No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
The hunting of large mammals in the upper palaeolithic of southern Italy: A diachronic case study from Grotta del Romito
Abstract
The results of the study of faunal remains from the Upper Pleistocene levels of the cave site of Grotta del Romito in Calabria, southern Italy, are presented in this work. The present study mainly focuses on the comparison of results from Gravettian (units I-H-G) and Epigravettian levels (units F-E-D-C) of the site, in order to assess similarities and differences in the relationship between animals and hunter-gatherer human communities in the Upper Palaeolithic of the area. The aim of the study is to understand faunal associations and species hunted in relation to the climatic and environmental context of the Late Glacial in southern Italy and the human subsistence, economy and society in these two Upper Palaeolithic cultural phases. The study highlighted an animal economy mainly based on the hunting of ibex, wild boar, chamois and red deer, as well as changes in the choice of hunted species between the Gravettian, characterised by a ibex-dominated hunting, and the Epigravettian period, when wild boar, alongside ibex, became a particularly important resource for the economy of the local human groups. The evidence provided by the taphonomic analysis of modifications and damage on the bone surface revealed an intense anthropic exploitation of the carcasses, aimed at the consumption of meat and the extraction of marrow and fat from the bones.
... We have integrated the available depositional information (well-resolved sedimentary and cultural data), including the study of a tephra deposit with a great potential to become a regional marker for the onset of the last glacial interstadial, to generate a formal Bayesian model using the IntCal 13 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2013). Built on the revised chronology, we compare the regional and North Atlantic palaeoclimate records (Brauer et al., 2007;Rasmussen et al., 2014) with available palaeoenvironmental information from the sedimentary deposits derived from micro and large mammals (Bertini Vacca, 2012;Bertini Vacca et al., 2012;L opez-García et al., 2014), and stable isotope analysis on land snail shells . The results place the Last Glacial human occupation sequence of Grotta del Romito in a broad palaoenvironmental context and provide new chronological elements for understanding the cultural and environmental history of southern European refugia during the last Ice Age. ...
... The archaeological relevance of Grotta del Romito lies notably on the presence of rock art and nine intact Upper Palaeolithic human burials (ROMITO 1-9) dated to the Epigravettian; (Graziosi, 1962(Graziosi, , 1971Fabbri et al., 1989;Martini, 2006;Craig et al., 2010;De Silva et al., 2016), a detailed archaeological record of increasing intensification of human occupation and abundant Late Pleistocene micro and large mammal remains (Fig. 2) representing distinct environments and subsistence strategies over thousands of years Bertini Vacca, 2012;Bertini Vacca et al., 2012;L opez-García et al., 2014). Snail shells were also recovered from the archaeological deposit. ...
... Giraudi, 1989;Ramrath et al., 1999). Large mammal remains exploited as food source are also very scarce (Bertini Vacca, 2012), and are dominated by ibex (Capra ibex; 73%). Today this species inhabits high altitude, steep slope environments, thus it is likely to be indicative of hunting activities predominantly in open environments. ...
Grotta del Romito has been the subject of numerous archaeological, chronological and palaeoenvironmental investigations for more than a decade. During the Upper Palaeolithic period the site contains evidence of human occupation through the Gravettian and Epigravettian periods, multiple human burials, changes in the pattern of human occupation, and faunal, isotopic and sedimentological evidence for local environmental change. In spite of this rich record, the chronological control is insufficient to resolve shifts in subsistence and mobility patterns at sufficiently high resolution to match the abrupt climate fluctuations at this time. To resolve this we present new radiocarbon and tephrostratigraphic dates in combination with existing radiocarbon dates, and develop a Bayesian age model framework for the site. This improved chronology reveals that local environmental conditions reflect abrupt and long-term changes in climate, and that these also directly influence changing patterns of human occupation of the site. In particular, we show that the environmental record for the site, based on small mammal habitat preferences, is chronologically in phase with the main changes in climate and environment seen in key regional archives from Italy and Greenland. We also calculate the timing of the transitions between different cultural phases and their spans. We also show that the intensification in occupation of the site is chronologically coincident with a rapid rise in Mesic Woody taxa seen in key regional pollen records and is associated with the Late Epigravettian occupation of the site. This change in the record of Grotta del Romito is also closely associated stratigraphically with a new tephra (the ROM-D30 tephra), which may act as a critical marker in environmental records of the region.
... The Romito Cave opens 275 m above sea level, surrounded by steep, rugged and heavily forested terrain transected by a major river (the Lao) and its tributaries (Craig et al., 2010;Colonese and Di Giuseppe, 2011;Vacca, 2012). At the time of Romito 2 the climate was temperate, much the same as today (Craig et al., 2010;Colonese et al., 2007). ...
... Archaeological evidence, including large numbers of hearths, processed animal remains, lithic and other artefacts (Craig et al., 2010;Martini and Lo Vetro, 2011;Vacca, 2012), as well as signs of complex cultural activity in addition to mortuary practice (Martini et al., 2012), suggest intensive occupation in the Epigravettian. The Romito community was most likely small and mobile, part of a wider trading and mating network (see e.g. ...
... The Romito community was most likely small and mobile, part of a wider trading and mating network (see e.g. Binford, 2001;Pearce, 2014;Wobst, 1976), and with a seasonally-driven, hunter-gatherer economy predominantly reliant on medium to large-sized herbivorous mammals found at middle and upper altitudes -ibex, boar, various deer species and chamois (Craig et al., 2010;Vacca, 2012). Meat was the dominant component of the Romito diet, probably supplemented with plants (Craig et al., 2010). ...
