The Campanian Ignimbrite and Codola tephra layers: Two temporal/stratigraphic markers for the Early Upper Palaeolithic in southern Italy and eastern Europe

Tephra layers from archaeological sites in southern Italy and eastern Europe stratigraphically associated with cultural levels containing Early Upper Palaeolithic industry were analysed. The results confirm the occurrence of the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra (CI; ca. 40 cal ka BP) at Castelcivita Cave (southern Italy), Temnata Cave (Bulgaria) and in the Kostenki–Borshchevo area of the Russian Plain. This tephra, originated from the largest eruption of the Phlegrean Field caldera, represents the widest volcanic deposit and one of the most important temporal/stratigraphic markers of western Eurasia. At Paglicci Cave and lesser sites in the Apulia region we recognise a chemically and texturally different tephra, which lithologically, chronologically and chemically matches the physical and chemical characteristics of the Plinian eruption of Codola; a poorly known Late Pleistocene explosive event from the Neapolitan volcanoes, likely Somma–Vesuvius. For this latter, we propose a preliminary age estimate of ca. 33 cal ka BP and a correlation to the widespread C-10 marine tephra of the central Mediterranean. The stratigraphic position of both CI and Codola tephra layers at Castelcivita and Paglicci help date the first and the last documented appearance of Early Upper Palaeolithic industries of southern Italy to ca. 41–40 and 33 cal ka BP, respectively, or between two interstadial oscillations of the Monticchio pollen record – to which the CI and Codola tephras are physically correlated – corresponding to the Greenland interstadials 10–9 and 5. In eastern Europe, the stratigraphic and chronometric data seem to indicate an earlier appearance of the Early Upper Palaeolithic industries, which would predate of two millennia at least the overlying CI tephra. The tephrostratigraphic correlation indicates that in both regions the innovations connected with the so-called Early Upper Palaeolithic – encompassing subsistence strategy and stone tool technology – appeared and evolved during one of the most unstable climatic phases of the Last Glacial period. On this basis, the marked environmental unpredictability characterising this time-span is seen as a potential ecological factor involved in the cultural changes observed

Middle Palaeolithic technical behaviour: Material import-export and Levallois production at the SU 13 of Oscurusciuto rock shelter, Southern Italy

The Oscurusciuto rock shelter, located in southern Italy (Puglia), has yielded a long Middle Palaeolithic stratigraphy rich in lithic assemblages, fireplaces and faunal remains, attesting Neanderthal occupation during the MIS 3. This paper is focused on the stratigraphic unit 13, consisting of a sandy compact deposit mixed with pyroclastic sediment above a thick level of tephra-US 14, identified as Mt. Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar ~ 55 ka).Level 13 represents the first stable human occupation after the deposition of tephra. Our goal was to examine the lithic assemblage of this stratigraphic unit by means of an interdisciplinary approach (technology, RMU, refitting program) in order to identify the economic behaviour and technical strategies of Neanderthals occupying the stratigraphic unit 13 of Oscurusciuto.The technical strategies applied indicate fragmentation of the reduction processes, as well as probable events of importation and exportation of objects. The lithic material were introduced at different stages of manufacturing. Pieces were introduced in the form of rough objects (pebbles), as well as semi-finished items, and as finished tools. This fragmentation of the chaîne opératoire also demonstrate the palimpsest nature of the level which is made up of different events happening one after another.The main concept of debitage was Levallois, generally realized on local jasper and siliceous limestone pebbles or cortical flakes. Jasper and siliceous limestone flakes, backed flakes and convergent flakes were the technological objectives of the debitage. A marginal volumetric debitage aimed at producing bladelets was also attested

Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia-Southern Italy). The Uluzzian in the mirror

