Article

Paleoenvironmental context of the early Neanderthals of Poggetti Vecchi for the late middle Pleistocene of Central Italy

September 2017
Quaternary Research 88(02):327-344

DOI:10.1017/qua.2017.51

Authors:

Marco Benvenuti

University of Florence

Jean-Jacques Bahain

Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Chiara Capalbo

University of Florence

Chiara Capretti

Italian National Research Council

Show all 23 authorsHide

Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus , commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2 are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages. Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoecological evidence suggest a narrow lacustrine-palustrine embayment affected by water-level fluctuations and, at times, by hydrothermal water. Cyclic lake-level variations were predominantly forced by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6. Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold episode during the onset of MIS 6 led to the sudden death of the elephants, which formed an unexpected food resource for the humans of the area. The Poggetti Vecchi site adds new information on the behavioral plasticity and food procurement strategies that early Neanderthals were able to develop in Italy during the middle to the late Pleistocene transition.

Wooden hafting technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2024
QUATERNARY SCI REV

The invention of hafted tools, between about 500 Ka and 250 Ka years ago, was a fundamental technological innovation that has shaped human social, cognitive, and biological capabilities. Despite the recurrent evidence of hafting observed on lithic tools, handles from this period are rare since they were probably made of perishable materials. Three exceptional wooden sticks interpreted as handles have been found in the Poggetti Vecchi site, allowing a deeper investigation of the technical capabilities of the early Neanderthals who frequented the site around 170,000 years ago. The handles and the lithic tools with hafting traces were analysed using a techno-functional approach, suggesting that they could have been attached to each other to create a specific composite hafted tool. The efficiency of the composite hafted tool was tested through a detailed experimental programme. The results highlighted, for the first time, the complex production processes used to create a composite hafted tool that could have been used to butcher the carcases of the large fauna that are well attested at the site.

Beyond physical space. Virtual exhibition proposal for the site of Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2023

The middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Italy) was excavated in 2012 when the construction of a thermal pool brought to light a stratigraphic succession with various levels of human frequentation. Data suggest that the presence of thermal water may have attracted animals and Neanderthals to Poggetti Vecchi at the beginning of the penultimate glaciation (MIS6), when the climate was getting colder. The oldest archaeological unit (U2), dating around 170,000 years BP, consists of a paleosurface on which the remains of large fauna, stone and bone tools, and wooden artefacts were found. The remains of seven individuals of Palaeloxodon antiquus were found, probably belonging to a single family of elephants who died of natural causes. The most significant finds consist of fragments of digging sticks made of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Some of the sticks were partially blackened by fire, as a result of the working and finishing of the tools, providing the earliest evidence of the use of fire as an engineering tool. The particularity of the Poggetti Vecchi environmental and archeological context is ideal for the dissemination of many aspects to a non-specialist public, including the reconstruction of the human-environment relationship in a period of climatic emergency. Despite this, the site of Poggetti Vecchi is still waiting to find a suitable temporary or permanent location for a museum exhibition. Since physical space is increasingly difficult to find, while digital technologies are more accessible in everyone's daily life, the Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, as part of its research projects, wanted to promote the outreach of scientific culture through the virtual exhibition "170,000 years ago in Poggetti Vecchi. Neanderthals and Elephants in the Tuscan Maremma, the climate challenge". Exploiting technology, this virtual exhibition made it possible to substitute the real space with a digital reality capable of expanding the visiting experience. One of the aims is to engage the public on the subject of the relationship between climate change and human communities since the origins of human history.

Multi-method approach using small vertebrate assemblages to reconstruct the Marine Isotope Stage 6 climate and environment of the Lazaret cave sequence (Maritime Alps, Nice, France)

Article

Jun 2021
PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL

Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6; ca. 185–135 ka) is the penultimate glacial stage and constitutes the end of the Middle Pleistocene. This glacial period is typified by generally cold and dry conditions in the western Mediterranean region. Despite the relatively large number of pollen and speleothem studies of MIS 6 in this region, the number of MIS 6 archaeological sites is low. Lazaret cave, situated at 26 m a.s.l. in the city of Nice in southern France, contains an archaeological sequence (layers CII inf. to CIII) dated to MIS 6. We present a multi-method approach using the small-vertebrate assemblages (mainly rodents and herpetofauna) from the entire sequence to characterize the climate and the environment of the site. The Mutual Ecogeographic Range, the Bioclimatic Model andthe Quantified Ecology methods, as well as the Taxonomic Habitat Index, Climatograms and the Simpson Diversity Index were used to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions. The results suggest a generally cold climate with a relatively humid environment and a landscape dominated by deciduous temperate forests. The findings are consistent with the general trends reported from other proxies (large mammals, birds and marine gastropods) studied at Lazaret cave, other MIS 6 sites in the Mediterranean region with small vertebrate studies and the general trends shown by marine cores, terrestrial pollen sequences and speleothems from western Europe. Given the scarcity of data for MIS 6 archaeological sites, Lazaret cave constitutes an important site for our knowledge of the climate and the environment of this period.

Environmental Archaeology The Journal of Human Palaeoecology ISSN: (Print) ( Determinants Shaping Human Preference for Thermal Springs in Palaeolithic Europe and Asia Minor View supplementary material Determinants Shaping Human Preference for Thermal Springs in Palaeolithic Europe and Asia Minor

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2025

Attila Trájer

This study explores Palaeolithic human occupation at thermal springs in Europe and Asia Minor by reconstructing palaeoecological conditions for 12 thermal spring sites and 97 control Palaeolithic sites using machine learning and dimensionality reduction techniques. K-nearest neighbours analysis indicates that thermal spring sites were occupied under hot, dry Mediterranean, oceanic, or humid continental climates. Age-specific δ 18 O data suggest these sites were mostly used during cold or moderately cold global climatic conditions.Principal Component Analysis revealed that thermal spring sites experienced drier climates with higher diurnal and annual temperature ranges than control sites. Two distinct clusters emerged based on reconstructed palaeoenvironmental conditions: a temperate cluster, subdivided into Mediterranean and oceanic subclusters, and a humid continental cluster. Linear Discriminant Analysis clearly separated thermal spring sites from non-thermal ones.Ensemble algorithms identified temperature annual range, annual precipitation, and clothing coverage as key differentiators between thermal spring and control sites, depending on paleoclimate. This analysis highlights the varied motivations for Palaeolithic occupations at thermal springs across diverse European and Asia Minor environments. ARTICLE HISTORY

European small mammal faunas during Dnieper (Saale) glaciation and transition to the Mikulino (Eem) interglacial

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2020
QUATERN INT

An analysis of voluminous data on the European fossil small mammals datable to the Dnieper (Saale) Glaciation (MIS 6) allowed establishing the main characteristics of the species composition in the faunas, their distribution and diversity. As is shown by the analysis, the faunas of small mammal underwent cardinal changes within the subcontinent boundaries at that time, with the exception of the faunas of the southern peninsulas. Some subarctic species are proved to penetrate southwards as far as 48° N in Western Europe and up to southern France and the British Isles in Western Europe. The steppe species enlarged their ranges to the east and to the west (up to the British Isles). This fact suggests the disappearance of the continuous forest zone. Occasional forest mammal species persisted in Eastern Europe; in most localities of Western Europe, however, forest mammal remains are present along with those of steppe and subarctic mammals. A structural stability of mammal faunas was preserved on the southern peninsulas that had not been heavily influenced by the glaciation. The transition to the Mikulino (Eem) Interglacial (MIS 5e) was marked by changes in the structure of mammal assemblages on the subcontinent. The ranges of subarctic mammal species shifted northwards, the forest zone was restored gradually, which was served to the restoration of forest species populations. Steppe species ranges shifted to the east of Europe. Unlike the faunas of the Dnieper (Saale) Glaciation, noted for “mixed” composition of mammals belonging to ecologically different groups, the faunas of Mikulino (Eem) Interglacial acquired the zonal structure approximately. The paper was primarily aimed at estimating general regularities in the small mammal fauna distribution beginning from the level of individual species to regional faunal complexes. We concluded that the small mammal fauna of the late Dnieper (Saale) ice age responded to the Mikulian/Eemian warming in a way not unlike the Late Pleistocene “Mammuthus–Coelodonta Faunal Complex” response to the Holocene warming, though with a lesser loss of the species richness.

The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network-BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2018

The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015.

Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2018

Significance Wood is a widely available and versatile material, which has admittedly played a fundamental role in all human history. Wood, however, is most vulnerable to decomposition. Hence, its use is very rarely documented during prehistory. The present study yields new insights into the cognitive abilities of the early Neanderthals in wooden tool production and pyrotechnology. The early Neanderthals from the late Middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi (central Italy) were able to choose the appropriate timber and to process it with fire to produce tools. The artifacts recall the so-called “digging sticks,” multipurpose tools used by all hunter-gatherer societies.

The Lost MIS 11c Mammalian Fauna from Via dell’Impero (Rome, Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2024

This research presents an in-depth analysis of large mammal remains first discovered in 1932 in the archaeological area of ancient Rome, central Italy, during the work for the opening of Via dell’Impero (VFI). This work describes the faunal assemblage, its current preservation status, and uses tephrochronology to assess its age. Additionally, it provides paleoecological insights into the evolution of the mammalian fauna in Latium, central Italy, from MIS 13 to MIS 7. Analysis of the fossils updates the identification previously proposed by De Angelis d’Ossat, confirming the presence of Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Cervus elaphus, and Bos primigenius. However, in contrast to the previous author, the hippopotamus remains are assigned to Hippopotamus cf. antiquus, and a second deer is identified as Dama sp.. Furthermore, gnawing marks on the hippopotamus femur suggest the presence of a middle-sized carnivore. Tephrochronological investigation was conducted on pumice retrieved from the VFI fossiliferous layer and ash extracted from sediments adhering to the fossil surfaces. The major element composition of the glass from all pumice/ash samples shows a strong affinity with the Vico β unit, allowing correlation with the Fucino record and constraining the deposition of the VFI fossiliferous level between <406.5 ± 1.3 ka and >405.7 + 1.5/−1.6 ka. Radiometric dating is particularly useful for large mammal faunas of MIS 11-MIS 7, a period lacking significant faunal renewals, as Latium mammalian faunas are often dominated by species (elephants, red deer, aurochs) with broad chronological ranges.

Climatic and environmental changes of ~100 thousand years: The mammals from the early Middle Pleistocene sequence of Notarchirico (southern Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2024
PLOS ONE

Here we revise all the paleontological sample of Notarchirico, including historical collections and new findings collected during 2016–2023 excavations. Notarchirico is one of the most significant sites for the study of human evolution and terrestrial ecosystem dynamics during the Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, preserving nearly 100.000 years of environmental and climatic changes constrained between 695 ± 6 ka and 614 ± 12 ka. The deposit yielded the oldest human fossil of the Italian Peninsula, and one of the oldest European evidence of Homo heidelbergensis, as well as one of the earliest evidence of bifacial tools in western Europe, commonly associated with the Acheulean techno-complex. Our paleontological results revealed the presence of three different mammal complexes, documenting faunal dynamics in response of climatic driven-changes recognized during the early Middle Pleistocene. The lower complex (levels I2-G) indicates the dominance of wooded spaces, sparse steppes, and the existence of water bodies (lakes or ponds), indicating a deterioration of the fully interglacial conditions recorded during the end of MIS 17; the middle complex (levels G-C) with a low number of mammal remains can be attributed to the glacial conditions of MIS 16; the upper complex (levels B-above α) indicates an improvement in climate, transitioning towards the full interglacial conditions of the of MIS 15. The faunal sample of Notarchirico, based on its firm chronological setting, offers important data for the Biochronological Scheme of European Land Mammals, including one of the oldest records of Palaeoloxodon antiquus and Cervus elaphus in Europe, Panthera spelaea in southwestern Europe, Dama cf. roberti in Italian Peninsula, and one of the latest occurrences of Bison schoetensacki in Europe.

Large mammal faunas and ecosystem dynamics during the late Middle to early Late Pleistocene at Grotta Romanelli (southern Italy)

Article

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Sep 2024

The Cultural Ecohydrogeology of Mediterranean-Climate Springs: A Global Review with Case Studies

Article

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May 2024

Cultures in Mediterranean climate zones (MCZs) around the world have long been reliant on groundwater and springs as freshwater sources. While their ecology and cultural sustainability are recognized as critically important, inter-relationships between springs and culture in MCZs have received less attention. Here we augmented a global literature review with case studies in MCZ cultural landscapes to examine the diversity and intensity of cultural and socio-economic relationships on spring ecohydrogeology. MCZs are often oriented on western and southern coasts in tectonically active landscapes which control aquifer structure, the prevalence of westerly winds, and aridity, and generally expose associated habitats and cultures to harsh afternoon sunlight. Cultural appreciation and appropriation of springs ranges widely, from their use as subsistence water supplies to their roles in profound traditions such as Greco-Roman nymphalea as well as Asian and Abrahamic spiritual cleansing and baptism. The abandonment of traditional ways of life, such as rural livestock production, for urban ones has shifted impacts on aquifers from local to regional groundwater exploitation. The commoditization of water resources for regional agricultural, industrial (e.g., mining, water bottling, geothermal resorts), and urban uses is placing ever-increasing unsustainable demands on aquifers and spring ecosystems. When the regional economic value of springs approaches or exceeds local cultural values, these irreplaceable aquatic ecosystems are often degraded, over-looked, and lost. Sustainable stewardship of springs and the aquifers that support them is a poorly recognized but central conservation challenge for modern Mediterranean societies as they face impending impacts of global climate change. Solutions to this crisis require education, societal dialogue, and improved policy and implementation.

Multiproxy approach to reconstruct the climate and environment of a new late Middle Pleistocene vertebrate site in northwestern Italy

Article

Jan 2024
PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL

Multidisciplinary study of the Lower Palaeolithic site of Cimitero di Atella (Basilicata), Italy

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2023
QUATERN INT

HUMAN ELEPHANT INTERACTIONS: FROM PAST TO PRESENT

Chapter

Full-text available

May 2022

Humans consumed megaherbivores, including proboscideans, throughout the Pleistocene. However, there is a high potential for underappreciation of their relative importance to humans’ economy due to their potential relative underrepresentation in Paleolithic archaeological sites. Relying on our previous work, we discuss the critical importance of large animals in human prehistory. We review four factors that made megaherbivores critically important to humans: high ecological biomass density, lower complexity of acquisition, higher net energetic return, and high fat content. We propose a model that intends to overcome the potential underrepresentation bias by multiplying the MNI (Minimum Number of Individuals) of each animal species by its weight and only then determining the relative biomass abundances. #e next step of the model is the accumulation of the relative biomass abundance, beginning with the largest animal. This step enables a comparison of various assemblages in the relative complexity of acquisition, the level of net energetic return, and the level of fat content in the prey. We successfully test the method on an actualistic case of 61 hunts of the Hadza, where the true number and the MNI are known. We then apply the method to three comparisons between two successive cultural periods each, in the Levant, East Africa and Southern France. We find that there is indeed great potential for the underrepresentation of megaherbivores in the analysis of Paleolithic faunal assemblages. Since the largest animal in our actualistic study was a giraffe, we propose a future avenue of research for better correction of the underrepresentation of elephants, which often have partial to no representation in central base sites.

Around an elephant carcass: Cimitero di Atella and Ficoncella in the behavioural variability during the Early Middle Pleistocene in italy

Book

Jan 2021

From tortoises to elephants: the impact of elephants in the broad spectrum diet at Bolomor Cave (MIS 9–5 Spain).

Chapter

Aug 2021

Animal exploitation strategies have occupied a prominent place in the debate about the timing and nature of the modern human behavior. The discussions have basically focused on the ability to make an intensive use of seasonal resources, to hunt large or dangerous animals and to exploit fast-moving small game. Both large-sized herbivores and small prey are therefore considered a key variable to assess fundamental aspects of the evolution of subsistence strategies. In this work we present zooarchaeological data from the Middle Pleistocene site of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain, MIS 9–5e), which has been interpreted as a habitat place. Its taxonomic representation extends from very large-sized herbivores (elephants, hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses) to very small-sized animals (lagomorphs, birds and tortoises), or even exotic animals like macaque. Elephant specimens are documented along the stratigraphic sequence from level Ia, IV, V, XII, XIII and XVII. Most of the elephant individuals are immature and partially represented. Nevertheless, the bone fragments recovered coincide with the general anatomical profile of the medium- and large-sized ungulates, which is mainly characterized by stylopodials, zeugopodials and mandibles. Evidence of human use of small prey from the earliest phases of site occupation (sublevel XVIIc) is also attested in form of cut marks, intentional bone breakages, human tooth marks and burning patterns. The exploitation of small prey, alongside to the very large game identified at the site, indicates a generalist human behavior based on a broad spectrum diet (BSD), which contributes to document the diversity in the lifestyles of the human communities of the European Middle Pleistocene.