The remains of Romito 2 (probable male, 17-20 years) date to around 11,000 BP and represent the earliest known case of chondrodystrophic dwarfism (acromesomelic dysplasia). From a hunter-gatherer community in a mountainous region of southern Italy, Romito 2’s skeletal dysplasia limited his participation in typical economic and other cultural activities undertaken by his cohort, and anomalies in appearance distinguished him from his peers from infancy onwards. Frayer et al. (1987) were first to describe Romito 2 in detail, suggesting survival to age-at-death indicates group support. Four years later Dettwyler (1991) challenged this conclusion and, a decade after this, Frayer retracted the original claim for care (Bower 2002). Using the Index of Care (Tilley and Cameron 2014), this study revisits Romito 2 from a bioarchaeology of care perspective to ascertain whether a valid basis for inferring caregiving exists. Concluding Frayer et al. (1987) were right the first time - that Romito 2’s survival reflects caregiving in the form of ‘accommodation of difference’ - this contribution argues that focus on contemporary context is the key to estimating functional impact of pathology and related need for care. This paper also briefly considers ethical concerns raised by archaeology’s treatment of Romito 2’s remains.
... BP to the Neolithic Martini and Lo Vetro, 2005, 2007, 2011, through a period of considerable climate change that deeply affected the local environment Ghinassi et al., 2009). Against this background, the aim of this paper is to undertake the environmental and climatic reconstruction of the latest Pleistocene-Holocene archaeological sequence of the Romito site (rockshelter and cave) according to the small-mammal assemblages (of insectivores, bats and rodents), comparing our results with previous environmental interpretations of the sequence based on sedimentological analysis (Ghinassi et al., 2009), terrestrial-shell studies and large-mammal studies (Bertini Vacca, 2012). In addition to this, we place our data in a broader context incorporating other disciplines, such as the studies of continental pollen and sedimentary lakes in Italy (Nimmergut et al., 1999;Narcisi, 2001;Magny et al., 2006), studies of other Italian sites with a similar chronology and comparable small-mammal associations, such as Grotta della Serratura (Bertolini et al., 1996), Cava Filo (Berto, 2013), Grotta della Ferrovia (Bartolomei, 1966), Grotta Paglicci (Berto, 2013) and Riparo Tagliente (Berto, 2013), as well as the global context of the climate changes that occurred during the latest Pleistocene-Holocene period. ...
... Moreover, the excavations inside the cave have provided a large lithic assemblage dominated by microlithic backed points and blades (Martini et al., 2006. The largemammal assemblage from the final Epigravettian units shows these layers to be dominated by ibex (Capra ibex) and wild boar (Sus scrofa) and to a lesser extent by red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), chamois (Rupicapra sp.), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and horse (Equus ferus) Bertini Vacca, 2012). Previous environmental studies of this sequence have shown that during the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. ...
... These features suggest relatively dry and open landscape conditions for this period, as suggested by the pollen data obtained for Lake Accesa, where the Oldest Dryas (= H1) has been characterized by a decrease in arboreal pollen (AP) concentrations (Magny et al., 2006). Strata D29-D11, as mentioned above, are the levels that mark the turning point from the open landscape and the cold latest Pleistocene period to the woodland landscape and the milder conditions of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, coinciding with the previously published environmental and large-mammal data by Colonese et al. (2007), Ghinassi et al. (2009) andBertini Vacca (2012). Afterwards, strata D10-C depict the ongoing Bølling-Allerød interstadial, dated by radiocarbon to between 14.226 and 12.731 ka cal. ...
The habitat weighting method, the Simpson diversity index and the mutual climatic range method are applied to the small-mammal assemblage of Grotta del Romito (southern Italy) in order to reconstruct the environmental and climatic fluctuations that occurred during the latest Pleistocene-Holocene sequence of the cave. The analysed strata have a discontinuous chronological range from the middle-late Gravettian (ca. 24 ka uncal. BP) to the Mesolithic-Sauveterrian (still radiometrically undated). Gravettian and Epigravettian layers were excavated inside the cave, Mesolithic layers in the rockshelter outside the cave. The small-mammal assemblage shows significant differences along the sequence; a turning point is detected in strata D29-D11, coinciding with the end of Heinrich Event 1 (H1) and the beginning of the Bølling-Allerød interstadial (between ca. 14.9-14 ka cal. BP). These data are in accordance with the previously obtained environmental data for Grotta del Romito, as well as with other continental climatic and environmental changes detected at a regional scale.
... However, the bones are not associated with any artifacts or patterns of breakage that would characterize butchery or splitting of green bone to extract marrow. Further, the range of species, mostly comprising small mammals, amphibians, and birds, although not outside the range of Pleistocene human behavior in Wallacea or the Pacific, is inconsistent with assemblages formed on the adjacent mainland both by H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens (Stiner and Kuhn 1992;Vacca 2012) and on Corsardina itself (Sondaar et al. 1986). The hunting of deer on the island seems like a more plausible scenario, and we would expect to see abundant deer remains at the site. ...
... The through-flow currents that pass north-south between the straits separating Bali, Lombok, Komodo, and Flores seem to have undermined other fauna reaching the islands (Sprintall et al. 2014), and it is curious that rodents, proboscids, and hominins were the only notable mammalian fauna to cross the gap from Sunda into the Lesser Sunda Island chain (van den Bergh et al. 2001). Proboscids are excellent swimmers up to c. 50 km (Johnson 1980;Fig. ...