The Uluzzian techno-complex is commonly considered to be a \u201ctransitional industry\u201d mostly on the basis of some inferred characteristics such as a chiefly flake-based production, a small amount of Upper Palaeolithic-like tools and a combination of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic elements both in the toolkit and in the technical systems. Following its discovery, the Uluzzian was identified as the Italian counterpart of the French Ch\ue2telperronian and attributed to Neandertals. However, a study issued in 2011 has established the modern character of the two deciduous teeth found in 1964 in the Uluzzian deposit of Grotta del Cavallo, fostering renewed interests to the Uluzzian culture, which real nature is almost unknown to the international scientific community. Here we provide preliminary results of the study on the lithic assemblage from the earliest Uluzzian layer and on backed pieces from the whole Uluzzian sequence of Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia, Italy), the type site of the Uluzzian. Moreover, besides a thorough review on the stratigraphy of Grotta del Cavallo (Supplementary Materials), we provide updated information on the human remains by presenting two unpublished teeth from the reworked deposit of the same cave. We conclude that the early Uluzzians demonstrate original technological behavior and innovations devoid of any features deriving or directly linked with the late Mousterian of Southern Italy. Therefore, the novelty nature of the Uluzzian techno-complex (with respect to the preceding Mousterian) complies with the recent reassessment of the two deciduous teeth from Grotta del Cavallo in suggesting an earliest migration of modern humans in southern Europe around 45,000 years ago

Living-floors and Structures from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age in Italy

Summary report of the research carried out on the Living floors of the Palaeolithic to Neolithic periods in many prehistoric sites of northern Ital

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants

The RESET project: constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka

This paper introduces the aims and scope of the RESET project (. RESponse of humans to abrupt Environmental Transitions), a programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) between 2008 and 2013; it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews that report some of the project's findings. RESET examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions (AETs) on the one hand, and of human dispersal and development on the other, with a focus on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The period of interest is the Last Glacial cycle and the early Holocene (c. 100-8 ka), during which time a number of pronounced AETs occurred. A long-running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the Palaeolithic was shaped by these AETs, but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control. In an attempt to move the science forward, RESET examined the potential that tephra isochrons, and in particular non-visible ash layers (cryptotephras), might offer for synchronising palaeo-records with a greater degree of finesse. New tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously-established tephra frameworks for the region, and underpin a more evolved tephra 'lattice' that links palaeo-records between Greenland, the European mainland, sub-marine sequences in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume: collectively, these illustrate how the lattice was constructed, how it links with cognate tephra research in Europe and elsewhere, and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long-held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the Palaeolithic. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.RESET was funded through Consortium Grants awarded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK, to a collaborating team drawn from four institutions: Royal Holloway University of London (grant reference NE/E015905/1), the Natural History Museum, London (NE/E015913/1), Oxford University (NE/E015670/1) and the University of Southampton, including the National Oceanography Centre (NE/01531X/1). The authors also wish to record their deep gratitude to four members of the scientific community who formed a consultative advisory panel during the lifetime of the RESET project: Professor Barbara Wohlfarth (Stockholm University), Professor Jørgen Peder Steffensen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen), Dr. Martin Street (Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Neuwied) and Professor Clive Oppenheimer (Cambridge University). They provided excellent advice at key stages of the work, which we greatly valued. We also thank Jenny Kynaston (Geography Department, Royal Holloway) for construction of several of the figures in this paper, and Debbie Barrett (Elsevier) and Colin Murray Wallace (Editor-in-Chief, QSR) for their considerable assistance in the production of this special volume.Peer Reviewe

L’arte parietale di Grotta Paglicci (Rignano Garganico - FG): nuovi rilievi sul pannello dei cavalli

When, a long time ago, on the 24th September 1961, Francesco Zorzi and Franco Mezzena discovered, or rather recognized as Palaeolithic, the paintings on the wall of an internal hall at Grotta Paglicci, this event caused considerable sensation as these were the first Palaeolithic rock paintings ever retrieved in Italy. To date, paintings of Paglicci remain the unique evidence stratigraphically and stylistically based which is preserved “in situ”. In this paper preliminary outcomes both from the observations performed on the wall “housing” the two horses and from the study on the painting process modalities are illustrated

