The early Middle Pleistocene large mammal faunas of Italy: An overview

Sardella, Raffaele; Palombo, Maria Rita; Petronio, Carmelo; Bedetti, C.; Pavia, Marco

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2005.11.023

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…It is attributed to an interglacial phase, supported by microfossils and palaeontological analysis (Piperno, 1999;Lefèvre et al, 2010). The faunal assemblages recorded for the earliest stages match with the Isernia FU; however, the later mammal assemblages demonstrate the record of successive faunal phases through several interglacial phases (Cassoli et al, 1999;Sardella et al, 2006;Palombo and Sardella, 2007;Masini et al, 2013). This assumption of longlived repetitive occupations during several climatic cycles could be supported by the huge thickness of the sedimentary filling and the lithic evolution (Piperno, 1999).…”

Section: Notarchiricomentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Unfortunately, it has not yet directly been dated by radioisotopic methods (Lefèvre et al, 2010). However, its lithic industry, attributed to the early Tayacian, and the palaeontological record, linked to the Fontana Ranuccio FU (Barral and Simone, 1984), as well as the analysis of the underlaying formation place Loreto later than Notarchirico, at least younger than MIS 14 (Cassoli et al, 1999;Grifoni and Tozzi, 2005;Sardella et al, 2006;Lefèvre et al, 2010;Masini et al, 2013).…”

Section: Loretomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The numerous faunal assemblages from archaeological sites provide an important background for inquiring the subsistence behaviour of hominin communities, in relation to the exploited environments (Radmilli and Boschian, 1996;Cassoli et al, 1999;Raia et al, 2005;Sardella et al, 2006;Palombo and Sardella, 2007;Thun Hohenstein et al, 2009;Boschian and Saccà, 2010;Anzidei et al, 2012;Magri and Palombo, 2013). The main predated taxa identified in each site, and therefore the types of environments the hominin communities exploited, are summarized in Table 2.…”

Section: Faunal Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At Notarchirico, the faunal records across the different layers show that the local populations had repetitively exploited almost indifferently closed and semi-open environments (Cassoli et al, 1999;Sardella et al, 2006). Later, at Loreto, the faunal record presents the same type of repetitive exploitation of various environments, despite these sites probably being occupied and exploited by two different populations, in regards to their lithic cultures (Barral and Simone, 1984;Cassoli et al, 1999;Grifoni and Tozzi, 2005).…”

Section: Faunal Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the turnover of the late Galerian-early Aurelian MA, the faunal assemblages recorded in the Roma Basin sites are characterized by a mixed exploitation of semi-open and closed environments, (Radmilli and Boschian, 1996;Sardella et al, 2006;Palombo and Sardella, 2007;Boschian and Saccà, 2010;Anzidei et al, 2012).…”

Section: Faunal Recordsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hominin responses to environmental changes during the Middle Pleistocene in central and southern Italy

et al. 2013

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The palaeobotanical record of early Palaeolithic sites from Western Europe indicates that hominins settled in different kinds of environments. During the "Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT)", from about 1 to 0.6 Ma, the transition from 41-ka to 100-ka dominant climatic oscillations, occurring within a long-term cooling trend, was associated with an aridity crisis which strongly modified the ecosystems. Starting from the MPT the more favorable climate of central and southern Italy provided propitious environmental conditions for long-term human occupations even during the glacial times. In fact, the human strategy of territory occupation was certainly driven by the availabilities of resources. Prehistoric sites such as Notarchirico (ca. 680–600 ka), La Pineta (ca. 600–620 ka), Gaudo San Nicola (ca. 380–350 ka) or Ceprano (ca. 345–355 ka) testify to a preferential occupation of the central and southern Apennines valleys during interglacial phases, while later interglacial occupations were oriented towards the coastal plains, as attested by the numerous settlements of the Roma basin (ca. 300 ka). Faunal remains indicate that human subsistence behaviors benefited of a diversity of exploitable ecosystems, from semi-open to closed environments. In central and southern Italy, several palynological records have already illustrated the regional and local scale vegetation dynamic trends. During the Middle Pleistocene climate cycles, mixed mesophytic forests developed during the interglacial periods and withdrew in response to increasing aridity during the glacial episodes. New pollen data from the Boiano basin (Molise, Italy), attest to the evolution of vegetation and climate between OIS 13 and 9 (ca. 500 to 300 ka). In this basin, the persistence of high edaphic humidity, even during the glacial phases, could have favored the establishment of a refuge area for the arboreal flora and provided subsistence resources for the animal and hominin communities during the Middle Pleistocene. This could have constrained human groups to migrate into such a propitious area. Regarding to the local climate evolution during the glacial episodes, the supposed displacement from these sites could be linked to the environmental dynamics solely due to the aridity increase rather than directly to the global climate changes

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