@article {330005,
	title = {The oldest fossil hominin from Italy: Reassessment of the femoral diaphysis from Venosa-Notarchirico in its Acheulean context},
	journal = {Quaternary Science Reviews},
	volume = {334},
	year = {2024},
	month = {2024/06/15/},
	pages = {108709},
	abstract = {<p>Venosa-Notarchirico is a musealized Lower Paleolithic site in southern Italy (Basilicata), where a human femoral shaft was discovered in 1985. The fossil specimen can be evaluated in the new light of excavations started in 2016, which provide a more updated and extensive picture of the site, including the crucial Ar/Ar date of 661-614 ka for the human specimen. This makes the fossil diaphysis from Venosa-Notarchirico (Vn-H1) the oldest fossil hominin found so far in the Italian peninsula, associated with the earliest evidence of genuine Acheulean in Europe. In this paper, we report a comparative morphometric analysis of this femur, as well as a paleopathological reappraisal of the periosteal alteration that affects the specimen, supported by an unpublished histological analysis. Vn-H1 represents the proximal two-thirds of a right femur lacking the epiphyseal region. We argue it belonged to an immature individual, possibly a juvenile (late adolescent). Its features suggest that the specimen may refer to an archaic (i.e., non-modern) human species, also showing morphological differences compared to fossil samples of the Neanderthal lineage. We also support the identification of a pathological condition affecting Vn-H1, particularly evident in some preserved portions of the mid-shaft as described here. Its etiology is discussed after differential diagnosis, which led us to suggest an alteration of inflammatory origin, viewed as a nonspecific periosteal response. This pathology may have been roughly concomitant with the death of the individual.</p>
},
	keywords = {3D morphology, Bone micro-anatomy, Early Acheulean, Europe, Human evolution, Middle Pleistocene, Paleopathology},
	isbn = {0277-3791},
	doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108709},
	url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379124002105},
	author = {Micarelli, Ileana and Minozzi, Simona and Rodr{\'\i}guez, Laura and Di Vincenzo, Fabio and Garc{\'\i}a-Gonz{\'a}lez, Rebeca and Giuffra, Valentina and Paine, Robert R. and Carretero, Jos{\'e}-Miguel and Fornaciari, Gino and Moncel, Marie-H{\'e}l{\`e}ne and Manzi, Giorgio}
}
