1,721,035 research outputs found
The exploitation of ungulate bones in Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens
No full textAnalysis of ungulate bones recovered from a number of Upper and Middle Palaeolithic sites in southern Italy revealed differences in the presence of anatomical elements. There is a lack of clear evidence of carnivore activities, and differences can be attributed to human activity. Indeed, these differences were probably due to different patterns of skeletal exploitation between Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Small limb bones (carpals, tarsals, sesamoids, long bone epiphyses and especially phalanges) are rarely found in Middle Palaeolithic deposits, but are abundant in the Upper Palaeolithic. The observation of unidentified bone fragments at these sites indicates that during the middle Palaeolithic, marrow extraction regarded essentially the treatment of long bones. First and second phalanges were not frequently used for this practice, but they were often fragmented by H. sapiens. Lack of these bones among the remains of meals of Neanderthal suggests that these bones were probably destroyed by their utilisation as fuel. © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007
Pliocene Anancus arvernensis (Croizet & Jobert, 1828) remains from Cetona (Siena): stratigraphy, chronology and paleoenvironment
No full textRemains of Anancus arvernensis have been discovered in the site of Le Lame, on the eastern slope of Mt. Cetona. The remains come from within beach and lagoon deposits that delimited the Cetona Mountain to the east when it constituted an island rising for a few hundred metres above sea level. The remains, for which we present the dimensional data, belongs to a single animal that died close to the beach and that was later disarticulated by erosional processes. It is a common species of the Triversa Faunal Unit, that characterises the early Villafranchian although it is also found in older (Turolian-Ruscinian) and younger assemblages (up to the Olivola Faunal Unit). The stratigraphic setting of the remains allows their attribution to the Triversa Faunal Unit, at the end of the early Pliocene-beginning of the Middle Pliocene or to a slightly earlier Mammal Unit
What roots for the Uluzzian? Modern behaviour in Central-Southern Italy and hypotheses on AMH dispersal routes
No full textIn Central-Southern Italy several cave sites yielded deposits dating back to MIS3 and containing a Mousterian/Uluzzian/Proto-Aurignacian sequence. Changes within these sequences are synthetically examined on the basis of the main stratified sites. Topics like subsistence strategies, raw material procurement, territory exploitation, production and behavioural activities and migratory movements are discussed. The Uluzzians can be considered, in many respects, economically and behaviourally closer to the Proto-Aurignacians than to the Mousterians. This pattern fully agrees with the recent attribution to AMH of two deciduous teeth from the Uluzzian layers of Grotta del Cavallo (Lecce, Southern Italy) (Benazzi et al., 2011). Such a new insight directly involves the problem of the origin of the Uluzzian techno-complex. By integrating archaeological, genetic and demographic data, the hypothesis of a dispersal from an East African source into Europe, through the so-called Southern route, is proposed. As for Southern Italy, the available data allow the authors to assume that relationships between the indigenous Neandertals and the newcomers were most probably sporadic, given the possibly low demographic density of these populations and the limited time span of co-existence
Paléosurfaces du Paléolithique moyen: l'exemple de Scario (Salerno - Italie du Sud)
No full textRésumé: On décrit une nouvelle paléosurface trouvée à la Grotta Grande de Scario (prov. de Salerno), gisement du Paléolithique moyen (Pléistocène supérieur) où l’Université de Sienne conduit depuis vingt ans des fouilles systématiques.
Cette paléosurface a été découverte en 1999 dans une petite galerie (m3x3) remplie de sédiments, dans un niveau (niv. 8) correspondant au début de la fréquentation humaine sur ce site. On remarque une répartition des matériaux, avec la partie centrale relativement plus haute (80 cm) de cette galerie déblayée de tout débris, tandis que pierres, cailloux, concrétions, restes lithiques et osseux étaient amassés le long des deux parois.
L’industrie lithique se limite à quelques galets calcaires taillés, dont l’utilisation est à relier, peut-être, à la présence dans la faune de restes de pachydermes (Hippopotamus) à côté de Cervus, Dama et Ibex. Une structure verticale (niv. 7) sépare cette galerie de l’extérieur, où le dépôt est très limité par l’érosion. On y signale un coprolithe, macro et micromammifères peu abondants, outils plus nombreux. Quelques coquilles de Strombus, découvertes à la base de la série, font attribuer cette partie du dépôt au stade isotopique 5, en accord avec les données de paléontologie qui indiquent un milieu forestier et un climat tempéré
Allevamento e caccia: i resti di macrofauna
No full textNel sito di Lugo di Romagna sono stati determinati a livello tassonomico 178 reperti di macrofauna rinvenuti in due macroaree: MaA (il complesso delle strutture di perimetrazione) e MaB (la capanna e le sottostrutture limitrofe).
