Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40739126›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Early European evidence of artificial cranial modification from the Italian Late Upper Palaeolithic Arene Candide Cave.

Tommaso Mori, Vitale Stefano Sparacello, Alessandro Riga, Giorgia Ciappi, Dario Ferrari, Francesca Seghi, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Monica Zavattaro, Filippo Pasquinelli, Roberto Carpi and 5 more

Abstract readHistorical Article
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In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Tommaso MoriDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Vitale Stefano SparacelloDepartment of Life and Environmental Sciences, Neuroscience and Anthropology Section, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Alessandro RigaDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Giorgia CiappiDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Dario FerrariDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Francesca SeghiDepartment of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.
Fabio Di VincenzoDepartment of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Monica ZavattaroUniversity Museum System, Anthropology and Ethnology Section, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Filippo PasquinelliRadiology Unit Firenze 2, San Giovanni di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy.
Roberto CarpiImaging Diagnostic Unit Firenze 3, Santa Maria Nuova Hospital, Florence, Italy.
Marco PeresaniDepartment of Humanities, Prehistoric and Anthropological Science Unit, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Federica FontanaDepartment of Humanities, Prehistoric and Anthropological Science Unit, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Luca SineoDepartment of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Jacopo Moggi-CecchiDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Irene DoriDepartment of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy. irene.dori@unifi.it.

Funding

DM247 2022 MUR Italy Investment 1.2 "Funding projects presented by young researchers" MCSA_0000035French State "Investments for the future" Program, IdEx Bordeaux ANR-10-IDEX-03-02Regione Toscana DiVInA (UNIFI_FSC2022)Regione Toscana HEIMEN (PR FSE+ 2021-2027)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study reports on early Eurasian evidence of artificial cranial modification (ACM) in a Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) individual (AC12) from Arene Candide Cave, Italy (ca. 12,620-12,190 Cal BP). We used virtual anthropology and geometric morphometrics to compare AC12's cranial morphology with LUP, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Italian specimens, pathologically modified individuals, and a global sample of ACM cases. Our analyses consistently demonstrate a strong affinity between AC12 and the ACM group, distinct from other comparative samples. Statistical analyses confirm AC12 as a clear outlier for non-ACM groups, with high probabilities of belonging to the ACM cluster. This discovery provides evidence suggesting an earlier origin of ACM on the continent, confirming that this globally distributed practice has Palaeolithic roots. Situated within a complex LUP funerary site, this finding illuminates the deep antiquity of culturally mediated body modification and its role in signifying ascribed identity within ancient hunter-gatherer societies.

Indexed as

FossilsSkullArchaeologyCavesHistory, AncientHumansItalyGeometric morphometricsHuman body culturalizationPermanent body modificationsVirtual anthropology

Identifiers

PMID40739126
PMCPMC12310970

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.