The exhibition “Human population in Abruzzo” of the University Museum of Chieti travel through the main phases that have characterized human history in our region. Each phase is characterized by specific materials and a paleobiological structure peculiar to the individual populations, inserted in a socio-cultural and historical context that is well characterized and known through the archaeological documentation. In particular, the history of human settlement in Abruzzo is reconstructed through 4 significant stages, represented by as many dioramas, three-dimensional reconstructions of real environments.
Prehistory: from the Palaeolithic to the Metal Age
This phase is poorly documented through direct materials. Nonetheless, our territory has one of the rare populations of fossil men known in Italy as a representative of the ancient form of Homo sapiens Cro-Magnon. In fact, a sample of 5 individuals of various ages and of both sexes was found during the 1960s in some coastal caves of the ancient Fucino lake. This sample is dated to about 14,500 years ago and is perfectly documented from the anthropological point of view.
The ancient inhabitants of Fucino were anatomically modern men, although some peculiar features support the hypothesis of their geographical isolation. This first section, in addition to containing the original fossils, also exposes the ways of life of the community of Fucino Cro-magnon. The prehistoric Abruzzo populations favoured a lake environment that offered not only a large amount of food to hunt for their survival, but also a series of natural shelters where to settle (Maritza Cave, La Punta and Ortucchio). The most frequent diseases of these men turn out to be dental ones, related precisely to the consumption of leathery foods that therefore required a long chewing.
Indigenous pre-Roman Italic populations
The indigenous populations in Abruzzo, in the various pre-Roman phases, were characterized by the great human bio-diversity of the various groups that inhabited the different areas of the region. The inland areas, characterized by great biological stability, with genetically closed human groups, are illustrated by the populations of Opi – Val Fondillo (VII-V century BC), Bazzano and Fossa. These communities, very different in lifestyles and in the environment in which they lived, are perfectly known from the paleobiological point of view. These mostly agricultural populations lived in a mountainous area with a strategic position, which also offered large flat areas useful for cultivation.
The necropolis of Opi and Bazzano changed the surrounding landscape with the construction of tombs through the placement of large blocks of stone to form circular structures within which individuals were buried without distinction of sex and age, but probably belonging to the same family unit. Although the pathologies present are characteristic of a sedentary lifestyle, there are also cases of interpersonal violence such as the individual 80 of Opi who shows numerous stab wounds, which have certainly caused his death.
Romanization
The contact of the local communities, mainly isolated, with the Roman populations, was not of a genetic type, but mainly cultural. Nonetheless, the lifestyle of some communities changed radically and there is evidence of places where the local populations, subjugated after the Samnite wars, suffered the effects of Romanization also on a biological level. The most striking example is that of the population of Sulmona – Fonte d’Amore (IV-II century BC), of which all the data and a selection of significant bone finds are exposed.
Sulmona is located in a very fertile foothill area, at the foot of Mount Majella and Morrore, excellent for agricultural activities, but also had other advantages, in particular the presence of a clay quarry exploited for the production of building material and more. The high incidence of arthritic and traumatic diseases, as well as the high infant mortality rate, describe a population exposed to the degradation of sanitary conditions, malnutrition and exhausting living conditions.
Medieval and post-Medieval populations
An example of a medieval population reconstructs the parameters that characterized the populations of Abruzzo at the time. The necropolis of Teramo – Piazza Sant’Anna (VII-XII century AD), with its more than 120 buried, represents a concrete example of a poor urban population who lived in precarious sanitary conditions and poor nutrition conditions. These conditions were responsible for high infant mortality and low life expectancy, together with a high incidence of infectious diseases within the population.
The same thing goes for the post-medieval population found in Borrello (CH). An extraordinary example is made up of the mummified individuals found in L’Aquila and Casentino (AQ) which, given their perfect conservation, provide us with a lot of information about populations now totally linked to the city for their survival. These populations were composed mostly of poor people who lived on agriculture and pastoralism, but within a completely anthropized mountain (L’Aquila, Casentino, Borrello) and hilly (Teramo) environment. All these cities rose in strategic military and environmental positions, just as the medieval topography of the time wanted.
