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Cranial and dental anthropometry is commonly used in many areas of research, e.g., in forensicanthropology and paleoanthropology. We propose new craniometric and dental landmarks and distancesthat may have important applications in physical anthropology. Furthermore, a classical anthropometricalapproach was applied to quantify the correlation between dental and cranial measurements,which were taken on 30 Middle Ages adult crania from Sardinia (Italy).Principal components analysis was performed to explore the correlations among inter-landmark distances.The first component showed correlations between the cranial base and maxillary inter-landmarkdistances (the ‘cranial base’ system). The second component exclusively demonstrated correlationsamong maxillary and dental inter-landmark distances (the ‘oral cavity’ system). The third componentshowed positive correlations between the zygomatic and midline maxillary inter-landmark distances,and high negative loadings that include the bilateral styloid process and midline maxillary landmarks(the ‘upper cranium’ system).The inter-landmark dental distances correlate with inter-landmark cranial distances that have notbeen described previously. These data can be applied in other research and clinical areas.

Traditional reconstructions depict Sardinian Bronze Age economy as a mixed one characterized by a remarkable importance of pastoralism, opposed to a more ‘agricultural’ Neolithic. The first few isotopic data, though not unambiguously, seem to indicate quite the opposite compared with earlier times, reflecting possibly a higher dependence on vegetal foods, with possible marginal contributions of aquatic foods and/or C4 plants at one coastal site. However, the importance of ecosystem-wide shifts in interpreting collagen data for comparative purposes is underlined, with specific examples from Sardinia, and so is the rarity of collections including faunal and botanical specimens alongside humans, which would help establish a local isotopic baseline. Efforts to discriminate animal vs. vegetal contributions in Bronze Age diets that are fully based on C3 ecosystems, therefore, remain tentative. Isotopic research in progress on Sardinian diet and climate from the Copper Age up to the Nuragic Late Bronze (2800-1100 BC) is expected to provide a better grasp on temporal and geographic variation. Les reconstitutions alimentaires traditionnelles dépeignent l’économie de l’âge du Bronze en Sardaigne comme une économie mixte caractérisée par une grande importance de l’élevage des moutons, juxtaposée à une période néolithique plus agricole. Les premières données isotopiques, bien que peu nombreuses encore, semblent, d’une façon ambigüe, plutôt indiquer le contraire lorsqu’on les compare aux données des périodes précédentes. Elles montrent une plus grande dépendance des aliments végétaux avec peut-être la contribution marginale d’aliments aquatiques et/ou des plantes issues du milieu côtier. Afin de palier le manque d’études sur les restes fauniques et botaniques et dans le but de réaliser des comparaisons à l’échelle de la Sardaigne, une analyse détaillée des données isotopiques des collagènes a été réalisée pour cerner l’importance de modifications isotopiques de l’écosystème tout entier. Une recherche en cours sur la diète et sur le climat dans la Sardaigne à partir du Néolithique jusqu’à l’âge du Fer (4700-500 avant J.C.) devrait permettre une meilleure interprétation de la variabilité isotopique d’un point de vue chronologique et géographique.

Adenylate kinase (AK), phosphoglucomutase (PGM1) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) polymorphisms were investigated in a sample of individuals from Central Sardinia. The gene frequencies were: AK1 = 0.973, PGM1(1) = 0.842 and PGDA = 0.969. The frequencies were compared with those of other Italian populations.

A sample of the South Sardinia population was studied with respect to acid phosphatase (AcP) and esterase D (EsD) enzymes. The gene frequencies were: AcPA = 0.326, AcPB = 0.607, AcPC = 0.067 and EsD1 = 0.883. The results were compared with those of other Italian populations.