Matteo Romandini

Late Neandertals and the intentional removal of feathers as evidenced from bird bone taphonomy at Fumane Cave 44 ky B.P., Italy

A large and varied avifaunal bone assemblage from the final Mousterian levels of Grotta di Fumane, northern Italy, reveals unusual human modifications on species that are not clearly relatable to feeding or utilitarian uses (i.e., lammergeier, Eurasian black vulture, golden eagle, red-footed falcon, common wood pigeon, and Alpine chough). Cut, peeling, and scrape marks, as well as diagnostic fractures and a breakthrough, are observed exclusively on wings, indicating the intentional removal of large feathers by Neandertals. The species involved, the anatomical elements affected, and the unusual type and location of the human modifications indicate an activity linked to the symbolic sphere and the behavioral modernity of this European autochthonous population.

Convergent Evidence of Eagle Talons Used by Late Neanderthals in Europe: A Further Assessment on Symbolism

To contribute to have a better understanding of the symbolic or not use of certain items by Neanderthals, this work presents new evidence of the deliberate removal of raptor claws occurred in Mediterranean Europe during the recent phases of the Mousterian. Rio Secco Cave in the north-east of Italy and Mandrin Cave in the Middle Rhône valley have recently produced two golden eagle pedal phalanges from contexts not younger than 49.1–48.0 ky cal BP at Rio Secco and dated around 50.0 ky cal BP at Mandrin. The bones show cut-marks located on the proximal end ascribable to the cutting of the tendons and the incision of the cortical organic tissues. Also supported by an experimental removal of large raptor claws, our reconstruction explains that the deliberate detachment occurred without damaging the claw, in a way comparable at a general level with other Mousterian contexts across Europe. After excluding that these specimens met the nutritional requirements for human subsistence, we discuss the possible implications these findings perform in our current knowledge of the European Middle Palaeolithic context.

Middle Paleolithic and Uluzzian human remains from Fumane Cave, Italy

The site of Fumane Cave (western Lessini Mountains, Italy) contains a stratigraphic sequence spanning the Middle to early Upper Paleolithic. During excavations from 1989 to 2011, four human teeth were unearthed from the Mousterian (Fumane 1, 4, 5) and Uluzzian (Fumane 6) levels of the cave. In this contribution, we provide the first morphological description and morphometric analysis of the dental remains. All of the human remains, except for Fumane 6, are deciduous teeth. Based on metric data (crown and cervical outline analysis, and lateral enamel thickness) and non-metric dental traits (e.g., mid-trigonid crest), Fumane 1 (lower left second deciduous molar) clearly belongs to a Neandertal. For Fumane 4 (upper right central deciduous incisor), the taxonomic attribution is difficult due to heavy incisal wear. Some morphological features observed in Fumane 5 (lower right lateral deciduous incisor), coupled with the large size of the tooth, support Neandertal affinity. Fumane 6, a fragment of a permanent molar, does not show any morphological features useful for taxonomic discrimination. The human teeth from Fumane Cave increase the sample of Italian fossil remains, and emphasize the need to develop new methods to extract meaningful taxonomic information from deciduous and worn teeth.

The Uluzzian technology of Grotta di Fumane and its implication for reconstructing cultural dynamics in the Middle–Upper Palaeolithic transition of Western Eurasia

From the intricate ensemble of evidence related to the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the presumed first spread of anatomically modern humans in Europe, the Uluzzian has attracted major attention in the past few years. Although the Uluzzian has been viewed as a supposed product of modern humans settling in Mediterranean Europe, the techno-cultural complex has been the subject of few investigations aiming to clarify its chronology, bone industry, and settlement dynamics. Further, little is known of its technological structure. This article presents the results of an extensive study of the lithic and bone technologies from assemblages recovered at Fumane Cave in the north of Italy. Results confirm that the Uluzzian is a flake-dominated industry that brings together a set of technological innovations. The Levallois is the most used method in the initial phase, which is replaced by more varied flaking procedures and an increase in bladelets and flake-blades. Sidescrapers and points also represent a Mousterian feature in the initial phase, while splintered pieces, backed knives and other Upper Palaeolithic tools increase in the later phase. Our results suggest that the Uluzzian is rooted in the Mousterian lithic technological context and cannot be viewed as a proxy for anatomically modern humans, the carriers of the abrupt cultural changes related to the Aurignacian.

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.

Detecting human presence at the border of the northeastern Italian Pre-Alps. 14C Dating at Rio Secco Cave as expression of the first Gravettian and the late Mousterian in the northern Adriatic region

In the northern Adriatic regions, which include the Venetian region and the Dalmatian coast, late Neanderthal settlements are recorded in few sites and even more ephemeral are remains of the Mid-Upper Palaeolithic occupations. A contribution to reconstruct the human presence during this time range has been produced from a recently investigated cave, Rio Secco, located in the northern Adriatic region at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps. Chronometric data make Rio Secco a key site in the context of recording occupation by late Neanderthals and regarding the diffusion of the Mid-Upper Palaeolithic culture in a particular district at the border of the alpine region. As for the Gravettian, its diffusion in Italy is a subject of on-going research and the aim of this paper is to provide new information on the timing of this process in Italy. In the southern end of the Peninsula the first occupation dates to around 28,000 14C BP, whereas our results on Gravettian layer range from 29,390 to 28,995 14C years BP. At the present state of knowledge, the emergence of the Gravettian in eastern Italy is contemporaneous with several sites in Central Europe and the chronological dates support the hypothesis that the Swabian Gravettian probably dispersed from eastern Austria.