Pleistocene water crossings, long thought to be an innovation of Homo sapiens, may extend beyond our species to encompass Middle and Early Pleistocene Homo. How- ever, it remains unclear how water crossings differed among hominin populations, the extent to which Homo sapiens are uniquely flexible in these adaptive behaviors, and how the tempo and scale of water crossings played out in different regions. I apply the adaptive flexibility hypothesis, derived from cognitive ecology, to model the global data and address these questions. Water-crossing behaviors appear to have emerged among different regional hominin populations in similar ecologies, initially representing nonstrategic range expansion. However, an increasing readiness to form connections with novel environments allowed some H. sapiens populations to eventually push water crossings to new extremes, moving out of sight of land, making return crossings to maintain social ties and build viable founder populations, and dramatically shifting subsistence and lithic provisioning strategies to meet the challenges of variable ecological settings.
Available Open Access at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-020-09149-7
... Graffiti has existed as long as human society but has become a public issue in recent decades, being often considered as a recurrent and unacceptable form of vandalism. The engravings and paintings of wild fauna in the Lascaux caves in the Dordogne region, France and the Romito grotto in Papasidero, Italy are said to date from more than 10,000 years before the Common Era [2,3]. Similar representations realized thousands of years ago on boulders, rock faces, and cave walls still exist in Australia, Africa, and Asia [4]. ...
Mature trees play a fundamental role in nature and are crucial to maintaining good air quality in the urban ecosystem where they reduce air pollution, lower the surface temperature, and emit medicinal volatile organic compounds which combine to improve human health and mental wellbeing. From an aesthetic and cultural point of view, they are true living monuments to be preserved. In both rural and city environments, it takes numerous years for trees to become mature enough to have a significant impact on our health and the current global climate changes together with high levels of pollution in urban environments and other anthropic factors such as vandalism constitute important obstacles to new tree growth. This clearly makes existing trees, especially old growth, far more valuable than we often realize. Regardless of their artistic quality and in some instances their positive messages, graffiti are still unacceptable on living organisms, especially older urban trees. They also have a significant environmental impact due to the emissions related to graffiti that are primarily based on anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone. We reviewed the literature on graffiti and paintings applied on tree bark and ultimately found that oil-based paints in particular can damage tree life support systems. We herein also discuss graffiti prevention, the potential impact on human health related with graffiti removal, as well as methods for tree bark cleaning including, as suggested by different urban forestry specialists, the application of citrus-based products for 20–60 min before rubbing and rinsing or multiple 1–2 h treatments, in the case of recent or old graffiti, respectively.
... Based on the standard dietary reconstructions carried out for cave sites in Southern Italy and Sicily, we know that Late Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers primarily exploited large herbivores which are ubiquitous in these regions, such as red deer, wild boar and aurochs, and, in specific areas, ibex (northern Calabria and Southern Campania) and equids (Sicily and Apulia) (Lo Vetro and Martini, 2012;Sala and Masini, 2007). Based on the isotopic data, marine or coastal lagoon resources, such as fish, limpets, and cockle shells, seem to have contributed seldomly to the diet of Palaeolithic human groups of the Tyrrhenian regions of Southern Italy and Sicily (Francalacci, 1988;Vigne, 2004;Mannino and Thomas, 2009;Paine et al., 2009;Craig et al., 2010;Lightfoot et al., 2011;Mannino et al., 2011aMannino et al., , 2011bMannino et al., , 2012Vacca, 2012;Goude et al., 2017;Colonese et al., 2018). Supposedly low productivity of the central Mediterranean Sea in respect to other contexts and the absence of specific technological equipment (e.g., fish hooks) were suggested for explaining such a behaviour (Mannino et al., 2011b;Colonese et al., 2014). ...
Several caves from Southern Italy and Sicily provided invaluable evidence, including several human burials, for reconstructing human adaptations and subsistence in the area during the Upper Palaeolithic. A wealth of information is available concerning the exploitation of animal resources as food. However, little is still known about the role of plants in the diet of the ancient hunter-gatherers of the region. By combining the carpological data with vegetal micro-debris entrapped in human dental calculus, we provide new clues about the dietary role of plant foods in the analysed area during the Late Glacial. Our study focused on five key sites from Southern Italy and Sicily: Grotta della Serratura in Campania, Grotta del Romito in Calabria, Grotta del Cavallo in Apulia, Grotta di San Teodoro and Grotta d’Oriente in Sicily. Our results demonstrate that several plant resources were exploited at these sites, including seeds, grasses, and fruits. Amongst the carpological remains recovered, several plant taxa are known for their medical properties. Overall, our study explores how critical climatic and environmental changes characterising the timeframe between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the beginning of the Holocene affected Late Upper Palaeolithic dietary habits. Moreover, it shows the methodological relevance of combining different strands of archaeological evidence for reconstructing the Palaeolithic diet.
... Even taking into account the different accumulation agents that affected large and small mammals (Vacca 2012;López-García et al. 2014), it is possible to relate the Grotta del Romito -"Rock shelter" assemblage changes to the main climatic oscillations registered for the Northern Hemisphere in proxies related to this time span. Considering that the mammal assemblage and its deposition after the tephra correlated to layer D30 in the cave, STR 7-7D might be related to the last cold phases of the first part of the Late Glacial Vescovi et al. 2007) or Greenland Stadial 2.1 (GS 2.1a; Rasmussen et al. 2014). ...
