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We report the occurrence at 0.7 million years (Ma) of an ichnological assemblage at Gombore II-2, which is one of several archaeological sites at Melka Kunture in the upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia, 2000 m asl. Adults and children potentially as young as 12 months old left tracks in a silty substrate on the shore of a body of water where ungulates, as well as other mammals and birds, congregated. Furthermore, the same layers contain a rich archaeological and palaeontological record, confirming that knapping was taking place in situ and that stone tools were used for butchering hippo carcasses at the site. The site gives direct information on hominin landscape use at 0.7 Ma and may provide fresh perspective on the childhood of our ancestors.

The hunter-gatherer transhumance model presents foragers as specialised hunters of migratory ungulates, which moved seasonally between coastal lowlands and interior uplands. We studied six animal teeth of horse (Equus hydruntinus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) from four different archaeological sites: the Grotta di Vado all'Arancio, Grotta di Settecannelle, Grotta Polesini and Grotta di Pozzo, in central Italy to test whether the migratory patterns and seasonal variations recorded in their teeth were consistent with expectations of the transhumance model for this region during the late Upper Palaeolithic. Sequential sub-samples of enamel were analysed from each tooth for oxygen, carbon and strontium isotope ratios to reconstruct mobility and yearly seasonal variations. The results show little evidence that these animals were moving over different geological terrains throughout the year, although small variations in Sr isotope ratios and concentrations were detected that corresponded to probable seasonal variations as shown by variability in oxygen isotope sequences. The results do, however, demonstrate that Cervus elaphus and Equus hydruntinus had different ranging behaviours, with the former moving over wider areas than the latter. This methodology produces results appropriate to assess animal migratory behaviour and, in turn, to test the consistency of proposed models of hunter-gatherer subsistence and mobility strategies. Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Eurasian hunter-gatherer populations experienced rapid and extreme environmental changes from the Last Glacial Maximum to the early Holocene (ca. 18 000 to 8000 BP). e.g. 1,2 During this period profound socio-economic changes and technological developments took place that culminated with the transition to agriculture. Various models have been applied to explore the relationship between the environment and hunter-gatherer behaviour during the late-glacial in Mediterranean Europe. The hunter-gatherer transhumance model, a variation of the seasonal mobility model originally developed by Higgs, 3,4 presents foragers as specialised hunters of migratory ungulates that moved seasonally between coastal lowlands and interior uplands. In Italy, Barker hypothesised that hunter-gatherers of the late Pleistocene followed seasonally migratory herd species including Cervus elaphus and Equus hydruntinus between the Apennine uplands and the coastal plains. 5,6 These two locations offer seasonally distinct opportunities for grazing species: in winter the mountains are inhospitable and cold while the coastal plains remain grass-covered. In summer, instead, the lowlands are dry with little vegetation and the mountains remain vegetated. These distinctions would have been intensified in the late Pleistocene, and Barker argued that the seasonal climatic variations of this Mediterranean landscape would have suited wild species of grazing herbivores that could migrate between these two regions. 6 Although the hunter-gatherer transhumance model is attractive for various reasons...

During excavations by P. Graziosi at Romito Cave near Papasidero (Cosenza) in Calabria, Italy, two skeletons (Romito 1 and 2) were discovered in a common grave. Although the specimens were briefly described by Messeri (Atti X Riuniuone Scientifica Ist. Ital. Preist. Protost., pp. 301-307, 1966), it is generally unknown in the anthropological literature that one of these individuals is a chondrodystrophic dwarf. As such, the specimen provides the earliest known case of dwarfism in the human skeletal record, extending the time span of this genetically determined growth abnormality to approximately 10,000 years ago. The specimen (Romito 2) exhibits features typical of chondrodysplasia, including a high domed skull, compressed cranial base, and in the postcranial skeleton extremely shortened diaphyseal lengths. The unique combination of these features suggests this pathological condition is acromesomelic dysplasia. Besides providing evidence for a greater antiquity of dwarfism than previously known, the fact that this individual reached late adolescence attests to tolerance of Upper Paleolithic groups for severely abnormal individuals and their ability to support members who were of limited economic value to the social group.