Investigating puberty in pre-Roman times: first osteological assessment of pubertal development in Etruscan-Samnite adolescents (Pontecagnano, southern Italy).

The present study offers the first investigation of the biological transition from childhood to adulthood in pre-Roman Italy. Thanks to the recent development of innovative method for assessing stages of pubertal growth in osteoarchaeological remains, puberty is emerging as a new compelling indicator of adolescent life conditions and health status in past societies. With the purpose of contributing to the exploration of this crucial phase of life course, stages of pubertal development were assessed in 84 adolescents dated back to the Etruscan and Samnite periods of Pontecagnano, southern Italy (7th-4th centuries BC). The average ages of onset and completion of puberty were detected, in addition to the achievement of relevant milestones such as menarche and sexual maturation, representing not only significant physical transitions, but also crucial passages in the social identity of individuals. In Pontecagnano, distinctive peculiarities in the timings and the duration of puberty were identified, such as an important interindividual variability and a stretched pubertal tempo. We argue that these specific trends derived from the biocultural interactions of this population with the unicity of Pontecagnano environment, that includes the presence of endemic diseases characteristic of marshy landscape, such as malaria and thalassemia, and endocrine-disrupting pollutants produced by the Etruscan and Samnite metallurgical industries. The reconstruction of past pubertal patterns can thus offer unprecedented direct insights into past life courses and adolescent growth, providing unique perspectives on medical debates about contemporary variations in pubertal trends, and challenging common assumptions about what is “normal” and “pathological” in pubertal development.