Application of Reflectance Transformation Imaging to Experimental Archaeology Studies

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2020

In this work, we present a study on experimental archaeology replicas of 170,000-year-old digging sticks excavated in 2012 in the archaeological site of Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Italy). One of the techniques used for documenting and studying the sticks was the reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) technique, which allows the creation of an interactive image by varying the angle of illumination. A reconstruction of the 3D profile of the surface was also made by applying the technique of photometric stereo imaging to the RTI images.

Small vertebrates from the Late Pleistocene of Avetrana (Apulia, southern Italy) karst filling

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2020

The fossiliferous deposit (karst cavity) in La Grave, a locality near the small town of Avetrana (Taranto, southern Italy), has yielded numerous fossils of vertebrates. The remains of large mammals have been the subject of several studies. This paper examines the remains of small vertebrates and identifies four taxa of amphibians (Bufo bufo, Bufotes gr. B. viridis, Hyla gr. H. arborea and Rana (s.l.) sp.), four taxa of reptiles (Testudo hermanni, Podarcis sp., Zamenis gr. Z. longissimus, Natrix natrix), and nine taxa of small mammals (Erinaceus europaeus, Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola italicus, Microtus (Terricola) savii, Microtus (Microtus) arvalis, Apodemus gr. A. sylvaticus - A. flavicollis, Hystrix (Acanthion) vinogradovi, Oryctolagus cuniculus and Lepus corsicanus). From a biochronological point of view, the data on small and large vertebrates indicate an age between the beginning of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5e) and the central part of MIS 3. The most recent fossiliferous layer (bed 8) is likely to have been deposited during a cooler period when compared to the previous layers.The data from small fossil vertebrates combined with those emerging from the large mammals and birds evidence the presence, near the karstic cavity, of open spaces (prairies) with pools of water, bordered by wooded areas and, not far, the presence of a rocky coastline. -RESUMEN: El depósito (cavidad kárstica) de La Grave, localidad cercana a la pequeña ciudad de Avetrana (Tarento, Italia meridional), ha dado lugar a numerosos fósiles de vertebrados. Los restos de grandes mamíferos han sido objeto de varios estudios. En este trabajo se examinan los restos de pequeños vertebrados y se identifican cuatro taxones de anfibios (Bufo bufo, Bufotes gr. B. viridis, Hyla gr. H. arborea and Rana (s.l.) sp.), cuatro de reptiles (Testudo hermanni, Podarcis sp., Zamenis gr. Z. longissimus, Natrix natrix), y nueve de pequeños mamíferos (Erinaceus europaeus, Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola italicus, Microtus (Terricola) savii, Microtus (Microtus) arvalis, Apodemus gr. A. sylvaticus - A. flavicollis, Hystrix (Acanthion) vinogradovi, Oryctolagus cuniculus and Lepus corsicanus). Desde un punto de vista biocronológico, los datos sobre los vertebrados pequeños y grandes indican una edad entre el comienzo del Pleistoceno tardío (MIS 5e) y la parte central del MIS 3. Es probable que el estrato fosilífero más reciente (nivel 8) se haya depositado durante un período más frío en comparación con las capas anteriores. Los datos de pequeños vertebrados fósiles combinados con los que proceden de los grandes mamíferos y aves evidencian la presencia, cerca de la cavidad kárstica, de espacios abiertos (praderas) con charcos de agua, bordeados por zonas boscosas y, no muy lejos, la presencia de una costa rocosa.

Pequeños vertebrados del relleno kárstico del Pleistoceno Superior de Avetrana (Apulia, Sur de Italia)

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2020

El depósito (cavidad kárstica) de La Grave, localidad cercana a la pequeña ciudad de Avetrana (Tarento, Italia meridional), ha dado lugar a numerosos fósiles de vertebrados. Los restos de grandes mamíferos han sido objeto de varios estudios. En este trabajo se examinan los restos de pequeños vertebrados y se identifican cuatro taxones de anfibios (Bufo bufo, Bufotes gr. B. viridis, Hyla gr. H. Arborea and Rana (s.l.) sp.), cuatro de reptiles (Testudo hermanni, Podarcis sp., Zamenis gr. Z. longissimus, Natrix natrix), y nueve de pequeños mamíferos (Erinaceus europaeus, Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola italicus, Microtus (Terricola) savii, Microtus (Microtus) arvalis, Apodemus gr. A. sylvaticus - A. flavicollis, Hystrix (Acanthion) vinogradovi, Oryctolagus cuniculus and Lepus corsicanus). Desde un punto de vista biocronológico, los datos sobre los vertebrados pequeños y grandes indican una edad entre el comienzo del Pleistoceno tardío (MIS 5e) y la parte central del MIS 3. Es probable que el estrato fosilífero más reciente (nivel 8) se haya depositado durante un período más frío en comparación con las capas anteriores. Los datos de pequeños vertebrados fósiles combinados con los que proceden de los grandes mamíferos y aves evidencian la presencia, cerca de la cavidad kárstica, de espacios abiertos (praderas) con charcos de agua, bordeados por zonas boscosas y, no muy lejos, la presencia de una costa rocosa.

Bibliography

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2017

Ancient TL

Regional insights into Upper Palaeolithic territorial strategies and the factors of habitat choice in the territory of the Hungarian Central Mountains

Article

Jun 2024
QUATERNARY SCI REV

Attila Trájer

The complete skeleton of a straight-tusked elephant calf from Cova del Rinoceront (Late Pleistocene, NE Iberian Peninsula): New insights into ontogenetic growth in Palaeoloxodon antiquus

Article

Dec 2021
QUATERNARY SCI REV

A nearly complete skeleton of an elephant calf was excavated between 2012 and 2014 from breccia deposits in a vertical karstic cavity named Cova del Rinoceront, exposed during limestone quarrying. The skeleton was found in the 120 cm-thick breccia layer III (Unit 1) of the 11 m-long sedimentary sequence filling the cavity. IRSL (128–129 ka) and AAR (126–142 ka) dating indicate that the layer was probably deposited during MIS 5e (∼115–135 ka). The diagnostic morphological traits of the occlusal surface of the molariform teeth, their position in the tooth progression and wear indicate that the skeleton belongs to a Palaeoloxodon antiquus calf about 5 years old, with a putative height at the shoulder of about 178–187 cm and a weight of about 1450–1500 kg. The sex cannot be confidently determined because the tusks were poorly preserved and the young age reduces the diagnostic value of the pelvis girdle. The rarity of calf skeletons in the fossil record of continental straight-tusked elephants renders the Cova del Rinoceront individual of great interest for better understanding the ontogenetic processes in continental straight-tusked elephants. The results obtained evidence, on the one hand, the difficulties entailed in properly assessing the ontogenetic growth process, given the low number of fully informative specimens of straight-tusked elephants known to date. On the other hand, they indicate an early beginning of distal epiphyseal fusion in humerus and tibia and of the proximal epiphysis in radius. Moreover, the nearly fused lateral epicondylus and condylus and the unfused and separate diaphysis and epiphysis on the medial side of the right femur suggest not only that fusion patterns may show high levels of intraspecific variation, but also that the process of epiphyseal fusion may vary in the homologous bones of a single individual. Notwithstanding the limitations resulting from the preservation status of the calf bones, our analysis yielded sufficient information to infer the ontogenetic age of the Cova del Rinoceront elephant, estimate its body mass and evaluate allometric growth in P. antiquus long bones. We obtained slightly different results when analysing samples that did or did not include the Cova del Rinoceront calf. In the former sample, confident isometry was limited to a few predictors but could not be excluded because for most of the independent variables, isometry and negative correlation were roughly balanced. Most of the dependent and independent variables showed the same or a similar scale ratio, but fewer responded almost similarly to bending stresses imposed by loading under their own weight. When the calf was excluded from analysis, negative or possibly negative correlations and variables responding almost similarly to bending stresses imposed by loading under their own weight prevailed. However, the hypothesis that some changes in limb bone proportions occurred during ontogenetic growth requires further support from an analysis of large samples of fully informative mature and immature P. antiquus individuals.

Taphonomic analysis of the MIS 4–3 (Late Pleistocene) faunal assemblage of Biśnik Cave, Southern Poland: Signs of a human-generated depot of naturally shed cervid antlers?

