High-resolution methods in virtual palaeo-histology and anthropology: analysis of dental Homo remains from archaeological and fossil contexts

The analysis of human dental remains, which are considered a biocultural heritage of inestimable scientific value, provides crucial information for understanding individual biological history and its framing in a broader evolutionary context. Teeth can be considered as an organism's “black box”, preserving within their highly mineralized tissues a record of physiological events that allow for the accurate reconstruction of ontogenetic trajectories, environmental adaptations, life conditions, and behavioural patterns of species and individuals even millennia after their death. Over the past three decades, the virtual analysis approach offered by high-resolution imaging techniques has proven to be a fundamental tool in anthropological and paleoanthropological study, allowing the retrieval of structural and morphometric information that is otherwise inaccessible or challenging to obtain through classical methods. The application of microtomographic techniques based on X-ray, Synchrotron radiation, and, more recently, Neutron beams has facilitated a comprehensive examination of internal structures and morphometric analyses of dental findings. This approach allows for non-destructive investigations to be conducted on high-value fossil specimens while maintaining their structural integrity. In addition, high-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance has recently emerged as a promising technique for virtual histological analysis of solid porous systems, such as dentine, enabling the discrimination of their microstructure through the use of specific acquisition protocols. This thesis aims to investigate the potential advantages offered by the latest developments in X-ray and high-field Magnetic Resonance-based Microimaging methods for high-resolution analyses of dental tissues. For this purpose, these technologies will be employed for the histomorphometric analysis of human dental remains from various fossil and ancient contexts. The analysis will be conducted using techniques in virtual histology and image processing, while also testing the potential offered by recent deep-learning algorithms designed for the automatic segmentation of complex volumes. This thesis presents new insights into the development of laboratory-based instrumentation for high-resolution imaging, demonstrating how it has adapted to meet emerging needs by employing new analytical tools, while evolving in the ongoing research context of increasingly advanced methodologies for bioarchaeological and paleoanthropological analysis on ancient human dental remains.