S. Cassiano (Arezzo): un sito a bulini dei Vachons. Osservazioni preliminari di carattere tecnologico e morfologico.

Il sito aurignaziano di S. Cassiano (AR) è caratterizzato dalla frequenza di una particolare varietà di bulino semicarenato, denominato “Bulino des Vachons”. Si enucleano i parametri tipometrici, tecnologici e tipologici che fanno di questo strumento un sottotipo notevolmente standardizzato

Paléosurfaces du Paléolithique moyen: l'exemple de Scario (Salerno - Italie du Sud)

Résumé: On décrit une nouvelle paléosurface trouvée à la Grotta Grande de Scario (prov. de Salerno), gisement du Paléolithique moyen (Pléistocène supérieur) où l’Université de Sienne conduit depuis vingt ans des fouilles systématiques. Cette paléosurface a été découverte en 1999 dans une petite galerie (m3x3) remplie de sédiments, dans un niveau (niv. 8) correspondant au début de la fréquentation humaine sur ce site. On remarque une répartition des matériaux, avec la partie centrale relativement plus haute (80 cm) de cette galerie déblayée de tout débris, tandis que pierres, cailloux, concrétions, restes lithiques et osseux étaient amassés le long des deux parois. L’industrie lithique se limite à quelques galets calcaires taillés, dont l’utilisation est à relier, peut-être, à la présence dans la faune de restes de pachydermes (Hippopotamus) à côté de Cervus, Dama et Ibex. Une structure verticale (niv. 7) sépare cette galerie de l’extérieur, où le dépôt est très limité par l’érosion. On y signale un coprolithe, macro et micromammifères peu abondants, outils plus nombreux. Quelques coquilles de Strombus, découvertes à la base de la série, font attribuer cette partie du dépôt au stade isotopique 5, en accord avec les données de paléontologie qui indiquent un milieu forestier et un climat tempéré

Strutture di combustione in depositi del Paleolitico medio del Sud Italia

Nel quadro delle risorse strategiche e delle tecnologie che hanno permesso la diffusione dei neandertaliani durante fasi climatiche anche fredde, la gestione e l’ottimizzazione del fuoco e dei materiali combustibili ha senza dubbio avuto un ruolo fondamentale. Non stupisce dunque che, tra gli elementi strutturali presenti in grotte e ripari del Paleolitico medio, le aree di combustione rappresentino spesso le evidenze più chiare e numerose. Queste aree possono contenere sia focolari in situ, sia resti di combustione non strutturati. I focolari più frequenti risultano impostati sulle superfici di frequentazione, senza alcun intervento di modificazione dei piani. Spesso sono il risultato di più episodi di accensione in aree relativamente estese o palinsesto di più focolari [1, 2]. In questi casi, la distinzione tra focolari e resti di combustione (addensamenti di cenere con carboni, ossa e litica bruciate) è possibile attraverso l’analisi micromorfologica o, a livello più generale, con l’osservazione delle tracce di scottatura delle superfici [3]. I focolari strutturati in fossette di limitate estensioni costituiscono la seconda tipologia più comune. Anche in questo caso è necessaria l’analisi micromorfologica per riconoscere un’eventuale successione di fasi di utilizzo. Meno frequenti nel Paleolitico medio risultano i focolari strutturati con pietre o impostati in ampi affossamenti. Le abbondanti quantità di ossa bruciate rinvenute in prossimità delle strutture di combustione testimoniano il frequente utilizzo di questo materiale come combustibile. Da prove sperimentali, l’osso spugnoso fratturato risulta un combustibile di buona qualità utilizzato in fuochi innescati da materiale vegetale [4, 5]. I due siti musteriani da cui provengono gli esempi qui illustrati hanno fornito insiemi di focolari impostati all’interno delle stesse fasi di frequentazione e forse utilizzati contemporaneamente. Le diverse organizzazioni delle aree a fuoco (disposizione dei focolari, distanza dalle pareti del riparo, tipologia, dispersione dei resti di combustione) costituiscono un interessante punto di partenza per ricostruire la gestione degli spazi coperti, da parte dei neandertaliani