Article

Nov 2021
QUATERN INT

The present is a palaeobiological and taphonomic analysis of a Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 4–3 (Late Pleistocene) assemblage of animal remains and hominin artefacts from layers 7–5 of Biśnik Cave, Częstochowa Upland, Poland. The analysis indicates that the bone assemblage is the result of a time-averaged palimpsest of both biotic and episodic abiotic events, the former consisting of many successive generations of animals and hominins that frequented the cave, and the latter including hydraulic winnowing. In fact, the taphonomic history of the fossil assemblage from Biśnik Cave's layers 7–5 is partially obscured by the overprint of hydraulic winnowing, which purportedly removed a certain amount of the original specimens. Besides evidence of cave bear deaths from non-violent, hibernation-related mortality and of occupation by generations of denning wolves and hyaenas, there is a wealth of flint artefacts, alongside remains of a few fireplaces and of a structure built in the cave by hominins to partition the cave chambers. The studied layer contains an impressive number of shed antlers, primarily of the red deer Cervus elaphus. Crocuta crocuta spelaea is normally held responsible for such accumulations of shed antlers in various European caves; Biśnik Cave's layers 7–5 will therefore simply add to the list. However, the role of accumulator of shed antlers attributed to the Pleistocene spotted hyena does not match the behaviour of its modern counterpart and seems not accounted for metabolically. The only reasonable alternative is that the antlers were collected by hominins. From this alternative perspective the cave would have functioned as a warehouse, where naturally shed antlers were stored as raw material, potentially to be shaped into tools and/or employed as tools to make other tools. The palaeobiological and taphonomic analysis presented here provides new insights into the succession of pre- and postdepositional events that involved the bone remains accumulated in the cave, as well as into the interactions between the animals and hominins of the time. More importantly, if hominins, and not hyaenas, were responsible for the amassment of the shed antlers in Biśnik Cave, this study raises doubts as to the hyaenid or human origin of other similar cave accumulations of shed antlers throughout Europe.

Rapid Late Pleistocene climate change reconstructed from a lacustrine ostracod record in central Italy (Lake Trasimeno, Umbria)

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2020
BOREAS

This study presents, for the first time, a detailed quantitative reconstruction of winter (January) and summer (July) palaeotemperatures from the Late Pleistocene to Holocene transition in central Italy based on ostracod assemblages in an 8.59-m-long sediment core retrieved in Lake Trasimeno. Of 19 ostracod species recovered, 13 were calibrated according to their living temperature ranges, enabling us to reconstruct mean January and July temperature ranges using the mutual ostracod temperature range (MOTR) method. The occurrences of Cytheromorpha fuscata and Limnocythere suessenbornensis from 44 000 to 25 500 cal. a BP showed mean January temperatures at least 7°C colder and mean July temperature at least 1°C cooler in some intervals compared to present-day temperatures. Comparison of the MOTR-derived January minima curve with a Greenland oxygen isotope record (NGRIP) shows a remarkable correlation of warmer Greenland Interstadial and the colder Greenland Stadial events with clear peaks and troughs in the MOTR signal. These correlationswere tested successfully by tuning the MOTR curve to the NGRIP record, resulting in an improved age-depth model combining radiocarbon ages with MOTR tie points. The results demonstrate that a record of rapid climate change in the North Atlantic region is archived in lacustrine ostracod assemblages in central Italy.

Il sito del Paleolitico medio di Poggetti Vecchi (GR): un aggiornamento sulle ricerche in corso

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2019

In 2012, the excavations for the construction of a thermal pool at Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Tuscany, Central Italy) exposed a stratified succession of seven units with assemblages of bone, wooden and stone tools and fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus. The site is radiometrically dated to around 171,000 years BP and hence correlated with the early Marine Isotope Stage 6. The artifacts were thus created by early Neanderthals. Most relevant are the wooden sticks, made from boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), but also their association with the elephant bones. The sticks were over 1 meter long, rounded at one end and pointed at the other. They have been partially charred, possibly to lessen the labor of scraping boxwood, using a technique unparalleled at the time. The wooden tools have the size and features of digging sticks, which are quite commonly used by human foragers. The Poggetti Vecchi sticks therefore provide the first evidence of the use of fire for working wooden implements by an early Neanderthal population. The current study aimed at reconstructing the operational sequence for the fabrication of the Poggetti Vecchi wooden tools, especially analyzing the working traces (scratches and cut marks) on the artefacts and developing an experimental study.

Experimenting the Use of Fire in the Operational Chain of Prehistoric Wooden Tools: the Digging Sticks of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2020

As known, artefacts made from wood are very rarely encountered in prehistoric deposits due to the low durability of this material. Emergency excavations in the spring of 2012 at Poggetti Vecchi, Central Italy, brought to light an open-air, stratified Palaeolithic site of an overall area of around 160 m². The finds are radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene. The site is therefore of particular interest, not only because it offers snapshots of the local environment at a time when early Neanderthals occupied the area but also in view of the recovery of wooden tools. The presence of a burnt film on some of the artefacts has led us to conjecture that, in addition to stone tools, fire was also used in the manufacture of the sticks, as documented in ethnography and hypothesised for prehistoric digging sticks. An experimental study was carried out to reconstruct the operational chain of this kind of tool. This study demonstrates that the use of fire was functional to the manufacture of the sticks featuring this morphology. The working of a very hard wood like Buxus is painstaking and requires a complex operational chain, from the selection of the particular wood to its working employing stone tools and fire, with a significant investment of time and effort.

Poggetti Vecchi (Tuscany, Italy): A late Middle Pleistocene case of human–elephant interaction

Article

Jun 2019

A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and animals, the precise use of the sticks is unclear. Here we discuss about the role played by the hominins at the site: paleobiological and taphonomic evidence indicates that the elephants died by a natural cause and were butchered soon after their death. The associated paleontological and archeological evidence from this site provides fresh insights into the behavior of early Neanderthals in Central Italy. The discovery of Poggetti Vecchi shows how opportunistically flexible Neanderthals were in response to environmental contingencies.

Piacenzian–Gelasian non‐marine ostracods from the Dunarobba Fossil Forest (Tiberino Basin, Umbria, central Italy)

Article

Feb 2019
Spec Paper Palaeontology

The taxonomy of some non‐marine ostracod assemblages from the Dunarobba Fossil Forest area (south Tiberino Basin, Umbria, Italy) is discussed, adding to the scientific understanding of Piacenzian–Gelasian non‐marine ostracods in central Italy and providing a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the shallow coastal lacustrine environments of the Palaeolake Tiberino. The ostracod assemblages include Darwinula stevensoni, Vestalenula cylindrica, Candona (Candona) improvisa, Candona (Neglecandona) neglecta, Candona (Neglecandona) angulata, Candona (Neglecandona) paludinica, Caspiocypris basilicii, Caspiocypris tiberina, Candonopsis kingsleii, Cyclocypris ovum, Ilyocypris bradyi, Ilyocypris decipiens, Cypris mandelstami, Zonocypris membranae quadricella, Potamocypris fulva, Cyprideis crotonensis, Cyprideis rectangularis and two new species: Hemicypris lomastroi sp. nov. and Paralimnocythere turgida sp. nov. In addition to widespread European species, the ostracod assemblages contain some rare species that were previously known from the Pliocene Paludinian Beds of Serbia. A cluster analysis applied to the ostracod frequency matrix has lead to the identification of four separate assemblages that can be attributed to several ecological niches, including emerged hydrosols, ephemeral coastal pools and a littoral lacustrine margin, which suggest a complex coastal environment

A Middle Palaeolithic wooden digging stick from Aranbaltza III, Spain

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2018
PLOS ONE

Aranbaltza is an archaeological complex formed by at least three open-air sites. Between 2014 and 2015 a test excavation carried out in Aranbaltza III revealed the presence of a sand and clay sedimentary sequence formed in floodplain environments, within which six sedimentary units have been identified. This sequence was formed between 137–50 ka, and includes several archaeological horizons, attesting to the long-term presence of Neanderthal communities in this area. One of these horizons, corresponding with Unit 4, yielded two wooden tools. One of these tools is a beveled pointed tool that was shaped through a complex operational sequence involving branch shaping, bark peeling, twig removal, shaping, polishing, thermal exposition and chopping. A use-wear analysis of the tool shows it to have traces related with digging soil so it has been interpreted as representing a digging stick. This is the first time such a tool has been identified in a European Late Middle Palaeolithic context; it also represents one of the first well-preserved Middle Palaeolithic wooden tool found in southern Europe. This artefact represents one of the few examples available of wooden tool preservation for the European Palaeolithic, allowing us to further explore the role wooden technologies played in Neanderthal communities.

