Digital reconstruction of the Ceprano calvarium (Italy), and implications for its interpretation

The Ceprano calvarium was discovered in fragments on March 1994 near the town of Ceprano in southern Latium (Italy), embedded in Middle Pleistocene layers. After reconstruction, its morphological features suggests that the specimen belongs to an archaic variant of H. heidelbergensis, representing a proxy for the last common ancestor of the diverging clades that respectively led to H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Unfortunately, the calvarium was taphonomically damaged. The postero-lateral vault, in particular, appears deformed and this postmortem damage may have infuenced previous interpretations. Specifcally, there is a depression on the fragmented left parietal, while the right cranial wall is warped and angulated. This deformation afected the shape of the occipital squama, producing an inclination of the transverse occipital torus. In this paper, after X-ray microtomography (μCT) of both the calvarium and several additional fragments, we analyze consistency and pattern of the taphonomic deformation that afected the specimen, before the computer-assisted retrodeformation has been performed; this has also provided the opportunity to reappraise early attempts at restoration. As a result, we ofer a revised interpretation for the Ceprano calvarium’s original shape, now free from the previous uncertainties, along with insight for its complex depositional and taphonomic history

Fontana Ranuccio (excavations 2019-2022) and Colle Marino (excavations 2020-2021): Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphic evidence of the earliest inhabitants in the Anagni basin

Recent fieldwork of the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana in the Anagni basin (Latin Valley, southern Latium, central Italy) has provided new insights into the dynamics of human settlement and adaptation in this area during the Middle Pleistocene. This paper summarizes the still partially unpublished data on the chronostratigraphy of two important prehistoric sites: Fontana Ranuccio, dating from about 400,000 years ago, and Colle Marino, whose lithic industry has so far been attributed to an early stage of the Middle Pleistocene. At Fontana Ranuccio, stratigraphic studies highlighted the depositional dynamics and the processes involved in the formation of the archeological unit, consisting of partly reworked volcanic material, which can be now divided into distinct sub-units. At Colle Marino, a 35-meter-deep core drilling and an excavation campaign allowed us to verify the nature and provenance of lithic artifacts found on the surface in past decades. Radiometric analyses dated these artifacts from about 700,000 years ago

Les plus anciennes industries lithiques du Latium, Italie

International audienceThe presence of archaic early Paleolithic in Latium province (central Italy) had been indicated by one of us, I. Biddittu since 1971, and many prospectings have permitted to collect an abundant faunal and lithic material from three well distinctive stations : Colle Marino, Arce-Fontana Liri and Campo Grande di Ceprano. Levels containing stone artifacts are insertes between villafranchian layers situated below and layers attributable to the first known eruptive activity of latial volcanism which the oldest events are dated about 700 000 years by K-Ar. Colle Marino and Arce-Fontana Liri stone artifacts have their archaism in common, with the rudimentary character of the small tools and cores flaking. Unlike the others, stone artifacts collected at Ceprano globally show more advanced characters, about tools making or flaking.La présence du Paléolithique inférieur archaïque dans le Latium (Italie centrale) a été signalé par l'un d'entre nous, I. Biddittu dès 1971, et de nombreuses prospections ont permis de recueillir à ce jour un abondant matériel lithique et faunique au sein de trois stations bien individualisée : Colle Marino, Arce-Fontana Liri et Campo Grande di Ceprano. Les niveaux comprenant les industries de ces sites sont intercalées entre des couches villafranchiennes situées au -dessous et des niveaux attribuables à la première activité éruptive connue du volcanisme latial, dont les manifestations les plus anciennes sont datées aux environs de 700 000 ans par la méthode K-Ar. Les industries de Colle Marino et de Arce-Fontana Liri ont en commun leur archaïsme, de par le caractère rudimentaire du petit outillage et du débitage des nucléus. Par contre, les industries récoltées à Ceprano montrent globalement des caractères plus évolués, que ce soit au niveau de l'aménagement des outils ou du débitage

Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and archaeology of Middle Pleistocene localities near Ceprano, Campogrande area, Italy

International audienc

Digital reconstruction of the Ceprano calvarium (Italy), and implications for its interpretation

The Ceprano calvarium was discovered in fragments on March 1994 near the town of Ceprano in southern Latium (Italy), embedded in Middle Pleistocene layers. After reconstruction, its morphological features suggests that the specimen belongs to an archaic variant of H. heidelbergensis, representing a proxy for the last common ancestor of the diverging clades that respectively led to H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Unfortunately, the calvarium was taphonomically damaged. The postero-lateral vault, in particular, appears deformed and this postmortem damage may have influenced previous interpretations. Specifically, there is a depression on the fragmented left parietal, while the right cranial wall is warped and angulated. This deformation affected the shape of the occipital squama, producing an inclination of the transverse occipital torus. In this paper, after X-ray microtomography (μCT) of both the calvarium and several additional fragments, we analyze consistency and pattern of the taphonomic deformation that affected the specimen, before the computer-assisted retrodeformation has been performed; this has also provided the opportunity to reappraise early attempts at restoration. As a result, we offer a revised interpretation for the Ceprano calvarium\u27s original shape, now free from the previous uncertainties, along with insight for its complex depositional and taphonomic history

