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Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119
UCD 572.72:572.087
Original scientific paper
Three-Dimensional Topographic
Survey of the Human Remains in
Lamalunga Cave (Altamura, Bari,
Southern Italy)
Eligio Vacca and Vittorio Pesce Delfino
Department of Zoology, Anthropology Unit, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
ABSTRACT
The aim of the Research Unit, in the framework of the »Programma Nazionale di
Ricerca – MURST (Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica)
1998–2000«, was to study human fossil remains and sites of paleoanthropological inter-
est; the observations regard sites and remains found principally in Apulia, amongst
which, the Lamalunga Cave – Altamura. The results of the survey phases of the cave
and the three-dimensional topographic distribution of the human remains are reported.
Three-dimensional spatial coordinates describing the collocation of the skeleton were
sampled. These points were used as reference points for the spatial positioning of nu-
merical models reproducing elements of an adult male skeleton. The survey allows the
interactive observation of the remains and their relationship with the site, so that the re-
mains can be observed from points of view actually impossible. On the basis of such
views, it was possible to better deduce the relationship between the skeletal elements,
confirming the hypothesis that the skeletonization phenomenon occurred in the actual
site where the remains are now found.
Key words: Altamura remains, 3D survey, Neanderthal
Introduction
The »Lamalunga Cave« is located in
the countryside near Altamura (Bari,
Apulia, Southern Italy). The cave was
discovered by cavers belonging to the lo-
cal caving association – C.A.R.S. (Centro
Altamurano Ricerche Speleologiche).
They reached the karstic complex enlarg-
ing a small fissure in the rock through
which a strong draught came out. During
the first phases of the exploration, cavers
113
Received for publication September 12, 2003
belonging to the speleo group of Bari,
C.A.I – (Club Alpino Italiano), joined the
CARS; exploring one branch of the cave,
they sighted a skull and some human
bones. Some slides shot in that occasion
were shown to anthropologists from Bari
University, so that on 8th October 1993,
they inspected the cave and could observe
the remains in situ.
The access to the cave consisted of a
well about 8 meters deep, followed by a
narrow passage (which was later artifi-
cially enlarged), a few meters long and
just wide enough for a person to pass
through. This passage widens into a large
cavern with several tunnels starting all
around; one of these branches is the one
which leads, after some 60 meters, to the
recess containing the human bones.
The human remains were found in the
corner of a small cavity between the floor
and the far wall, this latter having the
form of a strong stalactitic curtain. They
are lying on an oblong area delimited by
columnar formations (Figure 1); they ap-
pear to be partly incorporated within the
calcareous concretions, and partly evi-
dent; however they are covered by a cal-
careous shell of varying thickness which
often takes on the aspect of coralliform
formations.
The skull lies on its vault, and is par-
tially turned towards the left; above, in
correspondence with the upper maxillary,
it lies against a stalactitic formation. On
the left side this formation covers the
zygomatic process up to the frontal area
and the whole of the area behind it; on
the right side the stalactitic formation
covers part of the maxillary, leaving the
upper edge of the zygomatic arch visible.
The maxillary, which is lacking the ca-
nine fossa, clearly recalls the Neander-
thal morphology. The majority of the vault,
the orbits and, on the right, part of the
lateral region of the skull, up to more
than half the length of the face, are clear-
ly visible. It was also possible to evaluate
the completeness of the area of the occipi-
tal foramen, the palate and the base.
114
E. Vacca et al.: 3D Survey of Altamura Remains, Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119
Fig. 1. The Altamura remains in situ, top view.
At first sight the supraorbital tori stand
out, although this impression should be
considered with caution since this is one
of the zones where the thickness of the
concretions is at its greatest. The same
caution has to be applied to the evalua-
tion of the existence and size of a sulcus
at the supraorbital level. The torus seems
to be subdivided into two slightly arched
tracts above each orbit, which are sepa-
rated by a clear triangular depression;
the thickness varies in a medium-lateral
direction, giving the torus a spindle sha-
ped aspect thinning towards the outside.
The squama of the frontal appears to
be moderately but regularly convex and,
in the sagittal area, there is a slight bone
thickening.
Judging from the views obtained by
micro video-cameras, the occipital plane,
almost rounded, is covered with a layer of
fairly uniform concretions, while the
concretioned surface of the nucal planum
is rather uneven and irregular as are the
edges of the occipital foramen; the trans-
versal torus seems to be bipartite and in
relief, the mastoid apophisis is clearly
visible.
In front of the skull there are many el-
ements of the postcranial skeleton that
are not all immediately identifiable as a
result of the concretions. The part which
lies furthest away from the skull is the
left innominate bone of which only the
iliac portion is visible and which, together
with the controlateral bone, is covered by
a calcitic crust which impedes observa-
tions of the synphysial region and the
rest of which is incorporated in a thick
stalagmitic formation.