Animal Exploitation Strategies during the Uluzzian at Grotta di Fumane (Verona, Italy)

At Grotta di Fumane, signatures such as butchering traces, burned bones, fragmentation and scanty carnivore traces prove that the faunal remains from the Uluzzian layers (A4 and A3) are the product of human activity. Human modifications are also present on the bones of birds like black grouse, Alpine chough, and large raptors like the golden eagle. Faunal evidence indicates that human hunting focused on red deer and ibex, but also on giant deer, roe deer, bison and chamois. Wolf, fox and brown bear were exploited as well. All age classes of red deer and adult ibex were preyed upon. The presence of young ungulates suggests that the cave was used throughout the year. The faunal assemblage of the final Uluzzian layers chronicles climatic cooling with respect to the previous Mousterian period, and modifications in hunting comparable to those characteristic of the Aurignacian occupation.

The Biarzo case in northern Italy: is the temporal dynamic of swine mitochondrial DNA lineages in Europe related to domestication?

Genetically-based reconstructions of the history of pig domestication in Europe are based on two major pillars: 1) the temporal changes of mitochondrial DNA lineages are related to domestication; 2) Near Eastern haplotypes which appeared and then disappeared in some sites across Europe are genetic markers of the first Near Eastern domestic pigs. We typed a small but informative fragment of the mitochondrial DNA in 23 Sus scrofa samples from a site in north eastern Italy (Biarzo shelter) which provides a continuous record across a ≈6,000 year time frame from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. We additionally carried out several radiocarbon dating. We found that a rapid mitochondrial DNA turnover occurred during the Mesolithic, suggesting that substantial changes in the composition of pig mitochondrial lineages can occur naturally across few millennia independently of domestication processes. Moreover, so-called Near Eastern haplotypes were present here at least two millennia before the arrival of Neolithic package in the same area. Consequently, we recommend a re-evaluation of the previous idea that Neolithic farmers introduced pigs domesticated in the Near East, and that Mesolithic communities acquired domestic pigs via cultural exchanges, to include the possibility of a more parsimonious hypothesis of local domestication in Europe.

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

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. Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag stellt Ergebnisse von Sondagen in der neu entdeckten De Nadale Höhle vor. Es handelt sich um eine Fundstelle des späten Mittelpaläolithikums in den Berici-Bergen, einem Karstplateau in Nordostitalien. Im Rahmen einer ersten Ausgrabung wurde die vollständig mit Sediment gefüllt Höhle untersucht. Eingebettet in sterile Schichten wurde eine moustérienzeitliche Fundschicht angetroffen. Der Zahn eines großen Herbivoren aus der Fundschicht konnte mit Hilfe der Uran-Thorium-Methode auf ein Mindestalter von 70 200 +1 000/900 Jahre BP datiert werden. Einige technologische und kulturelle Besonderheiten zeichnen den Fundplatz im Vergleich zu anderen Fundplätzen in der Region aus. Die Faunenreste belegen das Vorkommen von großen Huftieren, hauptsächlich Megalocerus giganteus sowie Cervus elaphus und Boviden. Die Oberflächen der Knochen zeigen deutliche Schnittund Schlagspuren vom Häuten und Zerlegen der Tiere sowie vom Aufschlagen der Langknochen zur Markgewinnung. Im Vergleich zu den vorhandenen Schaftfragmenten liegt eine hohe Zahl von Knochenretuscheuren vor, die offenbar zur Formgebung und Nachschärfung verschiedener Schabertypen eingesetzt wurden. Das Steingeräteinventar weist typische Merkmale des Moustérien vom Typ Quina auf mit mehreren dünnen und dicken Schabern aus nicht-lokalem Silex. Weitere Untersuchungen sind geplant, um mehr Daten zur Beurteilung dieses mittelpaläolithischen Fundplatzes des nordadriatischen Bogens zu gewinnen.

New evidence for the Mousterian and Gravettian at Rio Secco Cave, Italy

Abstract The dearth of evidence for late Neanderthals in Europe reduces our ability to understand the demise of their species and the impact of the biological and cultural changes that resulted from the spread of anatomically modern humans. In this light, a recently investigated cave in the northern Adriatic region at the border between the Italian Alps and the Great Adriatic Plain provides useful data about the last Neanderthals between 46·0 and 42·1 ky cal b.p. Their subsistence is inferred from zooarchaeological remains and patterns in Middle Palaeolithic lithic technology. Unexpected evidence of the ephemeral use of the cave during the early Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian period shows a change in lithic technology.