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During an excavation of 1986 and 1987, a joint team from Utrecht, Siena and the Soprintendenza di Sassari e Nuoro, found a pre-Neolithic lithic industry in Corbeddu Cave, Oliena, Sardinia, which was dated to 8000–17,000 bp. The artifact typology is different from that of the mainland of the same period. The lithic and bone artifacts suggest an endemic isolated economy of the Upper Pleistocene in Sardinia.

Human fossils found in a Pre-Neolithic cave deposit (Corbeddu cave, Sardinia) represent the first human remains associated with an endemic impoverished island fauna. Radiocarbon dating by AMS in Utrecht provided the chronological framework of the cave sediments for better understanding of the time-related human activities. The aberrant morphology of the human fossils and the unique character of worked deer bones discovered, suggest the development of an endemic Pleistocene human culture, adapted to the restricted island conditions and the hunting of ochotonids and deer. IntruduclionIn 1982 excavations were started in Corbeddu cave on Sardinia in search of an explanation for the aberrant Pleistocene fauna of this island. In spite of the fact that the presence of only a few endemic taxa do indicate island conditions, the deer Megaceros cazioti did not become small and did not evolve short legs, as is normally observed in deer populations on islands [l]. Also the presence of a canid Cynotherium sardous, although small, is not in agreement with the absence of large carnivores in typical island faunas. Excavation 1982Excavation in hall 2 of the cave revealed three different layers, as is shown in fig. 1. Based on the archaeological material from layer 1, the lower part of this layer was estimated to represent the Lower-Neolithic [2]. The boundary between layers 1 and 2 is very sharp. Below this boundary the Pleistocene island fauna with the ochotonid Prolagus sardus, the deer Megaceros cazioti and the canid Cynotherium sardous was found in an excellent state of preservation. Very striking is the taphonomy in layer 3 in which fossils of M. cazioti were found which were scratched, grooved and polished. Together with a remarkable positioning of some bones with respect to each other, it suggests human activity [2]. This was a surprising discovery because the first human habitation on the Mediterranean islands was always considered to be represented by the Neolithic [3]. As a large predator the Sardinian Pleistocene man could very well be responsible for the fact that no short-legged dwarf-deer evolved.0168-583X/87/$03.50 0 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland Physics Publishing Division) Excavations 1983-1986The aim of the following systematic excavations was to collect more information about this possible Pleistocene man and his environment. In layer 2 a human temporal bone and a maxilla were found in the same level. They represent the first human remains found in association with an endemic Pleistocene island fauna. There are some interesting differences between these fossils and Homo sapiens from the mainland. The most striking features are the extremely broad molars and the small incisors, a peculiar combination unknown in Homo sapiens [4]. An aberrant human ulna was found in hall 1.In the top of layer 3 bones of a single skeleton of Cynotherium sardous were found spread over the entire excavation pit, which indicate a level inside the unstratified homogeneous clay. More than 5000 fossils of M. cazioti wer...