The passage between the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene is considered to have developed during a period of abrupt climate changes that drove large and small mammals to adapt to new environments. In this context, the southwestern Italian Peninsula is a key area to study mammal adaptation to past environmental changes. One of the key localities in this region is the Grotta del Romito, an archaeological site that bears one of the most important Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sequences in Europe. To understand the faunal dynamics in the region during this period, we studied the large and small mammal sequences coming from the deposit investigated in the “Rock shelter” area using environment and climate reconstruction methods such as Habitat Weighting, Bioclimatic model, and Quantified Ecology. In the lower part of the sequence, the large mammals are dominated by Capra ibex, Cervus elaphus, and Capreolus capreolus, while the upper portion is dominated by C. elaphus, Sus scrofa, and C. capreolus. This change is also visible among small mammals, where a high biodiversity is registered in the lower units, while Glis glis is dominant in the upper sequence. The environmental reconstructions show a trend from a starting condition where grasslands and rocky landscapes were widespread to another where forests were the dominant biome in the area. The climate results show an increase in temperatures, even though there are some incongruities among the models used. We correlated the Grotta del Romito – “Rock shelter” sequence to the major oscillations in climatic and environmental conditions detected in other proxies during the passage between the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene; the results allowed us to detect a first warming oscillation (STR 7-7D to STR 6A-6B), which can be related to the Bølling-Allerød Interstadial. A relatively mild and quick change in favour of open environments, together with a drop in diversity species and index, was tentatively correlated with the passage between the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal (STR 4B-4C and 4-4A). The sequence ends with STR 3, related to the Early Holocene, where forested habitats were dominant. The disappearance of environments suitable for Capra ibex may have led to the progressive extirpation of this species from the southwestern Italian Peninsula. This ungulate probably moved to more suitable ecological niches (high mountains or steep slopes) from the Bølling-Allerød Interstadial. The last individuals of this ungulate species probably disappeared from this region during the Early Holocene.
... This change is probably related to a regional climatic shift also detectable in other sites: at Taurisano (southern Apulia) during the Final Epigravettian, the decrease in equids was balanced by an increase in aurochs; a similar situation was observed at Grotta di Uluzzo, which is close to Taurisano (Palma di Cesnola, 1993;Borzatti von Löwenstern, 1963); at Grotta del Romito (Calabria, Tyr- rhenian side), ibex decreases during the Evolved-Final Epigravettian, whilst red deer and wild boar increase (Bertini Vacca, 2012). The palaeoecological meaning of this change was also confirmed by the study of micromammal remains and chronostratigraphy from the same site ( LópezGarcía et al., 2014;Blockley et al., 2018). ...
Bone accumulation in Palaeolithic archaeological sites is often the result of activities carried out by hunter-gatherer groups. Cultural choices may have influenced prey representation in archaeological assemblages, distorting their palaeoecological meaning. We present a comparison between large mammal and small mammal assemblages from the Upper Palaeolithic sequence of Grotta Paglicci (Apulia, southern Italy) that extends from the Marginally Backed Bladelet Aurignacian (about 39,000 cal yr BP) to the Final Epigravettian (about 13,000 cal yr BP). At Paglicci, the high frequency of horse and ibex remains indicates open and dry environments for most of the Upper Palaeolithic. This is confirmed by the predominance of the common vole among small mammals. The alternation between horse and ibex, which takes place during the Upper Palaeolithic, however, looks to be more related to variations in hunting territories. Taxon frequencies change abruptly at 17,955–16,696 cal yr BP, with an increase in woodland-related ungulates together with micromammals, indicating a climatic evolution towards milder and more humid conditions. Results demonstrate that when the association of ungulate taxa is considered as a whole, it has a good palaeoecological signal, whilst considering taxa separately can help to better understand cultural choices of past hunter-gatherer communities.
... On a regional scale, Blazi and the Epirus sites are part of a logistically organized settlement pattern that involves sites at different positions along a gradient from coastal lowlands to the mountainous hinterland. On a much larger scale, the specialized hunt on ibex is a common Epigravettian subsistence strategy in other micro-regions of Europe, such as northeast and southern Italy, the Pyrenees as well as Cantabrian Spain (Straus, 1987;Phoca-Cosmetatou, 2005;Bertini Vacca, 2012). From the end of the LGM onwards, the Epigravettian groups adopted a transhumant subsistence strategy with late summer to early spring occupations in the lowlands and summer occupations in the uplands. ...
This paper presents the latest results of archaeological research in Epigravettian deposits of Blazi Cave in north-central Albania. This Epigravettian site is the first of its kind in Albania with a large sample of stone artifacts, faunal remains and dating material. The study material stems from the last remaining Late Pleistocene deposits in this cave and therefore characterizes the site in its totality. AMS ¹⁴C dates place the cultural layers between 18 and 17 ka cal. BP. This age model coupled with the density of anthropogenic remains attests an intensive use of the shelter by hunter-gatherers in the final phase of the Last Glacial Maximum. The radiocarbon results place the Blazi data into the early phase of the Late Adriatic Epigravettian complex. This chronology is corroborated by certain technological and typological traits identified within the stone tool sample. Analysis of the faunal remains suggests a repeated use of the shelter in the warmer summer period. Blazi Cave functioned as a specialized ibex hunting site and therefore fits into a larger complex of task localities in the wider region.
... The meaning of these markings, which have a practical or symbolic value, must be sought in the tradition of these populations; unfortunately, their meaning remains unknown to us. In this regard, the two spearpoints decorated with geometric motifs, recovered from the Final Epigravettian layers at Grotta del Romito (Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy) and also associated from the single burial at Romito 3 (Cilli et al., 2004), were obtained from auroch bones, also an extremely rare species at these sites (Bertini Vacca, 2012). In terms of the spearpoints from Paglicci, antler points appear to be only present during the Final Gravettian (Mezzena, 1975) and Early Epigravettian, while the only spearpoint specimen from layer 7A (Final Epigravettian) is made on bone and not antler. ...
