Faunes gravettiennes à grands mammifères de l’Italie du Sud : Grotta della Cala (Salerno) et Grotta Paglicci (Foggia)

Les couches gravettiennes de la grotte della Cala, sur la côte tyrrhénienne de l’Italie du sud, et de la grotte Paglicci, sur le versant adriatique, ont fourni des restes fauniques qui témoignent de deux réalités différentes. Dans la grotte della Cala, la chasse a été orientée essentiellement vers le Cerf, dont les restes atteignent 90 % du total. Les autres ongulés, avec une prédominance du Sanglier et du Chevreuil, ont été récupérés en quantités nettement inférieures. Par contre, dans la grotte Paglicci, les ongulés de milieux ouverts ou mixtes comme le Cheval, le Bouquetin ou l’Aurochs sont abondants et, au cours des différentes phases culturelles, leur variabilité quantitative est élevée. Les restes de ces deux sites appartiennent à des espèces d’ongulés probablement chassées en rapport étroit avec la possibilité de les rencontrer. La fréquence des différents taxons exprime donc l’étendue de leur habitat et les changements climatiques qui ont influé sur eux. Dans ces deux dépôts, au cours des mêmes phases chronologiques, des environnements et des conditions climatiques très différents ont constitué une diversité de substrats fauniques qui a probablement influencé les aspects culturels et technologiques des populations gravettiennes respectives.Faunal remains related to two different environments have been recovered from gravettian layers of Grotta della Cala, in the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy, and from Grotta Paglicci, in the Adriatic side. Data from Grotta della Cala attest an hunting principally aimed at Deer, whose remains constitute 90 % of the total. Other ungulates have been recovered in much smaller quantities, with a dominance of Roe deer and Wild boar. Ungulates typical of open or mixed environments, like Horse, Aurochs and Ibex, are instead abundant in faunal assemblage from Grotta Paglicci, and their quantities change according to different cultural phases. Bones collected from these two sites probably belong to ungulates hunted in proportion to their availability. Therefore, taxa frequencies show the effects of climate changes on faunal associations and the wideness of habitats. In each of these two deposits, during the same chronological phases, environmental and climate conditions have produced different faunal presences which probably have influenced cultural and technological aspects of the respective gravettian peoples

Faunes gravettiennes à grands mammifères de l’Italie du Sud : Grotta della Cala (Salerno) et Grotta Paglicci (Foggia)

Les couches gravettiennes de la grotte della Cala, sur la côte tyrrhénienne de l’Italie du sud, et de la grotte Paglicci, sur le versant adriatique, ont fourni des restes fauniques qui témoignent de deux réalités différentes. Dans la grotte della Cala, la chasse a été orientée essentiellement vers le Cerf, dont les restes atteignent 90 % du total. Les autres ongulés, avec une prédominance du Sanglier et du Chevreuil, ont été récupérés en quantités nettement inférieures. Par contre, dans la grotte Paglicci, les ongulés de milieux ouverts ou mixtes comme le Cheval, le Bouquetin ou l’Aurochs sont abondants et, au cours des différentes phases culturelles, leur variabilité quantitative est élevée. Les restes de ces deux sites appartiennent à des espèces d’ongulés probablement chassées en rapport étroit avec la possibilité de les rencontrer. La fréquence des différents taxons exprime donc l’étendue de leur habitat et les changements climatiques qui ont influé sur eux. Dans ces deux dépôts, au cours des mêmes phases chronologiques, des environnements et des conditions climatiques très différents ont constitué une diversité de substrats fauniques qui a probablement influencé les aspects culturels et technologiques des populations gravettiennes respectives.Faunal remains related to two different environments have been recovered from gravettian layers of Grotta della Cala, in the Tyrrhenian coast of southern Italy, and from Grotta Paglicci, in the Adriatic side. Data from Grotta della Cala attest an hunting principally aimed at Deer, whose remains constitute 90 % of the total. Other ungulates have been recovered in much smaller quantities, with a dominance of Roe deer and Wild boar. Ungulates typical of open or mixed environments, like Horse, Aurochs and Ibex, are instead abundant in faunal assemblage from Grotta Paglicci, and their quantities change according to different cultural phases. Bones collected from these two sites probably belong to ungulates hunted in proportion to their availability. Therefore, taxa frequencies show the effects of climate changes on faunal associations and the wideness of habitats. In each of these two deposits, during the same chronological phases, environmental and climate conditions have produced different faunal presences which probably have influenced cultural and technological aspects of the respective gravettian peoples