Art, Biology, and Conservation: Biodeterioration of Works of Art

Book

Full-text available

Jan 2003

The elephant butchery area at the Middle Pleistocene site of Notarchirico (Venosa, Basilicata, Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2001

An alpha irradiator for ESR dating

Article

Full-text available

Nov 1994

A new age within MIS 7 for the Homo neanderthalensis of Saccopastore in the glacio-eustatically forced sedimentary successions of the Aniene River Valley, Rome

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2015
QUATERNARY SCI REV

New insights on the wooden weapons from the Paleolithic site of Schöningen

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2015
J HUM EVOL

The Paleolithic site of Schöningen is famous for the earliest known, completely preserved wooden weapons. Here we present recent results of an ongoing analysis of the nine spears, one lance, a double pointed stick, and a burnt stick dating to the Holsteinian, c. 300 kyr. Macroscopic and microscopic analyses, as well as studies of thin sections, contribute to a better understanding of the manufacture of the wooden weapons. They were deposited in organic sediments at a former lakeshore among numerous bones of butchered horses. In general, the spears are extremely well-preserved and show no or little sign of taphonomic alteration, although some of the weapons are broken and parts were slightly moved, probably by water action. The excellent preservation conditions provide considerable information on the operational sequence of production. The hunters selected thin trunks of spruce or pine and initially stripped off the bark. Traces of cutting, scraping, and smoothing can be observed on the spear surfaces in detail. In the case of spear X, repeated use of the weapon is implied by re-sharpening of the tip. Analyses of wood anatomy provide information on climatic conditions and contribute to the better understanding of the development of the site.

Assessment of the Acheulean in Southern Italy: New study on the Atella site (Basilicata, Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2016
QUATERN INT

In this research, still at a preliminary stage, we have studied the lithic assemblage of Cimitero di Atella site (Basilicata, Southern Italy) with a technological and techno-functional approach, never applied to this material before. Previously, lithic implements were principally classified with a typological methodological approach. This site was ascribed to the Lower Acheulean, even if large tools found in situ are very few and not properly bifacially worked. This new analysis allowed us to note the presence of technical recurrences both in production and tool formation. The results have been consequently compared with those concerning other similar and almost coeval sites, finding many analogies in production strategies, but also some differences mainly due to shape and quality of the raw material. We underline the great scientific potential of this site and the whole area of the Atella basin, which can surely be included in the large debate on the first peopling of Europe and the diffusion of the bifacial technology.

Dancing to the rhythms of the Pleistocene? Early Middle Paleolithic population dynamics in NW Iberia (Duero Basin and Cantabrian Region)

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2015
QUATERNARY SCI REV

Palaeoloxodon and Human Interaction: Depositional Setting, Chronology and Archaeology at the Middle Pleistocene Ficoncella Site (Tarquinia, Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2015
PLOS ONE

The Ficoncella site in northern Latium (Italy) represents a unique opportunity to investigate the modalities of a short occupation in an alluvial setting during the Lower Palaeolithic. The small excavation area yielded a lithic assemblage, a carcass of Palaeoloxodon antiquus, and some other faunal remains. The main objectives of the study are to better characterize the depositional context where the Palaeoloxodonand the lithic assemblage occur, and to evaluate with greater precision the occupation dynamics. A 25 m-long well was drilled just above the top of the terrace of the Ficoncella site and faunal and lithic remains were analyzed with current and innovative techniques. The archaeological site contains floodplain deposits as it is located next to a small incised valley that feeds into a larger valley of the Mignone River. A tephra layer capping the site is 40Ar/39Ar dated to 441±8 ka. Collectively, the geochronologic, tephrochronologic and geologic data, suggest the site was occupied during MIS 13. The new results should prompt further research at Ficoncella in order to improve our understanding of the dynamics of human settlement in Europe during the Early to Middle Pleistocene.

The Neanderthal in the karst: First dating, morphometric, and paleogenetic data on the fossil skeleton from Altamura (Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2015
J HUM EVOL

Elephants at the Middle Pleistocene Acheulian open-air site of Revadim Quarry, Israel

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2012
QUATERN INT

Lower Paleolithic faunal and lithic assemblages serve as a major source of information on the behavior and capabilities of Early- and Middle Pleistocene hominins. The multi-layered Late Acheulian site of Revadim Quarry provides a rare opportunity to study hominin–elephant interactions during the Late Lower Paleolithic period in the Levant. A large proportion of this open-air site was excavated (ca. 250 m2) and yielded a wealth of lithic and faunal remains. In this paper the proboscideans from Revadim are presented for the first time within the broader geomorphological, stratigraphic and archaeological context in order to allow a better understanding of elephants within the Acheulian in the southern Levant. The unprecedented quantity of elephant remains at the site is accompanied by large and rich lithic assemblages. Of special interest are several elephant bones with cut marks, and the earliest appearance in the southern Levant of bones that seem to have been shaped to resemble tools. The site bears testimony to complex exploitation of proboscideans.

Land mollusc palaeocommunity dynamics related to palaeoclimatic changes in the Upper Pleistocene alluvial deposits of Marche Apennines (central Italy)

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2014

A detailed chronological scheme based on C-14 and U/Th datings of Upper Pleistocene slope and alluvial deposits in the Upper Esino River Basin (Marche, central Italy), containing archaeological remains, pollens and land molluscs, constrains the time-range deposition of cold climate slope-waste and coeval alluvial deposits between the Middle Pleniglacial and Late Glacial. Integrating molluscan analyses and stratigraphical data (sedimentary features, C-14 and U/Th datings) from an Upper Pleistocene stratigraphical section of fluvial gravelly and sandy-silty sediments near Matelica (Macerata) allowed a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Well preserved land gastropod assemblages from nine levels, typical of cold/cool climate and variable humidity of stadials and interstadials showing prevalence of open and dry environment, were analysed by quantitative methods. Palaeocommunity dynamics through the section, due to alternate cool-cold climatic conditions, proved to be consistent with sedimentary features: braid plain channel gravelly sediments of stadials yielded poor-species assemblages of very dry exposed places (steppe-like), sandy-silty sediments of interstadials recorded diversified molluscan fauna with steppe-prairie species and taxa of more or less damp conditions, suggesting more humid environment. Dominance or decrease in specimen number of one species and variation in species composition were strongly influenced by palaeoclimatic changes, highlighting detailed climatic and palaeoenvironmental variations through time.

Countdown 2010, azioni concrete per ridurre la perdita di biodiversità: il caso del gasteropode endemico della Toscana meridionale Melanopsis etrusca Brot, 1862 (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia).

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Jan 2010

Conoscenza e conservazione dei molluschi non marini italiani: lo stato delle ricerche.

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2000

I Molluschi della Provincia di Pistoia: le specie da tutelare e quelle da combattere.

Book

Full-text available

Jan 2009

Simone Cianfanelli

Le stazioni di Melanopsis dufouri Ferussac, 1823. Gasteropoda, Prosobranchia) in Italia.

Article

Full-text available

Mar 1991

A new view from La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2014

Did Neanderthal hunters drive mammoth herds over cliffs in mass kills? Excavations at La Cotte de St Brelade in the 1960s and 1970s uncovered heaps of mammoth bones, interpreted as evidence of intentional hunting drives. New study of this Middle Palaeolithic coastal site, however, indicates a very different landscape to the featureless coastal plain that was previously envisaged. Reconsideration of the bone heaps themselves further undermines the ‘mass kill’ hypothesis, suggesting that these were simply the final accumulations of bone at the site, undisturbed and preserved in situ when the return to a cold climate blanketed them in wind-blown loess.

R??ponses des malacofaunes terrestres Quaternaires aux contraintes climatiques en Europe septentrionale

Article

Full-text available

Dec 1989
PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL

Denis-Didier Rousseau

Quaternary land snails show two major responses to climatic variations: emigration and ecophenotypism. The former is the case of the great majority of stenotopic species. Examples of migration are determined through the study of malacological associations. In northern France, cooler phases are indicated by the immigration and development of Nordic and Alpine species of which the area of distribution was invaded by ice. By contrast, interglacial temperate periods, corresponding to a recolonization of free environments, are indicated by the immigration of forest or semiforest thermophilic species. Ecophenotypism concerns some eurythermal species. They display morphological variations of the shell, mainly variations in size, which parallel climatic variations. In Pupilla muscorum, the shell is large when the climate is cold and small when it is temperate. Examples of migration and ecophenotypism are provided by joint studies of the malacological associations and Pupilla muscorum in the Achenheim site (Alsace, France).