In this article we present evidence of the hard animal tissue exploitation at Paglicci Cave (Rignano Garganico, Foggia, southern Italy).The analysis of the 104 bone and antler tools found in the Upper Palaeolithic sequence of the cave, as well as recent studies on faunal remains, have allowed us to reconstruct the choices made by the prehistoric hunters both in terms of hunting and exploitation of hard animal materials for tool fabrication. Most of the archeozoological sequence is characterized by the abundance of remains of species related to open or steppe environments, such as caprines (especially ibex), horses and aurochs.Starting from Final Epigravettian (about 17.000 BP cal.) these taxa decrease in favor of deer, wild boar and hidruntinus, reflecting an important climatic change leading to more humid and temperate conditions. Only some hunted animals bones were chosen for making the tools: deer, horse, aurochs and wild boar. A noteworthy observation concerns the lack of an interconnection between the kinds of species represented in the faunal assemblages and those used for the production of bone (and antler) tools.Even though the small number of pieces in each individual layer did not allow for statistical inferences, we could draw some interesting conclusions on the morpho-technological features of the artifacts, finding that some tool types appear to be linked to particular periods.
Chamois hunting and chamois exploitation in Italy at the time of the Epigravettian
– Over 30 sites were analysed, where the two species of chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata and Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra) were both discovered. Chamois prevails at Riparo Soman and at three cave sites (Maritza, di Ortucchio, and di Pozzo). At five sites the percentages range from 18 to 30% (Riparo Villabruna A, Riparo- Grotticella di Santa Maria, Riparo Piastricoli, Grotta Mora Cavorso and Grotta-Riparo del Romito). Elsewhere, at some 20 more sites, chamois remains range from 1% to 8%. Compared to other ungulates, there was apparently a scarcity of chamois herds. We suspect that this was a quite difficult hunt, as chamois ease in steep and rocky areas often inaccessible to humans. Chamois hunting is often associated with ibex hunting as those species share a very similar habitat. Chamois hunting, which mostly happened between summer and autumn, was mainly directed at adults. Iin some instance the prey was brought back either whole or in large portions, to be eventually partitioned at a cave site.
Résumé
Le Gravettien des Pouilles constitue une entité culturelle originale dans le contexte des chrono-cultures préhistoriques du Paléolithique supérieur de l’Italie. Cette situation s’observe, en particulier, dans la séquence gravettienne de la Grotte Paglicci, sur le mont Gargano, dont les séries lithiques présentent une évolution originale. Au sein des Pouilles elles-mêmes, la chrono-séquence de la Grotte Paglicci ne trouvait pas, à ce jour, de gisement de comparaison. La récente découverte dans le remplissage de la zone SMA-Esterno de la Grotte Santa Maria di Agnano d’une occupation gravettienne permet de revisiter les données de la Grotte Paglicci, mais également de préciser certains caractères spécifiques du Gravettien des Pouilles. L’industrie lithique des US 9-6 de SMA-Esterno est caractérisée par la présence de nombreux burins sur troncature associés à des pointes à dos rectiligne abrupt de type Gravette ou Vachons. Cette association rappelle l’assemblage de la couche 21 de Paglicci attribué au Gravettien évolué. Les datations C14 pour les deux sites sont d’ailleurs concordantes. Enfin, à la base de la séquence gravettienne de SMA-esterno, l’US 11 a livré des burins dièdres de fortes dimensions qui trouvent des homologues dans les couches 23-22 de Paglicci attribuées au Gravettien ancien. L’étude archéozoologique préliminaire a été réalisée sur un échantillon de 2007 restes de grands mammifères. Le nombre de restes identifiés sur les plans taxinomique et anatomique (NRDt) est de 816, soit un taux de détermination de 40,7 %. Le spectre faunique comprend 10 taxons, dont 4 espèces de Carnivores (Léopard, Loup, Renard, Blaireau), 5 ongulés (Cheval, Aurochs, Bouquetin, Cerf et Sanglier) et un léporidé (Lièvre). Les ongulés sont dominants, tant en termes de restes (98,7 % du NRDt) que du nombre minimum d’individus estimé (82,4 % du NMI total). Les analyses taphonomiques entreprises indiquent que l’ensemble osseux n’a pas subi de profondes modifications post-dépositionnelles : les conséquences du weathering sont visibles sur 17 % des surfaces corticales. Les modifications d’origine biologique non anthropique sont rares : 13 % du matériel a été impacté par les racines de plante et 0,7 % des pièces témoigne d’une activité carnivore. Le lièvre peut être la seule espèce, parmi les herbivores, à avoir été accumulée par un Carnivore. L’analyse des fracturations osseuses et des traces laissées par le tranchant de l’outil lithique démontre que l’ensemble osseux a été accumulé et modifié essentiellement par des groupes humains. La chasse est clairement orientée sur le couple Cheval (Equus caballus)/Aurochs (Bos primigenius) complétée très occasionnellement par le Cerf (Cervus elaphus), le Sanglier (Sus s. scrofa) et le Bouquetin (Capra ibex). Les individus représentés sont majoritairement des sub-adultes et des adultes matures. Les occupants du site ont pu acquérir les ressources carnées dans la plaine bordant le rivage de la mer Adriatique et sur le vaste plateau, peu accidenté, surmontant le site. Après un premier traitement sur le site d’abattage, les Gravettiens ont transporté au campement les portions les plus riches sur le plan nutritif suivant les représentations squelettiques surreprésentées par les éléments du stylopode et du zeugopode. L’étude des activités anthropiques témoigne d’une exploitation poussée des carcasses pour leur viande et le prélèvement de la moelle des os longs. Enfin, une recherche particulière de la graisse provenant du tissu spongieux des épiphyses des os longs et des os courts est proposée.