Paleoenvironmental Analysis

New analysis has been carried out concerning the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of some Italian sites dating from the Middle Pleistocene to the Bronze Age. Different aspects have been investigated on each site considering the data collected. The following sites have been analyzed: Isernia La Pineta (Molise); Visogliano and Caverna degli Orsi (Trieste); Toirano Caves (Liguria); Grotta Paglicci (Gargano); Riparo del Molare (Salerno); Grotta del Cavallo (Lecce); Castellaro Lagusello (Monzambano, Mantova)

Continuous recurrence of type 1 hepatorenal syndrome and long-term treatment with terlipressin and albumin: A new exception to MELD score in the allocation system to liver transplantation?

Background & Aims The recurrence of type 1 hepatorenal syndrome has been described in up to 20% of responders to terlipressin and albumin after the discontinuation of the treatment. Subsequent recurrence of type 1 hepatorenal syndrome may require long-term treatment with terlipressin and albumin. Methods We describe our experience of long-term administration of terlipressin as a bridge to LT in three patients with cirrhosis and recurrent type 1 hepatorenal syndrome. For all three patients we requested an "early transplant" which is an option recognized in our country to reduce waiting times for liver transplantation. Results All three patients were transplanted within 2months of onset of hepatorenal syndrome. All patients are still alive and none of them have developed chronic kidney disease. Conclusions The outcomes of these patients suggest that long-term treatment with terlipressin and albumin is effective and well tolerated in patients with continuous recurrence of type 1 hepatorenal syndrome and, therefore, should be considered an absolute priority criterion in the allocation system for liver transplantation

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.

Middle Palaeolithic lithic tools: Techno-functional and use-wear analysis of target objects from SU 13 at the Oscurusciuto rock shelter, Southern Italy

The Oscurusciuto rock shelter (Ginosa, Puglia, southern Italy) is a Middle Palaeolithic site characterized by a significant stratigraphy made up by several anthropic levels. The stratigraphic unit 13, consisting of a sandy compact deposit mixed with pyroclastic sediment, is a short palimpsest situated on a layer of tephra, identified as Mt. Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar ~ 55 ka BP). From a technological point of view, the aims of the production were backed flakes, convergent flakes, and other flakes obtained by means of a Levallois debitage, plus (less represented) bladelets produced by an additional volumetric reduction system. Our aim in this research was to examine a selection of the above-mentioned target objects produced by debitage in order to understand the manufacture and life-cycle of each single tool from a dynamic perspective. We integrated techno-functional and use-wear analyses: the first was implemented to globally comprehend each tool, identifying each single techno-functional unity (prehensile and transformative portions), whereas the second revealed the way in which these tools had been used, proceeding to identify the activity involved (e.g., piercing, cutting and/or scraping), and the type of material (vegetable/animal, soft/hard) on which these activities had been carried out. The combined use of these two approaches allows us to ascertain the intention of the prehistoric craftsmen, the gestures and procedures involved in making the tools, and the way they had been used. From one single object we are thus able to reconstruct a series of complex behaviours, encompassing the creation, the life-cycle and finally the ‘death’ or repurposing of the tool in question

