1,721,047 research outputs found
The open air pontinian: technological variability, geomorphology and settlement dynamics
No full textCava muracci: A new middle-upper palaeolithic site in west-central Italy
No full textComprehensive studies of Palaeolithic sites and the application of modern analytical techniques are still incredibly rare in coastal central Italy. In this paper, we present the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic cave deposits excavated in the travertine quarry of Cava Muracci (Cisterna di Latina, central Italy) and summary describe the multidisciplinary approach carried out on findings discovered therein. A large faunal assemblage, fossil faeces (coprolites) and a small lithic collection have been examined along with reliable dating analyses for the interpretation of the context. The site proved to be extensively frequented by cave hyena (Crocuta crocuta spelaea) between 34–44 ka BP, with a marginal human presence also attested. This study demonstrates that a holistic approach is crucial for enhancing our understanding of the archaeological context of the area, previously interpreted using studies of fauna or lithic industries alone. The evidence gathered from Cava Muracci and the results from their study provide a valuable reference database from which to draw upon for future investigations
Mora Cavorso Cave: a collective underground burial in Neolithic central Italy
No full textMora Cavorso Cave, located in South-Eastern Lazio, is a multi-tunnel cave displaying a complex stratigraphy. Its inner rooms revealed the presence of one of the most important funerary deposits of Early Neolithic central Italy. Around 30 individuals of all ages and both sexes, mostly chaotically piled for natural and anthropic reasons, were found along with grave goods and ornaments, whose materials come from different parts of Italy. This key deposit was object of a wide range of analyses, including isotopes and DNA studies, which helped unveil a sliver of life and death of the Neolithic communities of the Apennines
The Late Pleistocene Apennine Chamois from Grotta Mora Cavorsa (Simbruini Mountains, Central Italy)
No full textThis paper describes a sub-entire, partially articulated skeleton of chamois found together with other vertebrate remains in a silty lens with limestone clasts between the 104 and 105 SSUU of Grotta Mora Cavorso (Latium, Italy). This silty lens is chronologically correlatable to a temperate oscillation of MIS 3. The skull and post-cranial remains from Grotta Mora Cavorso were compared with the fossil remains of chamois from numerous Late Pleistocene and older Holocene sites of Italy and of Pyrenees and Iberian Peninsula. Additional comparisons were made with large samples of extant chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata, R. pyrenaica pyrenaica and R. rupicapra rupicapra. Morphological and morphometric features of the skull and the horn-core, as well as other characters of the metacarpus suggest to refer the fossil remains from Grotta Mora Cavorso to Apennine chamois, R. pyrenaica ornata. This is the earliest ascertained record in Central-Southern Italy of the ornata-like chamois, a subspecies so far known with certainty only in the Holocene, or possibly in the Lateglacial
Late Pleistocene skeleton of Canis lupus l., 1758 from Grotta Mora Cavorso (Jenne, Latium, Central Italy)
No full textThis paper describes the skeleton of Canis lupus found in Layer 7 of Grotta Mora Cavorso (Latium, central Italy), correlated with the MIS 3. Research on the deposition dynamics of this find is still in progres, but the action of human or other predactors can be excluded. The age at death was estimated at around six years old. Preliminary morphometric analyses and comparisions with samples of Italian Late Pleistocene wolf and extant Apennine wolf (C. lupus italicus) remains, show that the dimension of teeeth and long bones are among the biggest known from the Late Pleistocene and larger than the extant Apennine wolf
Central Italy: History of Ancient and Current Migrations
No full textThe great cultural variability in Italy is the result of population movements and invasions from all Mediterranean Sea, which took place in both historical and prehistoric times. Because of many interesting places such as the city of Rome, the Central Italy was endured by arrival of small human groups, which would carry their cultural and linguistic and also genetic contributions. A high number of the prehistoric sites and the substantial cultural diversity of those people living in all Central Italy show animated history already before Roman period. However, in the last decades, there has been a gradual interest to a new and important tool for studying the human migrations: genetics. Along with cultural anthropology and archeology, this instrument could be useful to shed light on forgotten historical events, and to unravel the genetic structure of ethnolinguistic minorities and small mountain communities. A very interesting case study is the biodemographic reconstruction of the mountain communities located between Latium and Abruzzi through the genetics. This work highlighted a genetic similarity between the Central Italian samples and Near Eastern populations mainly in the male genetic pool. In conclusion, in this Chapter we provide to make state-of-art on previous work that reconstruction of the human demic during the centuries through both archeology and genetics
Identification of ancient Olea europaea L. and Cornus mas L. seeds by DNA barcoding
No full textThe analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) provides archaeologists and anthropologists with innovative, scientific and accurate data to study and understand the past. In this work, ancient seeds, found in the "Mora Cavorso" archaeological site (Latium, Central Italy), were analyzed to increase information about Italian Neolithic populations (plant use, agriculture, diet, trades, customs and ecology). We performed morphological and genetic techniques to identify fossil botanical species. In particular, this study also suggests and emphasizes the use of DNA barcode method for ancient plant sample analysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations showed seed compact structure and irregular surface but they did not permit a precise nor empirical classification: so, a molecular approach was necessary. DNA was extracted from ancient seeds and then it was used, as template, for PCR amplifications of standardized barcode genes. Although aDNA could be highly degraded by the time, successful PCR products were obtained, sequenced and compared to nucleotide sequence databases. Positive outcomes (supported by morphological comparison with modern seeds, geographical distribution and historical data) indicated that seeds could be identified as belonging to two plant species: Olea europaea L. and Cornus mas L
Effect of Neolithic transition on an Italian community: Mora Cavorso (Jenne, Rome)
No full textThe present research, an integrative study combining archeology, skeletal biology, and molecular anthropology, deals with skeletal remains recovered in Mora Cavorso Cave (Jenne, Rome, Italy). Burial activity there dates to 6275±45 BP (5322– 5084cal.)and6405±35BP(5472–5314cal.),accordingto 14Canalysesofacharcoalfragmentandahumanbone,respectively. This range of dates ascribes the human remains and the archeological materials to a late phase of the Early Neolithic of Central Italy. The human skeletal remains were scattered throughout the cave. We performed morphological examinations and carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses—using bone collagen—to reconstruct the paleobiology and the paleodiet of the community. The complex comprised at least 28 individuals, including adult males and females and sub-adults. The skeletal remains exhibited a high degree of biomechanical stress and several cases of degenerative and infectious diseases; one of them showed a sclerosing mastoiditis. Thestableisotopeanalysessuggestedadietrichinterrestrialfoodsourcesinparticularsheepandgoatlivestock.Theseresults seemtopointoutthatnodietaryshiftoccurredduringtheNeolithicperiodinthiscommunity,suggestingthemaximumuseofthe environmental resources that these early Neolithic had available. It is worth noting that two individuals showed high nitrogen values, likely the result of nutritional stress brought on by limited protein intake or metabolic diseases
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