Analisi paleobiologiche degli inumati dell’ipogeo dell’Età del Bronzo di Madonna di Loreto (Trinitapoli).

In this paper we take into consideration the paleobiology of a human group found in an hypogean tomb of the site of Madonna di Loreto, Trinitapoli, Foggia. We analysed the skeletons coming from sectors A, B, C (around 98 individuals). They are mesodolichocranic, mostly with elongated cranial features, high if seen in norma lateralis, with medium-narrow foreheads, medium-high orbits, and leptorrhiny. Post-cranial skeletal traits show intense physical labour and a greater engagement of the left side of the body, maybe to be connected to the group's endogamy. Stature has medium-high values both for males and females, while bone markers of skeletal stress on upper and lower limbs (such as fractures, muscular sprains, functional alterations) show, as we have seen above for traits, intense physical engagement. Among paleopathological lesions osteochondritis dissecans has an hereditary origin and could also imply a certain degree of endogamy in our sample. Paleonutritional analyses performed through AAS show that the individuals from sector C were characterized by a richer and more balanced diet than those from sector A and B for which the access to proteins was certainly more limited. Comparisons wth other Bronze age populations from Italy and Greece point to a certain similarity with Castiglione di Ragusa and Marcita samples (both from Sicily) and Asine and Lerna groups (from Greece). This affinity has been confirmed also by paleogenetical analyses.