Search

Dog domestication is still largely unresolved due to time-gaps in the sampling of regions. Ancient Italian canids are particularly understudied, currently represented by only a few specimens. In the present study, we sampled 27 canid remains from Northern Italy dated between the Late Pleistocene and Bronze Age to assess their genetic variability, and thus add context to dog domestication dynamics. They were targeted at four DNA fragments of the hypervariable region 1 of mitochondrial DNA. A total of 11 samples had good DNA preservation and were used for phylogenetic analyses. The dog samples were assigned to dog haplogroups A, C and D, and a Late Pleistocene wolf was set into wolf haplogroup 2. We present our data in the landscape of ancient and modern dog genetic variability, with a particular focus on the ancient Italian samples published thus far. Our results suggest there is high genetic variability within ancient Italian canids, where close relationships were evident between both a ~24,700 years old Italian canid, and Iberian and Bulgarian ancient dogs. These findings emphasize that disentangling dog domestication dynamics benefits from the analysis of specimens from Southern European regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence of maternal care and childbirth events in the past are rare in the archaeological record and are difficult to recognize. To combat this, we analyzed thirteen double burials potentially related to childbirth death events, thereby containing an adult and a perinate. The specimens were excavated from the archaeological area identified as "Forlì Campus" (Forlì, Italy), that dated to 17th-18th centuries AD and was adjacent to a hospital in use at that time. This period witnessed the development of medical techniques and novel approaches in obstetrics in Europe, with the introduction of lying-in hospitals and maternity wards. We here tested if the double burials were ascribable to childbirth death events and thus represent the first reported cases of the hospitalization of childbirth in the history of medicine. A multidisciplinary analysis was undertaken to achieve this aim, combining anthropology, archaeology, paleopathology and archaeogenetics. In five burials the adult individual was recognized as a female in fertile age and the non-adult individual was assigned as perinate. Mitochondrial DNA analysis highlighted different haplotypes among the individuals of these burials, and these results, combined with the archaeological and anthropological data do not support a possible maternal relationship between them. This study is novel in testing the hypotheses of childbirth deaths, through a reliable approach in the interpretation of these archaeological contexts. The analysis of ancient DNA in this particular application proves a useful strategy to support and complete the interpretation of archaeological and anthropological data, showing that a general assumption of mother/child relations within such burials can be misleading. • Childbirth deaths in the past are difficult to recognize in the archaeological record. • Double burials containing a female in childbearing age and a perinate were analyzed. • Mitochondrial DNA analysis highlighted different haplotypes. • The results do not support a possible maternal relationship between them. • A general assumption of mother/child relations within such burials can be misleading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]