The elements that can be evaluated,
such as the general robusticity of the
skeleton and the form of the iliac fossa
(quite high and narrow), the orientation
of the iliac crest and the degree of tooth
wear, all indicate that the individual was
an adult male.
An estimation of the stature was ob-
tained by using the length of the femur
taken in situ, and resulted in a mid-
dle-low height.
115
E. Vacca et al.: 3D Survey of Altamura Remains, Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119
Fig. 2. Altamura cranium, (the occipital view, not directly visible, was obtained by micro
video-cameras).
In many aspect the morphology of the
Altamura skull (the maxillary and the oc-
cipital for example) quite clearly resem-
bles those of the Neanderthal line (Figure
2). It is possible that without the calcare-
ous concretions some features of the vault
and of the base could appear less ad-
vanced, according to a scheme of differen-
tiated progression between morphologi-
cal traits which has already been noted in
findings of the same evolutionary line.
The discovery of the »Altamura man«,
has revealed, from the moment of the dis-
covery, various elements that make the
find singularly spectacular, both for the
characteristics of the position of the re-
mains in the cave and for the evolution-
ary significance of the anatomical and an-
thropological characteristics of the re-
mains1,2 themselves.
Two main problems have arisen: the
possibility to observe the remains in situ,
allowing specialists from different disci-
plines to plan successive work stages, and
the need to comply with strict criteria of
access and monitoring controls to protect
the site and the remains while still allow-
ing general cultural-touristical access.
Material and Methods
From 1998 to 2000 the SARASTRO
project (integrated tele-operated system
with living tele-video observation and
telemetrics), developed for scientific and
cultural access to the archaic remains of
the Altamura man, designed by the Uni-
versity of Bari, was developed and real-
ized by Digamma Research Consortium3.
The project aimed at the installation of a
system of technologically assisted access,
using a complex and innovative telematic
solution, which can be defined as a »from-
the-field museum«. The project was de-
signed to create wide access to a cultural
asset that would not normally allow di-
rect fruition, both for the sake of its con-
servation and for the safety of the visitors
themselves, in this way confronting the
difficult compromise inherent in any dis-
cussion of 'conservation versus access' to
unique cultural assets.
As a part of the project, observations
and surveys were conducted to define cer-
tain aspects regarding the collocation and
distribution of the human remains and
their morphology.
The three-dimensional general survey
of the cave, carried out by specialists from
the speleological group CARS (Centro Al-
tamurano Ricerche Speleologiche)4stands
as an indispensable tool for a deeper un-
derstanding of Lamalunga cave. In order
to perform this survey, specific procedu-
ral and technical solutions were devel-
oped to increase the precision and accu-
racy of the survey, much better than in
the classic speleological surveys. The »Apse«,
the area containing the human remains,
was measured with a detail of 2 cm. The
resultant survey was the starting point
for the mapping of the paleoanthropo-
logical, speleological and faunal elements
present in the cave.
In this phase a three-dimensional top-
ographic distribution of the visible hu-
man bone segments was obtained by the
authors; this survey, together with the
general survey of the cave, guaranteed
the possibility of creating a spatial map of
the remains, with respect to the cave and
to the corresponding surface area.
Results and Discussion
The survey was performed sampling
three-dimensional spatial coordinates
(130 points approx.) The points describe
the collocation of the skeleton, or of its
parts directly visible, where concretion is
slight. Certain elements, indeed, are only
partially visible; only the iliac portion of
the right part of the pelvis, for example,
is visible, the rest being covered by cal-
cite. In the same way, only the proximal
portion of the right femur is visible, the
116
E. Vacca et al.: 3D Survey of Altamura Remains, Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119
distal portion being covered by concre-
tion.
This situation suggested, first of all, to
develop a topographic model of the re-
mains, to permit successive surveys for
fine morphological modelization with spe-
cifically designed dedicated technology.
In this phase, the sampled points were
used as connection points for the spatial
positioning of numerical models repro-
ducing skeletal elements in relation to
the general survey of the cave and the
Apse. A model reproducing an adult male
skeleton, approx. 165 cm tall was used for
post-cranial bones; for the skull, a gen-
eral model reproducing a Neanderthal
morphology was used. The single bone el-
ements were re-composed in a virtual
space using the real points sampled (Fig-
ure 3); the relationship between the skel-
etal elements was then verified in the
laboratory using a video-photographic data
base illustrating the position and state of
the remains.
The survey allows the interactive ex-
ploration and observation of the remains
and their relationship with the site, which
can be observed from points of view actu-
ally impossible as, for example, an under-
neath view. Based on such views (Figure
4), the relationship between the skeletal
elements confirms the original hypothe-
sis that the skeletonization phenomenon
occurred in the actual site where it is now
found and that, at a later date, it under-
went only very limited movements with
respect to its original position.