RIASSUNTO Il camoscio è spesso presente nei siti dell'Epigravettiano, ma soltanto in rari casi è l'animale prevalentemente cacciato. Lo scopo di questo studio è di ricostruire l'importanza del camoscio nella sussistenza tenendo conto del rapporto con gli altri ungulati e delle diverse aree geografiche della penisola. Vengono analizzati oltre 30 siti con presenza di resti di camoscio considerando le due differenti specie esistenti (Rupicapra pyrenaica e Rupicapra rupicapra). Il camoscio prevale, con percentuali superiori al 40% a Riparo Soman e in tre siti dell'Italia centrale (Grotta Maritza, Grotta di Ortucchio, Grotta di Pozzo). In altri 5 siti, ampiamente distribuiti sulla penisola, è ben rappresentato con percentuali del 18-30% (Riparo Villabruna A, Riparo-Grotticella di Santa Maria, Riparo Piastricoli, Grotta Mora Cavorso, Grotta-Riparo del Romito). È presente con percentuali variabili dell'1-8% negli altri 20 e più siti analizzati. In molti casi la caccia al camoscio è correlata con quella allo stambecco con cui condivide quasi del tutto l' habitat. La caccia è indirizzata prevalentemente verso individui adulti ma le classi giovanili sono ben rappresentate. Il periodo di cattura sembra essere compreso principalmente tra l'estate e l'autunno. L'analisi delle porzioni scheletriche documenta che in alcuni casi la preda veniva portata intera o in larghe porzioni all'interno dei siti dove veniva poi macellata, come dimostrano i tagli e gli impatti sulle ossa. Si evidenzia, nelle differenti fasi dell'Epigravettiano, una scarsa disponibilità di gruppi di camoscio rispetto agli altri ungulati e probabilmente la difficoltà di cattura di prede molto agili e che prediligono zone scoscese ed impervie.
A long bore-hole drilled in the ancient maar-lake sediments of Valle di Castiglione has enabled the history of the vegetation and climate of the region for the last 250,000 years to be reconstructed. The forest pollen zones are different from each other by the presence of species which are today extinct in Italy, and by the diversity of the dominant vegetational configurations.Before the Eemian, the pollen record from Valle di Castiglione can be compared with very few other European records. After the Eemian, the biostratigraphy corresponds by and large with what is known about southern and western Europe, but at the same time it has peculiar floristic and vegetational features, which may be due to the particular geographical position of Valle di Castiglione.
Resume. — II s'agit de l'etude anthropologique concernant six squelettes (Rom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) de la fin du Paleolithique superieur, retrouves dans la grotte de Romito pres de Papasidero (Cosenza, Italy). Deux squelettes (Rom 3 et 4) ont ete retrouves dans deux sepultures a l'interieur de la grotte, tandis que les autres squelettes, deux a deux, etaient regroupes dans des sepultures distinctes (Rom 1 et 2 ; Rom 5 et 6) dans Г abri qui est en avant de la grotte. L'analyse des six individus a montre que leurs caracteres, surtout ceux du crâne, sont tres semblables a ceux des specimens du Paleolithique superieur de l'Italie, qui peuvent etre definis comme cromagnoides. Les individus de la grotte sont plus robustes, avec une stature plus grande que ceux de l'abri, bien que les six individus montrent une grande homogeneite morphologique. Quelques-uns des caracteres du massif facial font penser a une adaptation de la dentition a un emploi extra-alimentaire. Une grande endogamie entre les quatre individus de l'abri est envisagee, parmi lesquels un (Rom 2) presente une forme de nanisme definissable comme une acromesomelie.
Runnymede has large samples of Neolithic and Late Bronze Age animal bones, with contrasting preservation conditions in both periods. The bone evidence has been used to interpret the formation of the site deposits.
There are few articulated bones, and no joins were found in butchered bone, indicating that the area studied did not contain primary refuse. Various aspects of bone alteration have been analysed: (i) the proportion of bones with very good surface preservation was high in the in situ Neolithic excavation units and the basal Bronze Age midden, but bones in the upper units were mostly eroded. These units are reworked flood deposits. The greater degree of fragmentation of the bone in the reworked units has been quantified, using a system of recording the ‘zones’ present on each bone, which allows calculation of the fraction present. It is also demonstrated that the reworked units contain a lower proportion of identified bones and a higher proportion of teeth and iaws than the units with well‐preserved bone, (ii) Quantification of canid gnawing shows, unexpectedly, that more was recorded on well‐preserved bone. Thus recognition of gnawing depends on bone condition. This also confirms that most of the erosion of the bone surface is a post‐depositional phenomenon.
The sequence of activities is therefore interpreted as follows: meat was cooked and consumed, and the bones discarded for the dogs. At a later stage, larger bones were picked up and thrown away in the river or midden. Some ethnographic examples of periodic cleaning of farming settlements are cited.
Palynological and chronological data are presented for the Lateglacial from three cores taken at di!erent locations in the basin of Lago Grande di Monticchio. Plant macrofossil data from one core provide complementary evidence of the palaeovegetation. Quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions are made from the pollen data using pollen-climate response surfaces. The chronological framework for Lateglacial events as well as the palaeoclimate are compared with other sources of evidence of Lateglacial palaeoenvironments. Surface conditions in the North Atlantic appear to be more directly linked to climatic conditions in Italy than is the temperature in Greenland. Nonetheless, the palynological record exhibits high-frequency variability that re#ects high-frequency climatic changes paralleling those seen in the ice core records from Greenland.
