Neolithic in Malta.

SummaryPiophila megastigmataMcAlpine (Diptera: Piophilidae) is recorded for the first time from Algeria, northern Africa. This is the first Palaearctic record of the species outside the Iberian Peninsula, and the only record from Africa apart from its type locality in eastern South Africa. The current report extends significantly the known distribution in the Palaearctic Region of a species of forensic interest and of potential economic importance as a food pest.

SummaryAlthough crickets, katydids and grasshoppers (order Orthoptera) are generally considered archetypical examples of herbivory, cumulative evidence shows that they are actually omnivorous, feeding on a wide range of organic matter, including carrion. The present study compiles the collections of 30 Orthoptera species, from both suborders, Ensifera and Caelifera, with the use of carrion-baited traps in different natural habitats of central Spain. Higher numbers of females than males were observed, as well as higher numbers of adults than nymphs. The main part of the captures corresponded to the omnivorous cricket Nemobius sylvestris(Bosc). Possible explanations for necrophagous behaviour in Orthoptera and the observed sex-related differences are discussed.

AbstractThe distribution of Calliphoridae along an altitudinal gradient was investigated in Central Spain using carrion-baited traps. Significant differences were found between elevation and mean abundances of almost all species of blow-flies. Several species of flies could be grouped according to their altitudinal preferences so that samples at high elevations are defined by Calliphora vomitoriaand Calliphora vicinawhile samples at low elevations are defined by two thermophilous species: Lucilia sericataand Chrysomya albiceps. The remaining species show preferences for mid-elevations where wooded areas are more characteristic along the altitudinal gradient. Calliphora vomitoriaand Chrysomya albicepsare the most abundant species representing the 87.74 % of all captures. Both species are spatially segregated along the altitudinal gradient. The changing patterns of abundance are discussed in relation to differences in climate conditions along the altitudinal gradient concluding that the environmental variables that influence the seasonality of many species also play an important role to explain the spatial distribution.

•Late Pleistocene pupal chambers on bones are described for the first time in Italy.•Palaeoichnology is a significant tool to interpret archaeological contexts.•CT scan and 3D imaging significantly improve archaeological taphonomic studies.•Dermestid modifications enhance local environmental reconstructions.•A range of temperature for Mediterranean central Italy during MIS 3 is proposed.

Despite the applied importance of necrophilous histerid beetles, their communities and habitat preferences had not been characterized in the Iberian Peninsula. The current article describes the composition of those communities in seven types of natural habitats along a bioclimatical gradient in central Spain, describing and discussing the habitat preferences and niche breadths of the most abundant species. In total, 25 species of necrophilous Histeridae were collected using carrion-baited traps. As a result, six groups of species can be distinguished according to their habitat preferences. These groupings depend on either the distribution among habitats or their restriction to certain habitats. Moreover, within each habitat, the type of vegetation was a factor structuring histerid communities, with those species with wide distribution throughout several habitats showing a preference for more open areas.