The De Nadale Cave, a single layered Quina Mousterian site in the North of Italy

Abstract

This article presents the results of archaeological exploration at De Nadale Cave, a new Late Middle Palaeolithic site recently discovered in the Berici Hills, a karstic plateau in the north-east of Italy. A first survey and field campaigns have brought to light a small cavity almost totally filled with sediments embedding one single Mousterian layer sandwiched by sediments avoid of any relevant archaeological remains. A large herbivore tooth has been U-Th dated, with a minimum age of 70.2 +1/-0.9 ky BP. Several economic and cultural aspects make this site peculiar with respect to the others at the regional scale. The faunal remains record the abundance of large ungulates, mostly Megaloceros giganteus, but also Cervus elaphus and Bos/Bison. Their bone surfaces bear traces of human modification produced during skinning, dismembering, and fracturing of the carcasses and the long bone shafts for marrow recovery. There is a high number of bone retouchers in proportion to the fragmented shafts, used for shaping and rejuvenating different types of scrapers. The lithic industry shows typical Quina characteristics in its technology and typology, with several thin and thick scrapers made of non-local flint due to its absence in proximity of the site. On-going research will investigate in more detail a so specific evidence in the Middle Palaeolithic of the North-Adriatic rim