First occurrence of the short-faced bear Agriotherium (Ursidae, Carnivora) in Italy: biochronological and palaeoenvironmental implications

In 1981, a large mammal assemblage was recovered from a laminated travertine exposed in the region of the village of Collepardo (Frosinone, central Italy). The Collepardo mammal assemblage reported in the literature included ungulates and carnivorans. It was referred to the middle Villafranchian for its similarities with the Saint Vallier (France) faunal assemblage. Some authors suggested a slightly older age (?Montopoli FU). Up to now, only cervids were studied, whereas the other remains were never illustrated nor investigated. Since the fossiliferous site was never described in detail and its location roughly defined, a series of field surveys were carried out with the aim of better depict the continental deposit containing this large mammal assemblage. During these surveys, a block containing several mammal bones was discovered. Among them, an hemimandible of a large short-faced bear Agriotherium was found, a carnivoran never reported before from Italy and very rare in the European fossil record. Its occurrence, together with the cervid Pseudodama lyra and Sus arvernensis, suggests an Early Villafranchian age (Triversa F.U.) for the Collepardo assemblage that therefore has to be referred to the Pliocene. Finally, carbon and oxygen isotope ratios were determined to understand the palaeoenvironmental condition of the depositional system.This research received support from the SYNTHESYS Project ES-TAF-5621 http://www.synthesys.info/ which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 «Capacities» Programme at Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC) and from “Ricerche di Ateneo 2015” (Sapienza University of Rome, resp. Raffaele Sardella).Peer reviewe

ESR dating applied to optically bleached quartz - A comparison with 40Ar/39Ar chronologies on Italian Middle Pleistocene sequences

International audienceThe geological sequences of numerous Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites of central and southern Italy, found in fluvio-lacustrine contexts and rich both in archaeological and palaeontological remains, have recorded various volcanic events all along the Middle Pleistocene timescale. These sedimentary sequences made of detritic and volcanic materials are suitable to compare independent numerical geochronological methods and thus develop a multi-method approach relying especially ESR method applied to optically bleached fluvial quartz and the 40Ar/39Ar on single grain isotopic method applied to potassium feldspars. In this present paper, geochronological data obtained using these two methods were used on several Middle Pleistocene Italian sites including volcanic and fluvial but also archaeological levels: Isoletta and Lademagne in Lazio and Notarchirico in Basilicata. In this contribution, ESR age estimates were performed using a multi-centre approach from Al, Ti–Li and Ti–H centres. We demonstrate for these sites that ESR-based framework is overall consistent with the 40Ar/39Ar chronology that over the 700 and 350 ka time window. This comparison validates the multi-centre approach proposed and demonstrates that the use of Ti–H for samples with equivalent doses higher than 280–300 Gy leads to systematic age underestimates

Emergence of regional cultural traditions during the Lower Palaeolithic: the case of Frosinone-Ceprano basin (Central Italy) at the MIS 11–10 transition

International audienceDecades of fieldwork in the Frosinone-Ceprano basin (Latin Valley, Latium, central Italy) have shed light on numerous open-air Lower Palaeolithic localities, delivering a human fossil calvarium, thousands of scattered faunal remains and a large collection of lithic industries, including core-and-flake type lithic series (Mode 1) and Acheulean assemblages (Mode 2). The continuously growing number of available geochronological data (obtained by 40Ar/39Ar on volcanic minerals, ESR/U-series on large mammal teeth and ESR on bleached fluvial quartz) allow today the construction of a reliable and precise chronological framework for the Lower Palaeolithic sites of this area of the Latin valley. The archaeological horizons with bifaces all appear to belong to a relatively short Middle Pleistocene time range, between about 410 and 350 ka, coeval to the end of the interglacial MIS 11 and to the beginning of the following glacial MIS 10.The Acheulean tools are often associated with cores and flakes. Bifaces are mainly made on limestone, secondary flint and quartz. The archaeological corpus also yielded tools on fragments of large herbivore bones. Comparisons between technological strategies and paleo-anthropological data at the global scale are now meaningful and enable us to decipher hominin behaviour at a more regional scale. Such careful work is becoming essential in the frame of the recent discoveries showing that the MIS 11-10 period was a pivotal period characterized by the appearance of several new archaeological features later associated with the Neanderthal lineage in Western Europe. We present here the first in-depth technological study of the Acheulean lithic corpus from the major archaeological sites from the Frosinone-Ceprano basin including the Campogrande localities (CG9 and CG10, intermediate and upper levels), Colle Avarone, Selvotta, Isoletta (level 4), Lademagne (upper and lower levels) and Masseria Castellone