Clastic sediments deposited in caves and rock shelters bear peculiar sedimentological characteristics and have seldom been considered as a high-resolution proxy record of climatic or environmental changes. The Romito Cave has its entrance at 275 m above sea level, about 25 km from the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, southern Italy. New archaeological excavation performed since 2000 has revealed a sedimentary succession spanning the record of Gravettian to Late Epigravettian cultures (Late Pleistocene). The present study focuses on the lower part (2.5 m thick) of the succession, where three main unconformity-bounded stratigraphic units have been recognised (labelled RM1–3). Each unit consists of water-lain deposits indicating high- to low-competence flow, capped with anthropogenic deposits. The gradual deactivation and reactivation of the water drainage between 23 475 ± 190 and 16 250 ± 500 cal. a BP is correlated with regional precipitation changes due to the onset of dry climatic conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum. However, the deactivation of cave drainage after the deposition of unit RM3, around 15 400 ± 500 cal. a BP, deviates from the regional hydrological trend of progressively increasing water discharges and is attributed to the drainage cut-off by probable cave wall collapses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In the study of fragmented human remains the plausibility of a cannibalism hypothesis rests primarily on the correct identification of the cause of breakage. Here the use of fracture morphologies and fragmentation indices for distinguishing green from postdepositional bone breakage is assessed using three assemblages of human bone broken by unique and well known causes, i.e., marrow fracturing of green bone, sediment pressure and impact on subfossil bone. Of the tested attributes, five appear to have diagnostic value at the statistical, assemblage level: fracture outline, fracture angle, shaft circumference, shaft fragmentation and breadth/length ratios of shaft splinters.
Stable isotope analysis of carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulphur (δ34S) were carried out on one of the largest assemblages of Late Upper Palaeolithic human remains in Southern Europe, at Grotta del Romito (Cosenza), Italy. The burials were stratigraphically dated from ca. 18,000 to 13,000 cal BP, which was confirmed by a series of new AMS dates made directly on the bone collagen. Dietary reconstruction from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes revealed that eight of the nine individuals analysed, dating to the Final Epigravettian, had very consistent diets, rich in terrestrial animal protein, regardless of their age or sex. These included two individuals who were suffering from severe pathologies. A single individual, dating to the Evolved Epigravettian had a more variable diet, which was significantly enriched in protein from marine or freshwater fish compared to the later burials. Overall, the results are consistent with the very limited number of other studies which describe a change to more specialised and less variable subsistence strategies, in this case the hunting of large herbivores, towards the end of the Palaeolithic period. Sulphur isotope values of all of the nine burials and several faunal samples were notably consistent, showing no evidence of long-distance migration to the site from a different geological zone.
Late glacial to Holocene paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic changes are examined using records of calcareous and organic-walled marine microfossils, pollen and terrestrial spores and oxygen isotope data in cores from the Aegean Sea basins. Planktic foraminiferal, coccolith and dinoflagellate data show that the late glacial-Holocene transition in the region was associated with a large warming of surface water. Mediterranean-based paleotransfer functions for planktic foraminifera show a 5 °–10 °C increase in surface water temperature from ~14,000 to ~9600 yr B.P. Estimates of surface water oxygen isotopic composition (δ18Ow) derived from planktic foraminiferal oxygen isotopic and transfer function data indicate that this warming was associated with a 2.0 to 2.5‰ reduction in δ18Ow. Transfer function results indicate corresponding 1.0 to 1.5‰ salinity reductions for this tim (ca. 6400–9600 yr B.P.) throughout the Aegean Sea. Pollen, dinoflagellate and isotopic data show that the early Holocene excess fresh water originated from rapid melting of the northern European and Siberian ice sheets, supplied primarily from the Black Sea by the opening of Bosphorus and Dardanelles Channels, during the post glacial sea-level rise, and supplemented by major rivers entering the Aegean Sea. Continuous outflow of fresh water into the Aegean Sea provided a low salinity surface lid, preventing the ventilation of the deep water. Benthic foraminifera shows a major turn-over that indicates low dissolved oxygen; however, bottom waters were not anoxic. Sapropel level S1 resulted from a combination of stagnant deep water in isolated depressions, increased terrigenous organic matter and periods of high primary productivity, as indicated by pollen and dinocysts, respectively. The surface water temperature and salinity reached present-day values at ~6400 yr B.P., with little subsequent change despite the major deforestation onshore.
An overview of faunistic records (i.e. of large mammals and molluscs) from some prehistoric sites of the Tyrrhenian regions of Southern Italy and Sicily (Grotta del Mezzogiorno, Grotta della Serratura, Grotta del Romito and Grotta d’Oriente) indicates an opportunistic human environmental exploitation in this region during the Late Glacial-Early Holocene transition. Patterns of faunal exploitation appear to be strongly controlled by combinations of palaeoclimatic conditions, specific orographic and geomorphological settings and sea-level fluctuations.
Beginning in the 1500s, over-exploitation and poaching led to a steady decline of ibex (Capra ibex ibex) numbers in the European Alps. The use of ibex products in many folk remedies guaranteed high financial returns for the hunter and resulted in the relentless pursuit of this species. By the early 1800s, <100 animals survived in a single population in the Italian Gran Paradiso mountain massif.The recovery to more than 20 000 animals today is the result of a four-stage conservation effort which returned alpine ibex to almost their entire original range of distribution: (1) effective protection of the last remaining population, (2) captive breeding of animals caught in the recovered last population, (3) reintroduction of captive-bred animals into protected original habitat, (4) translocation of animals from successfully established “reservoir” populations to uninhabited sites.Alpine ibex management faces two challenges today: (1) habitat destruction in areas of high population densities, and (2) low genetic variability possibly a result of inbreeding during a succession of four potential population bottleneck situations.