Population dynamic of the extinct European aurochs: genetic evidence of a north-south differentiation pattern and no evidence of post-glacial expansion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aurochs (<it>Bos primigenius</it>) was a large bovine that ranged over almost the entirety of the Eurasian continent and North Africa. It is the wild ancestor of the modern cattle (<it>Bos taurus</it>), and went extinct in 1627 probably as a consequence of human hunting and the progressive reduction of its habitat. To investigate in detail the genetic history of this species and to compare the population dynamics in different European areas, we analysed <it>Bos primigenius </it>remains from various sites across Italy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fourteen samples provided ancient DNA fragments from the mitochondrial hypervariable region. Our data, jointly analysed with previously published sequences, support the view that Italian aurochsen were genetically similar to modern bovine breeds, but very different from northern/central European aurochsen. Bayesian analyses and coalescent simulations indicate that the genetic variation pattern in both Italian and northern/central European aurochsen is compatible with demographic stability after the last glaciation. We provide evidence that signatures of population expansion can erroneously arise in stable aurochsen populations when the different ages of the samples are not taken into account.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Distinct groups of aurochsen probably inhabited Italy and northern/central Europe after the last glaciation, respectively. On the contrary, Italian and Fertile Crescent aurochsen likely shared several mtDNA sequences, now common in modern breeds. We argue that a certain level of genetic homogeneity characterized aurochs populations in Southern Europe and the Middle East, and also that post-glacial recolonization of northern and central Europe advanced, without major demographic expansions, from eastern, and not southern, refugia.</p

The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe

Microscopic analysis of backed lithic pieces from the Uluzzian technocomplex (45\u201340 thousand yr ago) at Grotta del Cavallo (southern Italy) reveals their use as mechanically delivered projectile weapons, attributed to anatomically modern humans. Use-wear and residue analyses indicate that the lithics were hunting armatures hafted with complex adhesives, while experimental and ethnographic comparisons support their use as projectiles. The use of projectiles conferred a hunting strategy with a higher impact energy and a potential subsistence advantage over other populations and specie

Late Quaternary horses in Eurasia in the face of climate and vegetation change.

Wild horses thrived across Eurasia until the Last Glacial Maximum to collapse after the beginning of the Holocene. The interplay of climate change, species adaptability to different environments, and human domestication in horse history is still lacking coherent continental-scale analysis integrating different lines of evidence. We assembled temporal and geographical information on 3070 horse occurrences across Eurasia, frequency data for 1120 archeological layers in Europe, and matched them to paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental simulations for the Late Quaternary. Climate controlled the distribution of horses, and they inhabited regions in Europe and Asia with different climates and ecosystem productivity, suggesting plasticity to populate different environments. Their decline in Europe during the Holocene appears associated with an increasing loss and fragmentation of open habitats. Europe was the most likely source for the spread of horses toward more temperate regions, and we propose both Iberia and central Asia as potential centers of domestication.M.L. was supported by a Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF-657852). This work was supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (grant no. DNRF94); Initiative d’Excellence Chaires d’attractivité, Université de Toulouse (OURASI); and the Villum Fonden miGENEPI research project. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 681605). K.G. and D.N.-B. thank Sapere Aude EliteForsk, DFF (Det Frie Forskningsråd), and the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF96). A.M., M.K., and R.M.B. were supported by the European Research Council Consolidator grant 647787-LocalAdaptation

Earliest evidence of dental caries manipulation in the Late Upper Palaeolithic

Prehistoric dental treatments were extremely rare, and the few documented cases are known from the Neolithic, when the adoption of early farming culture caused an increase of carious lesions. Here we report the earliest evidence of dental caries intervention on a Late Upper Palaeolithic modern human specimen (Villabruna) from a burial in Northern Italy. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy we show the presence of striations deriving from the manipulation of a large occlusal carious cavity of the lower right third molar. The striations have a “V”-shaped transverse section and several parallel micro-scratches at their base, as typically displayed by cutmarks on teeth. Based on in vitro experimental replication and a complete functional reconstruction of the Villabruna dental arches, we confirm that the identified striations and the associated extensive enamel chipping on the mesial wall of the cavity were produced ante-mortem by pointed flint tools during scratching and levering activities. The Villabruna specimen is therefore the oldest known evidence of dental caries intervention, suggesting at least some knowledge of disease treatment well before the Neolithic. This study suggests that primitive forms of carious treatment in human evolution entail an adaptation of the well-known toothpicking for levering and scratching rather than drilling practices