Geothermal anomalies and structural features of southern Tuscany

Conference Paper

Full-text available

May 1995

Histological peculiarities of the noding process in Cyprideis torosa (Jones) (Crustacea, Ostracoda)

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2005

Dietmar Keyser

The noding of Cyprideis torosa is investigated. Studies reveal structural changes in the ornamentation and the cellular layers of the epidermis in the noded area. Noding is caused by the inability of the animal to regulate the increasing osmotic pressure during moulting in low saline water. Therefore it must be considered as a phenotypic and not a genetic response.

Climate and Atmospheric History of the Past 420,000 Years from the Vostok Ice Core, Antarctica

Article

Full-text available

Jun 1999

The recent completion of drilling at Vostok station in East Antarctica has allowed the extension of the ice record of atmospheric composition and climate to the past four glacial-interglacial cycles. The succession of changes through each climate cycle and termination was similar, and atmospheric;and climate properties oscillated between stable bounds. Interglacial periods differed in temporal evolution and duration. Atmospheric: concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane correlate well with Antarctic air-temperature throughout the record. Present-day atmospheric burdens of these two important greenhouse gases seem to have been unprecedented during the past 420,000 years.

Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces of global land areas

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2005

We developed interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas (excluding Antarctica) at a spatial resolution of 30 arc s (often referred to as 1-km spatial resolution). The climate elements considered were monthly precipitation and mean, minimum, and maximum temperature. Input data were gathered from a variety of sources and, where possible, were restricted to records from the 1950-2000 period. We used the thin-plate smoothing spline algorithm implemented in the ANUSPLIN package for interpolation, using latitude, longitude, and elevation as independent variables. We quantified uncertainty arising from the input data and the interpolation by mapping weather station density, elevation bias in the weather stations, and elevation variation within grid cells and through data partitioning and cross validation. Elevation bias tended to be negative (stations lower than expected) at high latitudes but positive in the tropics. Uncertainty is highest in mountainous and in poorly sampled areas. Data partitioning showed high uncertainty of the surfaces on isolated islands, e.g. in the Pacific. Aggregating the elevation and climate data to 10 arc min resolution showed an enormous variation within grid cells, illustrating the value of high-resolution surfaces. A comparison with an existing data set at 10 arc min resolution showed overall agreement, but with significant variation in some regions. A comparison with two high-resolution data sets for the United States also identified areas with large local differences, particularly in mountainous areas. Compared to previous global climatologies, ours has the following advantages: the data are at a higher spatial resolution (400 times greater or more); more weather station records were used; improved elevation data were used; and more information about spatial patterns of uncertainty in the data is available. Owing to the overall low density of available climate stations, our surfaces do not capture of all variation that may occur at a resolution of 1 km, particularly of precipitation in mountainous areas. In future work, such variation might be captured through knowledge-based methods and inclusion of additional co-variates, particularly layers obtained through remote sensing.

New data from Ambrona: Closing the hunting versus scavenging debate

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2005
QUATERN INT

This paper presents a taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblages from the 1993–1999 excavations at Ambrona (Spain), directed by Santonja and Pérez-González. The purpose of the new excavations was to achieve a better understanding of the stratigraphic sequence, general geology, sedimentary context and processes of accumulation of materials. Our objectives are to evaluate the opposing interpretations of the hominid subsistence activities at the site proposed by Freeman and Binford. The faunal and lithic remains are found in different sedimentary contexts: an alluvial fan, lacustrine muds, fluviatile clay–sands and channel deposits. Faunal remains in the lacustrine muds are often, but not always, in primary context. Remains of elephant and deer carcasses may be found in partial articulation or proximity and represent natural occurrences without any clear evidence of hominid intervention. In other contexts the faunal remains are occurrences of single anatomical elements either displaced by water or left isolated in situ. There are no carnivore marks; bones and stone artifacts show varying degrees of mechanical abrasion due to water transport. Limited evidence of human action on bones is provided by a few SEM verified cutmarks and some anthropic fractures. They document butchery of various animals, including elephants. We cannot prove hunting but we can definitely reject Binford's idea of marginal scavenging of medium-size ungulates from carnivore kills. Ambrona is a complex mix of natural and human components, the remnant of a natural landscape regularly visited by hominids, who transported some artifacts from nonlocal raw material sources and had an organized approach to meat acquisition. However, strong evidence of elephant hunting is provided only by sites younger than Ambrona.

Atlas of Land and Freshwater Molluscs of Britain and Ireland

Book

Jan 1999

Michael P. Kerney

Kärlich-Seeufer - Untersuchungen zu einer altpaläolithischen Fundstelle im Neuwieder Becken (Rheinland-Pfalz)

Article

Jan 1998

Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser

The Use of Ostracods in Palaeoenvironmental Studies, or What can you do with an Ostracod Shell?

Article

Nov 2003

Over recent decades ostracods have become established indicators of ecosystem health, biodiversity and environmental change. With applications ranging across the earth sciences (from modern pollution studies to sea-level change, basin evolution, plate tectonics, palaeoceanography) and related disciplines such as archaeology, ecology and genetics, their utility extends to almost every aquatic and semi-aquatic habitat, from the deep ocean to high mountain springs. Their temporal range is now known to cover the last 500 million years of earth history. The study of fossil ostracod assemblages follows traditional palaeontological lines of investigation, including taphonomy, morphometries and diversity, but there are a number of methodological approaches, specific to the ostracods, that render them potentially one of the most versatile organisms in the fossil record. Ostracods have been employed on a range oftemporal and spatial scales to reconstruct past environments, from world-wide, geological-scale global events in the deep-sea through to smaller-scale studies of lakes and their archives of local environmental change over recent centuries. Much information can be obtained from ostracod assemblages but it is particularly through recent advances in the chemical and physical study of single shells or carapaces that the utility of these organisms has been brought to the fore. In this paper the potential palaeoenvironmental information derived from an ostracod assemblage, a single species, or an individual shell is reviewed. The main applications for ostracods are outlined for marine and non-marine ecosystems. Finally, the role of the ostracods in detailing the recent history of the Aral Sea is outlined.

Non marine ostracods and quaternary palaeoenvironments

Article

Jan 2000

Geographical distribution of reproductive modes in living non-marine ostracods

Article

Jan 1998

User's manual for a geochronological toolkit for Microsoft Excel (Isoplot/Ex version 3.0)

Article

Jan 2003

K.R. Ludwig

Etude archeozoologique des grands mammiferes du site Pleistocene Moyen de Biache-Saint vaast (Pas-de-Calais, France): Apports biostratigraphiques et paleoethnographiques

Article

Jan 1992
ANTHROPOLOGIE

Patrick Auguste

The Eemian Elephas antiquus finds with artifacts from Lehringen and Gröbern: are they really killing sites?

Article

Jan 2000

T. Weber

Zur biometrischen Erfassung eines Evolutionstrends bei Arvicola (Rodentia, Mammalia) aus dem Pleistoz??n Th??ringens

Article

Jan 1978

Wolf-Dieter Heinrich

Palaeoloxodon exploitation at the Middle Pleistocene site of La Polledrara di Cecanibbio (Rome, Italy)

Article

Jun 2016
QUATERN INT

The site of La Polledrara di Cecanibbio (Rome, Central Italy) clearly documents a close connection between elephant remains and the subsistence strategies of human beings. A carcass of a straight-tusked elephant was recently discovered in sediments that represent the edge of a former swampy area. Some limbs are still in anatomical connection and the skeleton is associated with a lithic industry that, according to taphonomic data, was produced in situ. The spatial distribution of elephant bones, exceptionally well preserved because of the characteristics of the sediment, allows hypothesizing the dynamics of death and burial. The almost complete articulated skeleton lies gently bent on its left side, though the anterior and posterior limbs maintain a nearly standing position. The forelimbs are pointing slightly downward. The left hind limb is stretched, while the knee of the right one is bent downward with the foot sole facing up. The anatomical connection of the bones association excludes any fluvial transport, even though some skeletal elements, such as vertebrae, ribs, pelvis, and scapulae are missing. The carcass belongs to an adult Palaeoloxodon antiquus as suggested by the morphological and biometric characteristics of molariform teeth and long bones. A large quantity of lithic tools was recovered around the carcass, mainly along its right side. The presence of more than six hundred lithic implements (cores, tools, flakes, and working debris), some of them presenting wear traces indicating their use on soft animal tissues (meat and hide) and associated with the elephant skeleton, documents human activity related to the exploitation of the carcass by scavenging. The lithic industry, on small flint pebbles, was produced at the site as indicated by the refitting and by the presence of working debris, and indicates very simple chaînes opératoires. Traces of intentional fracturing on the femurs, evidence the exploitation on the elephant carcass by humans. A marrow extraction and the procurement of raw material for the production of bone tools are also documented by various remains found in sediments deposited during both fluvial and palustrine phases.