Beginning in the Solutrean period (c. 20,000 bp) and extending through the Azilian period (c. 10,000 bp), ibex (Capra pyrenaica) hunting was a significant part of intensive terminal Paleolithic subsistence strategies in Cantabrian Spain and along the French Pyrenees. There are several totally specialized ibex-hunting sites, as well as ibex-dominated layers at sites used for other purposes at other times. Some of these sites (i.e. La Riera, Rascaño, Ekain, Erralla, Les Eglises, Balma Margineda) have been excavated recently, and the faunas have been analyzed by J. Altuna, F. Delpech, and D. Geddes. The results, in combination with data from older excavations, are used to explore the tactics and seasonality of prehistoric ibex hunting and to suggest differences in terms of abandoned anatomical elements between sites located very close to kill spots in the ibex habitat (i.e. on steep, rocky slopes) and those which were located at some distance from the probable hunting locations. This analysis is based on the relative utility of different body parts proposed by L. R. Binford, while taking into account other factors such as biased bone preservation and the “schlepp effect”. It helps to refine our understanding of the logistical ibex procurement station as a fairly distinctive kind of prehistoric site in southwestern Europe.
Burnt osteological materials are one focus of interest in forensic, archaeological, and palaeontological studies. We document the effects of experimental, controlled heating on a sample of modern bones and teeth from sheep and goats. Four aspects of heating specimens to between 20 and 940°C were considered: color, microscopic morphology, crystalline structure and shrinkage. Our results show that changes in both color and microscopic morphology of burnt bones and teeth can be divided into five stages each of which is typical of a particular temperature range, although the stages based on color do not correlate exactly with those based on micromorphology. These stages can be used to determine (1) if specimens of unknown taphonomic history were burnt, and (2) the maximum temperature reached by those specimens. In addition, powder X-ray diffraction studies show that heating causes an increase in the crystal size of hydroxyapatite, the major inorganic component of bones and teeth. This fact in conjunction with the microscopic morphology can be used to confirm deduced heating to 645°C or more. The data on shrinkage are analyzed to yield a polynomial expression that summarizes percentage shrinkage as a function of the maximum temperature reached by bones. Thus, the original size of specimens can be reconstructed within limits since the maximum temperature reached by the bones can be deduced on the basis of color, microscopic morphology and/or powder X-ray diffraction patterns. Finally, because there is a discrepancy between the maximum heating device temperature and the maximum specimen temperature, caution must be exercised in distinguishing between the effects of man made and natural fires.
The palynostratigraphic record from Lago Grande di Monticchio (S. Italy) is presented. An independent sedimentation-rate-based chronology provides an age of 101,530 calendar years BP for the lowermost sediments sampled. This chronology enables assessment of the rapidity of vegetation changes during the last glacial; contrary to widely held views the vegetation showed numerous large magnitude changes in periods of <150 yr. The history of vegetation and environmental changes is inferred from the palynological data. Comparison with other palynological records from southern Europe indicates that the Monticchio record reveals much greater vegetation and environmental variability than has hitherto been reported. The regionally dominant biomes have been systematically reconstructioned. Whereas forest biomes predominated during the Holocene and early-Weichselian interstadials, open `wooded steppe’ predominated during the majority of Weichselian interstadials and steppe during stadial periods including the full glacial. Quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions indicate rapid, large magnitude and independent variations in the three climatic variables reconstructed — winter cold, seasonal warmth and moisture availability. These variations can be linked to variations in other Earth system components; comparisons upon the basis of their independent chronologies reveals contrasts between terrestrial and marine records that are potentially important indicators of underlying mechanisms and drivers of environmental change.
The difficulties in the estimation of relative frequencies of species are discussed and a new approach to the recording of bone is proposed. This approach eliminates various biases and allows minimum numbers of individuals and counts of identified specimens to be derived from the same data. Sieved material from Khirokitia is used to provide a comparison of different methods and to illustrate possible ways of recording the information.
The results of a detailed zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of two faunal assemblages from Hefzibah (HEF), a major Geometric Kebaran open-air site on the central coastal plain of Israel were compared with two other assemblages from the same general period, site type, and geographic region using multivariate taphonomic analyses. A comprehensive analysis of taphonomic evidence for each assemblage based on the comparison of 28 taphonomic variables points to a preservational bias that accounts for the apparent economic differences found in one of the four Epipalaeolithic assemblages. Preservational indices, surface modification, bone density, and bone fragmentation indicate that inter-assemblage differences are related to post-depositional processes. These processes account for marked differences in species diversity, the percentage of juveniles, and the proportion of small game. The marked difference in preservation highlights the potential role of taphonomic biases in producing overt patterns that bear no real cultural or economic significance in zooarchaeological assemblages. High similarity in the length of fresh percussion fractures, the ratio and distribution of butchery marks, and prey body part representation suggest analogous traditions of food transport, preparation, and processing.
Stable isotope composition of living and fossil land snail shells was determined at Grotta del Romito (Southern Italy) with the aim to reconstruct environmental and climatic variation in the area during Late Upper Palaeolithic. The investigated succession comprised 15 different excavated layers spanning between ca 13,000 and 14,500 yr cal BP. The oxygen isotope composition of snail shells indicates a marked decrease at the layer D8 suggesting a climatic deterioration consistent with the GI 1d climatic event (Older Dryas). This climate deterioration may have been related to a substantial decrease of mean annual temperature with associated changes in the regional atmospheric circulation. However, the environmental conditions at the time of shell's growth in the other intervals sampled suggest condition comparable to the present day. The carbon isotope composition of fossil snail shells is in agreement with other records, which indicate a general increase of the δ13C values of organic matter during Pleniglacial to Late Glacial caused by substantially lower atmospheric CO2 concentration at that time.
A Rapid Method for Recording Information About Mammal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Ancient monuments Laboratory report 19
- S Davis
Davis, S., 1992. A Rapid Method for Recording Information About Mammal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Ancient monuments Laboratory report 19/92 London.