Il numero esiguo di resti determinati è dovuto alla forte frammentazione del materiale legata sia ad azioni antropiche (frequenti le ossa con tracce di combustione e con rotture legate alla macellazione o al calpestio) sia alla cattiva conservazione del materiale osseo all'interno del deposito argilloso. Gli elementi riferiti a specie domestiche sono in totale 119, di cui 113 ungulati. Tra i domestici è nettamente prevalente la presenza di ossa di bovini (40,4 % del totale), seguita dagli ovicaprini (20,2 %) e da basse quantità di suini (2,8%).
Nell'insieme dei selvatici sono stati rinvenuti numerosi resti di capriolo che con 31 reperti risulta la seconda specie per abbondanza del sito
Gli ultimi Neandertaliani in Italia: aspetti culturali
No full textDurante il MIS 3 è attestata in Italia del Sud, una generale successione Musteriano/Uluzziano/Aurignaziano. Sulla base dei principali siti stratificati sono sinteticamente esaminati i cambiamenti presenti all’interno di questa successione, in relazione alle strategie di sussistenza, di approvvigionamento, di sfruttamento del territorio e alle attività produttivei. Il comportamento degli Uluzziani mostra dinamiche in evoluzione rispetto al Musteriano e aspetti economici e comportamentali più affini all’Aurignaziano, con l’eccezione della produzione litica. Non sembra che l’espandersi degli Aurignaziani da Nord verso il Sud della nostra Penisola abbia tuttavia dato luogo a forme di acculturazione evidenti presso i gruppi Uluzziani
Il Musteriano degli strati H, I di Grotta del Cavallo (Lecce). studio preliminare
No full textvengono presentati i primi risultati degli studi interdisciplinari relativi alla ricostruzione climatice e paleomabinetale su base archeozoologica e e quelli sulle produzioni litiche (tecnologia, tipologia, tipometria). Il complesso viene inserito nell'ambito dello sviluppo del Musetriano pugliese
Continuities and discontinuities at the Oscurusciuto rock shelter (Ginosa, Taranto). The last Neanderthals in Southern Italy
No full textThe Oscurusciuto rock shelter, located in the Ginosa ravine (Taranto, Apulia), is a very important site for the understanding of Neandertal subsistence and settlement strategies in Southern Italy. The deposit, about 6 m thick and with a base of 60 m2 , is made up of several levels Middle Palaeolithic in age (fig. 1). The series so far investigated (between SU 1 and SU 15) ranges between 42,724±716 cal BP (Beta 181165 AMS) (SU 1) and 55 ± 2 kyrs (40Ar/39Ar) (SU 14 – tephra identified as the Mount Epomeo Ischia green tuff; Allen et alii 2000). Such a chronological interval is crucial in European prehistory as it falls upon the period of disappearance of Homo neanderthalensis and of the dispersal of the first groups of Anatomically Modern Humans. Excavations and studies on the Oscurusciuto Shelter are being led by the Unità di Ricerca di Preistoria e Antropologia of the Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente of the University of Siena (Boscato, Ronchitelli 2008; Villa et alii 2009; Boscato et alii 2011; Ronchitelli et alii 2011; Spagnolo et alii 2015). The study comprises: taxonomic and taphonomic investigations on faunal remains, analysis of lithic production through a technological and techno-functional approach, micromorphological analyses of hearths and assessment of the spatial meaning of these features. The aim of this work is to individuate, from a diachronic point of view, the continuities and discontinuities inside the lithic techno-complexes, the site space management and the mobility patterns within the territory. Such objectives are reached by a multidisciplinary approach. The different datasets which have been gathered are statistically elaborated within a GIS platform in order to determine the modalities of space management. The different datasets which have been gathered are statistically elaborated within a GIS platform in order to determine the modalities of space management. The application of the RMU method (lithic raw material units), on technological and spatial bases, allows the recognition of single activities (Marciani 2013; Spagnolo 2013; Spagnolo et alii 2015). This research comprises the integrated study of the lower section of the series so far investigated in the Shelter: SU 15, SU 14, SU 13 and SU 11. These stratigraphic units are particularly interesting for the reconstruction of Neandertal behaviour, given that each of them shows peculiarities in terms of structural elements, spatial management, type of occupation and lithic production systems. SU 15 is a living floor in which a phase of abandonment is recorded and is sealed by the deposition of the SU 14 tephra. This surface is characterized by stone alignments which define two possible structures. SU 14 (fig. 2) is an almost sterile layer about 60 cm thick, made of volcanic ashes. Traces of a short frequentation can be seen only few centimetres under the top of the layer. SU 13 is a short palimpsest which represents the first stable re-colonization of the site after the environmental impact created by volcanic ash deposition. In this layer, 10 aligned hearths were found which divide up the site into areas devoted to different activities. The overlying SU 11 is a palimpsest about 30 cm thick, characterized by the superimposition of tens of hearths. The results of these studies will bring important and useful advances in research on the behavioural and settlement features of Neandertals, particularly at this time when there are many Italian and international projects which face these questions by means of different and innovative approaches
Il Riparo del Poggio a Marina di Camerota (Salerno): culture ed ambiente.