Conclusions
The Altamura bone remains are obvi-
ously not in anatomical connection; the
topographic distribution of some of the
bones such as the femura, the right tibia
and fibula, the left tibia and fibula, the
radii and humeri, the position of the man-
dible with respect to the skull and the
pelvic bones, all suggest a unified posi-
tion of the body immediately after death,
117
E. Vacca et al.: 3D Survey of Altamura Remains, Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119
Fig. 3. Survey of the Lamalunga cave, detail of the Apse: the recess containing the human remains.
The map shows the points sampled on the remains and some models of the bone elements posi-
tioned according to three-dimensional coordinates.
so that fossilisation took place where the
bones have been found. The earliest
events should have been the detachment
and fall of the skull and mandible, and of
the bones of the upper limbs; it was only
later that the disarticulation and collapse
of the axile skeleton and the detachment
of the femurs from the pelvis led to the fi-
nal layout of the bones. After the fossili-
sation process and before the concretion
phenomena, which finally settled the bo-
nes, slight movements of the individual
bones or the action of water might have
resulted in the current arrangement of
the bones.
The model so obtained*, moreover, al-
lows a reasonably accurate calculation of
the true volume of the human remains,
which, in some places, is very different
from the volume that can be directly ob-
served or calculated, thus virtually com-
pleting the bone elements that are actu-
ally embedded in concretions. This infor-
mation is an indispensable instrument
for the future planning of the sampling or
removal of the remains.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the Targeted Project
»Cultural Heritage« of the Italian Na-
tional Research Council C.N.R. (CR.CNR.
99.03689.PF36) for the permission to use
the numerical models reproducing skele-
tal elements.
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E. Vacca et al.: 3D Survey of Altamura Remains, Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119
Fig. 4. Three-dimensional topographic distribution of the Altamura remains, top view.
* Interested institutions can request to the authors the CD-ROM containing the interactive 3D-model.
REFERENCES
1. PESCE DELFINO, V., E. VACCA, Riv. Antrop.,
71 (1993) 249. — 2. PESCE DELFINO, V., E. VACCA,
The Altamura human skeleton: Discovery and in situ
examination. In: BEINHAUER, K. W., R. KRAATZ,
G. A. WAGNER (Eds.): Homo erectus heidelbergensis
von Mauer: Kolloquium I, 20 – 22 Januar 1995. (J.T.
Verlag, Sigmaringen, 1996). — 3. VACCA, E., A. TO-
DERO, A. DE MARZO, V. PESCE DELFINO, Lama-
lunga Cave and the Altamura man: The Sarastro pro-
ject for a from-the-field museum. In: Proceedings. (3rd
Int. Cong. on »Science and Technology for the Safe-
guard of Cultural Heritage in the Mediterranean Ba-
sin«. (Universidad de Alcalá and Consiglio Nazionale
delle Ricerche, 2001). — 4. MARTI- MUCCI, V., G.
PERRUCCI, Grotta di Lamalunga: Rilievo topografi-
co e restituzione tridimensionale. In: Atti SPELAION
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E. Vacca
Department of Zoology, Anthropology Unit, University of Bari, Via Orabona, 4, 70125
Bari, Italy
e-mail: e.vacca@biologia.uniba.it
TRODIMENZIONALNA TOPOGRAFSKA ANALIZA LJUDSKIH OSTATAKA
IZ PE]INE LAMALUNGA (ALTAMURA, BARI, JU@NA ITALIJA)
SA@ETAK
Cilj istra`ivala~ke ekipe, unutar »Programma Nazionale di Ricerca – MURST (Mi-
nistero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica) 1998–2000«, bio je
prou~avanje fosilnih ostataka paleoantropolo{kih nalazi{ta ~ovjeka, prije svega na
prostoru Apulije, posebice pe}ine Lamalunga, Altamura. Ovdje su iznosimo rezultate
preliminarnih istra`ivanja pe}ine kao i trodimenzionalnog prostornog razmje{taja
ljudskih skeletnih ostataka, koji je odre|en kori{tenjem trodimenzionalnih prostornih
koordinata koje opisuju me|usobni razmje{taj prikupljenih kostiju. Ove su to~ke kori-
{tene kao odrednice u razmje{taju broj~anih modela koji predstavljaju dijelove ske-
letnih ostataka odraslog mu{karca. Ovo omogu}ava interaktivnu analizu ostataka i
njihovog odnosa unutar nalazi{ta te vizure kao nisu realno mogu}e na samom nala-
zi{tu. Ovim postupkom omogu}en je bolji uvid u me|uodnos raznih skeletnih elemena-
ta, kojim je potvr|ena teza da se fosilizacija dogodila na mjestu pronalaska skeleta u
okviru nalazi{ta.
119
E. Vacca et al.: 3D Survey of Altamura Remains, Coll. Antropol. 28 (2004) 1: 113–119