Chapter 5. Mutual Climatic Range Methods for Quaternary Ostracods

Article

Dec 2012
Dev Quaternary Sci

The development of Mutual Climatic Range (MCR) methods for ostracods has included the estimation of marine bottom-water palaeotemperatures, but it has focused mainly on the use of non-marine ostracods to infer past air temperatures. The Delorme analogue MCR method, using only those components of a fossil assemblage that co-exist today, has yielded mean annual air temperature and annual precipitation estimates for North American Quaternary sites. The Mutual Ostracod Temperature Range (MOTR) non-analogue MCR method utilises all species in a fossil assemblage; calibrations based on a European database have been applied to the estimation of mean July and January air temperatures for English Pleistocene sites. These approaches are reviewed and their relative merits discussed; both yield results comparable to those of other proxies such as the beetle MCR method. A revised calibration table for European non-marine ostracods is provided, and new MOTR estimates for English glacial and interglacial sites are presented.

Data, Relativism and Archaeological Science

Article

Sep 1987
Man

Lewis R. Binford

Against the backdrop of current archaeological debate, this article presents a discussion of the production of data for anthropological research. It is suggested that the particular character of ethnographic research has conditioned the discussion of the role of science in both ethnography and archaeology. It is argued that the 'ethnographic model' of data production is misleading and offers a false model for archaeology. By implication it is also suggested that ethnography is misled as well by its acceptance of personal experience as an ontological guide to the nature of ethnographic data or the enthographic research domain.

In the elephant, everything is good: Carcass use and re-use at Castel di Guido (Italy)

Article

Apr 2014
QUATERN INT

Castel di Guido is a typical Middle Pleistocene elephant site where intentionally fragmented bones of elephant and of other large mammals were found together with Acheulean biface-like industry, including bifaces made of various stone types and of elephant bone, associated with flint tools on pebbles and flakes. Following a first interpretation of the evidence, the site represented a single and short phase of use, and elephants, horses, aurochs and few other species were killed and butchered on site, or partly brought to the site to be butchered after having been killed elsewhere. The bones were intentionally fractured for marrow extraction and left to “season” before being used as raw material for artefact production. Further evidence deriving from more recent studies suggests that the site lasted for much longer time and is in fact an intricate palimpsest of several phases of human use and partial reworking.

Monte Carlo approach to calculate US-ESR age and age uncertainty for tooth enamel

Article

Aug 2014
QUAT GEOCHRONOL

The combination of electron spin resonance (ESR) and U-series dating approach is increasingly being used to fossil teeth from archaeological sites. A rigorous age uncertainty assessment is needed for this dating method. However, it is difficult to provide partial derivatives of the combined ESR/U-series (US) model, as required by the law of propagation of uncertainties. In this study, we developed a new age calculation MATLAB program, called USESR, using a Monte Carlo approach for estimating the age and the age uncertainty for tooth enamel. Tests have been performed with virtual samples (n=64). The results suggest that this Monte Carlo approach can provide reliable US-ESR age and reduced age uncertainty in comparison with those obtained by the routinely used program, DATA. The results also show that the new program has higher tolerance limits of U-series disequilibrium than the DATA program for US-ESR age calculations.

Neanderthal and Mammuthus interactions at EDAR Culebro 1 (Madrid, Spain)

Article

Dec 2013

Geoarchaeology: The Earth-Science Approach to Archaeological Interpretation

Book

Jan 2006

An indispensable book for all professionals and students interested in the field of geoarchaeology, including those with limited earth-science experience, this new edition of Geoarchaeology builds on the success and innovation of the first edition and includes updates, new concepts and examples, an enhanced bibliography, and many new illustrations. The second edition begins by considering the history and theory of geoarchaeology. Rapp and Hill then move to discussions of soils and environmental interpretations; initial context and site formation; methods of discovery and spatial analyses; estimating time; paleoenvironments, landscapes, and the human past; identifying, analyzing, and sourcing raw materials; and construction, destruction, and conservation of sites and materials. "[This book] covers a wide range of topics ... with clarity and balance.... [The] chapters are all well written and have concise introductory discussions that are not too detailed and not too brief.... Beautifully produced."-Michael Waters, Geoarchaeology: An International Journal (on the first edition).

Cut marks on the Middle Pleistocene elephant carcass of Áridos 2 (Madrid, Spain)

Article

Sep 2013

a b s t r a c t Áridos 1 and Áridos 2 (Madrid, Spain) are two Middle Pleistocene sites belonging to the isotopic stages 9e11. Both places contain partial carcasses of Elephas (Paleoxodon) antiquus associated to Acheulian stone tools. In this work, the taphonomic study of the elephant remains of Áridos 2 is presented. This study has documented several cut marks on different bones, which indicate bulk flesh and viscerae extraction by Middle Pleistocene hominins. Several arguments are provided to support that at least some of the cut marks were made with handaxes, further suggesting that some of these artifacts were butchering tools in this stage of human evolution. Although cut marks on elephant carcasses have been documented at some Middle Pleistocene sites, very few have been published in detail to allow consideration of their status as hominin-imparted marks. By doing so, the present study provides more evidence of large carcass exploitation by hominins during this period.

Geochemistry of thermal springs of Tuscany (Italy)

Article

Dec 1977
CHEM GEOL

Seventy-seven thermal springs, spread over an area of about 23,000 km2, including the geothermal field of Larderello, were studied. Temperature and fundamental chemical composition, as well as distribution of several minor constituents (Li, Rb, Sr, F, Br, H3BO3 and SiO2) were taken into account in order to distinguish some principal hydrochemical types.Relationships between geological situation and water chemistry were investigated and a genetic model of the regional geology proposed.

Noding of Cyprideis torosa valves (Ostracoda) - a proxy for salinity? New data from field observations and a long-term microcosm experiment

Article

Aug 2012

Cyprideis torosa (Jones, 1850) (Ostracoda, Crustacea) is one of the most common marginal marine ostracod species in the Northern hemisphere. We investigate the relationship between variable noding of its valves and salinity as well as Ca2+ concentration in the ambient water, analysing populations from an in vitro experiment and field data from the southern Baltic Sea coast. There is a clear negative linear correlation between the proportion of noded individuals from our microcosms and salinity. Deficiency of Ca2+ causes heavier noding in laboratory cultures. The same effect can be seen in the field, however, the increase of noded individuals with falling salinity appears to be stepped, not linear. This pattern probably reflects the ability of the animals to wait some time until better salinity conditions occur within the highly variable conditions of estuaries and lagoons. At the southern Baltic Sea coast, proportions of more than 20% noded valves within a C. torosa population indicates salinities of up to 2 psu, up to 10% noded valves indicate salinities between 2 and 7 psu, and the lack of noded valves salinities > 7 psu. Stable salinity conditions as in the studied microcosms cause a shift of these salinity limits to 5 and 14 psu approximately but in a linear relationship between salinity and proportion of noded individuals. Hence, athalassic populations from more stable water bodies should be used for continuous and more detailed salinity trend reconstructions. Deficiency of Ca2+ (approximately < 120 mg/l) effects up to about 20% more noded individuals than in water with same salinity but with higher Ca2+ concentrations. The reproduction rates within the microcosms indicate a salinity optimum of C. torosa eggs of 8 psu whereas the optimum of the adults seems to be at least 14 psu (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Climatic conditions during marine oxygen isotope stage 6 in the eastern Mediterranean region from the isotopic composition of speleothems of Soreq Cave, Israel

Article

Apr 2002
GEOLOGY

At several times during marine oxygen isotope stage 6, the eastern Mediterranean region was influenced by two extreme climatic systems: the large ice sheet over northern Europe and the wet tropics associated with African monsoons. During this interval, two major climatic events occurred in the region; the sapropel S6 layer formed ca. 176 ka in the eastern Mediterranean basin owing to the increase in the African monsoon, and another event, although not large enough to form sapropel, occurred ca. 151 ka. The isotopic composition of Soreq Cave speleothems seems to record these events as very low delta18O-delta13C values dated as ca. 178 and 152 ka. The very low delta18O-delta13C values of -60/00 and -110/00 to -120/00, respectively, are typical of interglacial intervals, but here they were recorded during a glacial interval. Such low peaks indicate that in this part of the eastern Mediterranean region, i.e., Israel, the rainfall amount increased dramatically. Moreover, the isotopic record of the speleothems also shows that during the entire stage 6, although the climate was as cold as much of the last glacial, the conditions were never as dry.

