Sex-related morbidity and mortality in non-adult individuals from the Early Medieval site of Valdaro (Italy): the contribution of dental enamel peptide analysis. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lugli, Federico; Figus, Carla; Silvestrini, Sara; Costa, Valentina; Bortolini, Eugenio; Conti, Sara; Peripoli, Beatrice; Nava, Alessia; Sperduti, Alessandra; Lamanna, Leonardo; Bondioli, Luca; Benazzi, Stefano
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 34:Part A(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Sex estimation -- LC-MS/MS -- Amelogenin -- Proteomics -- Tooth enamel -- Non-adults; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102625
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Highlights: Amelogenin-sex estimation by LC-MS/MS is a time- and cost-effective method to study non-adult individuals. Tooth germs provide reliable information on infants' sex. The non-adult sample of Valdaro (Early Middle Ages, Italy) is composed by 13 males and 17 females. Cribra cranii and endocranial lesion occurrences seem to show an association with male sex. Abstract: In this work, osteological and paleopathological analyses are combined with liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry to study life and death of 30 non-adult individuals from an Early Medieval Italian funerary context (Valdaro, 7th-8th cent. AD). We estimated individual sex by exploiting sexual differences in enamel-bounded peptides. Enamel proteins were extracted through an acid etching of the whole tooth crowns for 4 samples and through a partial digestion of small enamel chunks for the remaining 26 samples. Both protocols were informative on the sex of the individuals through the identification of amelogenin isoforms (AMELX and AMELY). In addition, low-mineralized tooth germs were analysed and they provided reliable information on the infants' sex. We observed the presence of 13 males and 17 females among the non-adults of Valdaro, not significantly different from a random sample with an equal frequency of males and females. Cribra cranii and endocranial lesion occurrence showed an association with sex, with higher frequencies in male individuals.