Necropoli of Pill'e Matta Quartucciu (Cagliari,Sardinia): wild bee and solitary wasp activity and bone diagenetic factors

During the excavation at the necropolis and the laboratory studies, a variety of damage was found in the human bone remains. This damage included round holes, irregular bone destruction and irregular etching. This can be found especially in the skulls and in the long bones, and sometimes in the vertebrae and on the hands and feet. The exceptionality of this demanded meticulous study in order to define whether it was a diagenetic phenomenon of biological origin. Further studies revealed that the damage to the bones was produced by three kinds of Hymenoptera that build galleries: one of these belongs to the Sphecidae family, the other two to the Halictidae family. During the excavation of a grave it had been observed that a Halictidae had invaded the burial context and consequently contributed to the taphonomic and diagenetic process. The laboratory activities were directed towards the measurement of the damage to the human bone remains in 45 tombs. A histogram shows that the holes are not the result of accidental lesions, and the more frequent percentage values show similarities with the dimensions of holes built by the insects. The observations and the results of the study at the archaeological site enabled me to establish how significant the role of the insects had been, in particular of the Hymenoptera, in modifying the condition of the bone remains. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.