A test of uranium-series dating of fossil tooth enamel: Results from Tournal Cave, France

Article

Mar 1988
APPL GEOCHEM

A series of well preserved mammal bones and horse teeth was analyzed from archaeological levels of Tournal Cave (Magdalenian, Aurignacian, and Mousterain) to test the hypothesis that well-crystallized enamel behaves more as a closed system than does whole bone. The isotopic composition of bones and tooth enamels from this deposit meet criteria for confidence, and gave no reasons to suspect contamination or open-system behavior. Two samples for which231Pa could be analyzed showed internal concordance with the respective230Th ages. In spite of the favourable isotopic criteria, however, comparison of the U-series ages of the bones and the tooth enamel with stratigraphic position and14C control indicated the dates were not meaningful. In general, both bones and tooth enamels gave ages too young, although some were clearly too old. Neither group showed any systematic increase of age with stratigraphic depth. Tooth enamel, therefore, shows no advantage over bone for U-series dating for this site. In Tournal cave both bones and enamel are apparently open to U, which is probably cycling as a consequences of post-depositional groundwater movement.

ESR dating of tooth enamel: Coupled correction for U-uptake and U-series disequilibrium

Article

Dec 1988
Int J Radiat Appl Instrum Nucl Tracks Radiat Meas

ESR dates on tooth enamel require a knowledge of the history of uptake of uranium (U) by both the dentin and enamel. We present a method of determining the uptake history by simultaneously fitting a model uptake function to the U-series and accumulated dose data. The function is of the form U(t) = Uo(t)p+1; Uo is the observed U-238 content of the tooth; p is a parameter to be determined in the fitting procedure; T is the age of the sample, and U(t) is the U content at any time t.

Late Pleistocene Zelkova extinction in Central Italy

Article

May 1986
NEW PHYTOL

The genus Zelkova contains species which are nowadays distributed in an extremely fragmentary, mainly Asiatic, area. The Island of Crete retains geographically the species nearest to Italy. Fossil leaves and pollen discovered in some sites of Central Italy furnish evidence of the distribution of these trees before and during the Last (Eemian) Interglacial and of their persistence during part of the Last (Wurmian) Glaciation. The evidence is seen in two pollen diagrams from boreholes at Castiglione and Fucino which have stratigraphic continuity; at the base of the series Zelkova reaches conspicuous peaks in a phase which can be correlated with the Eemian Interglacial. During the climatic fluctuations of the last glacial Zelkova disappears in steppe periods and spreads again in favourable times up to the time of extinction, which seems to occur in both series somewhat before the latest glacial acme.

Carya as marker for tree refuges in southern Italy (Boiano basin) at the Middle Pleistocene

Article

Jan 2013
PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCL

The Carya genus, a tree of the Juglandaceae family, has a restricted geographical distribution today, mainly confined to North America and Southeast Asia and with a precise range of ecological requirements. During the Neogene, Carya had a wide distribution across the northern hemisphere; however, its habitat was reduced progressively in response to Pliocene and Quaternary climate changes. In the Early and Middle Pleistocene paleobotanical records, Carya is considered a relic which testifies to the final climatic deterioration of the Pliocene and to the global effect of the Quaternary climate cycles. The lacustrine and fluvio-palustrine sequence of Boiano (Molise, Italy) records the paleoenvironmental and climate changes since theMiddle Pleistocene. The chronological framework is based on several tephra layers, related to known eruptions or directly dated, and indicates that the basal deposits are older than 440 ka. Palynological study of the sedimentary filling highlights vegetation changes from Oxygen Isotopic Stage (OIS) 13 to 2. The Boiano biotope, characterized by a continuous edaphic and climatic humidity, favored the persistence of hygrophilous tree taxa. Thus, Carya is present until the OIS 9, which represents its latest occurrence in Western Europe. The Boiano basin could have been an ecological refuge for the Middle Pleistocene arboreal flora. In fact, the physiography of the basin certainly softened the impacts of climatic deterioration during glacial episodes. Therefore, the late Carya occurrence within the Boiano palynological record in a time periodwhen it is commonly supposed to be extinct from Europe, leads to a consideration of its ecological requirements as a tool for Quaternary paleoenvironmental reconstructions and for identification of refuge areas.

The non-marine molluscs of the Maltese Islands

Book

Jan 1995

The Clactonian elephant butchery site at Southfleet Road, Ebbsfleet, UK

Article

Jul 2006
J QUATERNARY SCI

Archaeological excavations at Southfleet Road, Ebbsfleet, Kent, have revealed a complex sequence of fossiliferous Middle Pleistocene sediments containing lithic artefacts. An incomplete skeleton of straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus was found in lacustrine sediments in close association with a cluster of mint condition cores, flakes and notched flake-tools, some with evidence of use-damage. These finds appear to reflect in situ tool production and butchery of the elephant carcass. A far larger concentration of similar artefacts, again in mint condition, occurred nearby in the same horizon. These finds were overlain by a fluvial gravel containing abundant handaxes, some also in mint condition. A range of fossils, including pollen, molluscs and small vertebrates, indicates temperate conditions with local woodland coeval with the elephant butchery. The sediments appear to have formed during the early part of an interglacial, almost certainly MIS 11. As well as providing rare undisturbed evidence of human behaviour, the site supports the existence of a distinctive non-handaxe Clactonian core/flake-tool industry in southeast England at this period.

A late Early Pleistocene pollen record from Fontana Ranuccio (central Italy)

Article

Mar 2011
J QUATERNARY SCI

A pollen record from a sediment core drilled underneath the Acheulian site of Fontana Ranuccio provides new data on the vegetation characters in central Italy during the late Early Pleistocene, in a forest phase possibly corresponding to a substage of Marine Isotope Stage 21. A number of tree taxa nowadays extinct in Europe (Cathaya, Tsuga, Taxodium type, Carya and Pterocarya) are present at Fontana Ranuccio in a temperate phase characterised by dense forest conditions, dominated by Alnus and Pterocarya. The comparison of the Fontana Ranuccio record with other dated sites distributed along the Italian peninsula indicates that the floristic and vegetational characters of the Mid Pleistocene revolution present a rather distinct succession of biostratigraphic events. Compared to other Early Pleistocene pollen records from southern Europe, the Italian Peninsula shows greater floristic similarities with the Eastern Mediterranean regions than with the Iberian Peninsula. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Extinction chronology and palaeobiology of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus)

Article

Nov 2008
BOREAS

The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) was one of several spectacular megafaunal species that became extinct in northern Eurasia during the late Quaternary. Vast numbers of their remains have been recovered from many cave sites, almost certainly representing animals that died during winter hibernation. On the evidence of skull anatomy and low δ15N values of bone collagen, cave bears appear to have been predominantly vegetarian. The diet probably included substantial high quality herbaceous vegetation. In order to address the reasons for the extinction of the cave bear, we have constructed a chronology using only radiocarbon dates produced directly on cave bear material. The date list is largely drawn from the literature, and as far as possible the dates have been audited (screened) for reliability. We also present new dates from our own research, including results from the Urals. U. spelaeus probably disappeared from the Alps and adjacent areas – currently the only region for which there is fairly good evidence –c. 24 000 radiocarbon years BP (c. 27 800 cal. yr BP), approximately coincident with the start of Greenland Stadial 3 (c. 27 500 cal. yr BP). Climatic cooling and inferred decreased vegetational productivity were probably responsible for its disappearance from this region. We are investigating the possibility that cave bear survived significantly later elsewhere, for example in southern or eastern Europe.

Paleoenvironmental context of the early Neanderthals of Poggetti Vecchi for the late middle Pleistocene of Central Italy

Abstract

No full-text available

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