Human occupation continuity in southern Italy towards the end of the Middle Palaeolithic: a palaeoenvironmental perspective from Apulia - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Journal of Quaternary Science Année : 2022

Human occupation continuity in southern Italy towards the end of the Middle Palaeolithic: a palaeoenvironmental perspective from Apulia

Résumé

After the last interglacial [Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e] Europe was affected by several harsh climatic oscillations. In this context southern Italy acted, like the rest of peninsular Mediterranean Europe, as a ‘glacial refugium’, allowing the survival of various species, and was involved in the spread of ‘cold taxa’ (e.g. woolly mammoth and woolly rhino) only during the coldest phases (MIS 4 and MIS 2). Both late Mousterian and early Upper Palaeolithic sites testify to a human occupation continuity in southern Italy and especially in Apulia in this time span. Here we present a focus on three key Apulian Palaeolithic sequences (Grotta di Santa Croce, Riparo L'Oscurusciuto and Grotta del Cavallo – layers F-E) jointly spanning from the late MIS 4 to the demise of Neanderthals around 43 ka. Novel chronological, sedimentological and zooarchaeological data are discussed for the first time in the light of the palaeoenvironmental information provided by recent analyses carried out on a speleothem from Pozzo Cucù cave (Bari) and the results of the magnetic susceptibility analysis from Riparo L'Oscurusciuto. This integrated reading allows a better understanding of the role played by the Apulian region as both a refugium for late Neaderthals and a suitable habitat for the early settling of modern humans.

Dates et versions

hal-03374791 , version 1 (12-10-2021)

Licence

Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Partage selon les Conditions Initiales

Identifiants

Citer

Francesco Boschin, Andrea Columbu, Vincenzo Spagnolo, Jacopo Crezzini, Jean‐jacques Bahain, et al.. Human occupation continuity in southern Italy towards the end of the Middle Palaeolithic: a palaeoenvironmental perspective from Apulia. Journal of Quaternary Science, 2022, 37 (2), pp.204-216. ⟨10.1002/jqs.3319⟩. ⟨hal-03374791⟩
25 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More