No full textPoggio Shelter is located on the Italian coast of the Tyrrhenian sea, some 80 km South-east of Naples. The Shelter was part of a complex underground karst
system, which was partially dismantled by sea erosion during the high-stand of MIS 7, originating a large niche with a
thick deposit at the foot of a falaise, and small cave. Archaeological excavations were carried out in the deposit and in the
cave during the 1970s, putting into light a 23 m-thick sequence, including 17 m of archaeological levels.
The sequence is mainly made up of cave breakdown deposits mixed with colluvium originated by the reworking of red
soils (Alfisols); soils or moderately reworked soils also occur, interfingered within the sequence. These sediments reflect
environmental processes related respectively to the damping of the glacial effects by the mediterranean environment, and
to warm interstadial phases.
The bottom of the sequence is covered by the present-day sea-level; the basal deposit can probably be attributed to MIS7 because of the characteristics of the lithics occurring in the overlying levels, which include a level dated to 111.8 ky BP.
The overlying sequence can be divided into three main parts, most of which contains archaeological records of culturally different human presences, starting from ancient Middle Palaeolithic cultures to Upper Palaeolithic.
- Levels 20-18, made up of breakdown deposits with evidence of colluvium and some aeolian processes. The faunal assemblage
can be divided into two stages, and includes mainly red deer, with roe deer, wild boar, ibex, chamois, bovines,
and with Elephas and Stephanorhinus occurring only in the lower part. Since layer 18 appears evidence of human presence.
Lower part of layer 18 contains an archaic and un-standardized lithic assemblage, characterised by denticulates and thick
tools. The upper part contains a more specialised industry, basically focused on production of Quina-type side-scrapers
with stepped retouch. This whole part of the sequence may correspond to the cold stage MIS 6, characterised by a patchy
forested environment of fresh climate.
- Levels 17-9, reddish soils and soil sediments, interfingered with tephra, and dated to 43800±3500 BP in level 9. Among the
faunas, which are statistically relevant only in levels 10-9, the fallow deer is the dominant ungulate, corresponding to an
interstadial with temperate and moderately wet mediterranean-like climate. From the bottom to the top, we highlighted
at least four main cultural phases. In layer 17 appears the first assemblage with Levallois technology, containing mainly
slightly-retouched flat tools. Layer 16 contains a typical Mousterian assemblage which shows further development of Levallois
technique. A scarce amount of findings comes from layers 15-13 (tephra), while the top of Middle Palaeolithic series
(layers 12-9) contains an abundant, technologically and typologically advanced mousterian industry.
- Levels 8-1, colluvium of Alfisols and breakdown deposits with evidence of strong soil erosion, including very few faunal
remains; these levels can be ascribed to a somewhat cold climate with continental traits of environmental instability. Following
the erosion, from layer 7 to the top, findings showed out the presence of Epigravettian culture.
For what concerns human behaviour, it is noteworthy that the most frequent ungulates (red and fallow deer) were killed
mostly when adult. The identified skeletal parts are represented mostly by isolated teeth and limb bones.
In levels 18a (bottom) and 10, most of the sediment skeleton is made up of strongly comminuted bone fragments, unsorted
and with grain-size down to some tens of micrometres.
Lithic raw materials procurement area (close-distance from site) appears more or less the same in all periods, however
we highlight a lack of selection strategies in MIS 6 assemblages, while more recent industries show evidence of growing
accuracy in selecting quality for tools production
Il Musteriano di Grotta del Cavallo - strati H e I: studio preliminare
No full textIl complesso litico dello strato I chiude il ciclo del Musteriano antico di Grotta del Cavallo. Lo strato è stato suddiviso in tre orizzonti (I1, I2, I3) in base il tipo di sedimento e in accoerdo con le osservazioni già fatte da A. Palma di Cesnola negli anni 1964/66. Le nuove ricerche in questo strato e nel soprastante strato H (scavi Sarti 1993/94), su un'area di 12 mq, hanno permesso di rilevare otto livelli abitativi, talora in forma di paleosuperfici. L'industria litica esaminata, costituita dalla componente ritoccata, mostra una dinamica evolutiva con un insieme di tipo Charenziano attenuato in basso e un ulteriore aspetto Charenziano molto attenuato ricco di denticlati in alto. Le industrie dei vari orizzonti non presentano che rari elementi Levallois. La composizione delle faune testimonia diverse situazioni climatiche e ambientali: negli orizzonti inferiori un clima temperato freddo di tipo continentale in un paesaggio a steppa-prateria e a foresta aperta, mentre nei due orizzonti successivi è attestata una fase più arida e fredda con riduzione delle aree forestate
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