Widespread diffusion of technical innovations around 300,000 years ago in Europe as a reflection of anthropological and social transformations? New comparative data from the western Mediterranean sites of Orgnac (France) and Cave dall’Olio (Italy)

Fontana, Federica; Moncel, Marie‐Hélène; Nenzioni, Gabriele; Onorevoli, G.; Peretto, Carlo; Combier, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2013.08.003

Cited by 53 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…In particular, dates for the oldest direct Neanderthal evidence in Europe are associated with many uncertainties and date as far back as 253 +53/-37 ka [ 21 ]. Similarly, several age constraints have been reported for the transition between the Lower and the Middle Palaeolithic, which refer it to the MIS 9–8 transition spanning 320–270 ka [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The Aggradational Successions of the Aniene River Valley in Rome: Age Constraints to Early Neanderthal Presence in Europe

et al. 2017

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We revise the chronostratigraphy of several sedimentary successions cropping out along a 5 km-long tract of the Aniene River Valley in Rome (Italy), which yielded six hominin remains previously attributed to proto- or archaic Neanderthal individuals, as well as a large number of lithic artefacts showing intermediate characteristics somewhere between the local Acheulean and Mousterian cultures. Through a method of correlation of aggradational successions with post-glacial sea-level rises, relying on a large set of published 40Ar/39Ar ages of interbedded volcanic deposits, we demonstrate that deposition of the sediments hosting the human remains spans the interval 295–220 ka. This is consistent with other well constrained ages for lithic industries recovered in England, displaying transitional features from Lower to Middle Paleolithic, suggesting the appearance of Mode 3 during the MIS 9-MIS 8 transition. Moreover, the six human bone fragments recovered in the Aniene Valley should be regarded as the most precisely dated and oldest hominin remains ascribable to Neanderthal-type individuals in Europe, discovered to date. The chronostratigraphic study presented here constitutes the groundwork for addressing re-analysis of these remains and of their associated lithic industries, in the light of their well-constrained chronological picture.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The Aggradational Successions of the Aniene River Valley in Rome: Age Constraints to Early Neanderthal Presence in Europe

et al. 2017

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“…In the Iberian Peninsula, the adoption of preferential and recurrent centripetal Levallois technology passed through the elaboration of centripetal/discoid methods coexisting with handaxe shaping (Carbonell and Rodríguez, –2008; Ollé et al ., ; Santonja et al ., ). A similar pattern is recorded in the Italian Peninsula (Picin et al ., ; Villa et al ., ), except for Cave dall'Olio, a site in which the reduction strategy is dominated by the Levallois recurrent uni‐ and bi‐directional methods and orthogonal schemes (Fontana et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Technological adaptation and the emergence of Levallois in Central Europe: new insight from the Markkleeberg and Zwochau open‐air sites in Germany

Picin

2017

J Quaternary Science

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The introduction of the Levallois method in Europe is considered the technological innovation that marked the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic. In North‐Central Europe, early evidence of this new concept of flake production is dated at the junction between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and MIS 8, a period that showed a deterioration of climatic conditions, i.e. a change from forested to cold tundra–steppe vegetation and dispersal of the Mammuthus–Coelodonta faunal complex from artic territories. This study aims to contribute new data to the current debate by exploring the lithic assemblages of the Markkleeberg and Zwochau open‐air sites in Germany. Technological analysis reveals the introduction of the Levallois method in association with the development of the local unidirectional core technology. This pattern is common in other sites of North‐Central Europe. This modification in the technical behaviour of hunter‐gatherers is interpreted as a technological adaptation in response to the new faunal complex composed of seasonal migratory animals.

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“…In Italy, secure evidence of Levallois production is recorded at San Bernardino Cave at the end of MIS 7 [ 65 ] and earlier at Torre in Pietra layer d now dated to the early part of MIS 7 between 270 and 240 ka [ 21 ]. At Cave dall’Olio, the MIS 9 age of Levallois finds buried in a thick fluvial terrace is argued through correlation with the long paleosoil-sedimentary record from the Po Plain [ 76 ] but this chronological framework is not supported by any geochronological dating and must be considered with caution. The site from Guado San Nicola is claimed to have the earliest occurrence of Levallois technology in Italy within an Acheulian industry of late MIS 11 age [ 77 ] thus pushing back of almost an entire glacial cycle the appearance of Levallois technology in Italy [ 65 , 76 ] and more widely in Western Europe [ 68 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At Cave dall’Olio, the MIS 9 age of Levallois finds buried in a thick fluvial terrace is argued through correlation with the long paleosoil-sedimentary record from the Po Plain [ 76 ] but this chronological framework is not supported by any geochronological dating and must be considered with caution. The site from Guado San Nicola is claimed to have the earliest occurrence of Levallois technology in Italy within an Acheulian industry of late MIS 11 age [ 77 ] thus pushing back of almost an entire glacial cycle the appearance of Levallois technology in Italy [ 65 , 76 ] and more widely in Western Europe [ 68 ]. According to [ 77 ] the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic would have occurred significantly earlier than generally considered and this is challenging our results on SdD and MdG.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Levallois and the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in central Italy

Soriano

Villa

2017

PLoS ONE

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In the second half of the 19th century Pleistocene faunas were discovered in two sites, Sedia del Diavolo and Monte delle Gioie, contained in deposits of the Aniene River in the area of Rome (Latium, Italy). Fieldwork by A.C. Blanc in the late 1930’s proved the association of fauna and lithic industry within fluvial deposits interbedded with volcanoclastic layers. A human femoral diaphysis and a metatarsal were later identified in the faunal assemblage from Sedia del Diavolo and evaluated as Neandertal. The lithic assemblages from these two sites were the basis of the definition of the Protopontinian by M. Taschini, which she viewed as a late Middle Pleistocene industry very similar to the later, Upper Pleistocene Pontinian industries, thought to be characteristic of the Latium Mousterian. The chronostratigraphic framework of the Aniene river deposits has been recently updated and the lithic assemblages from these two sites are now confidently dated between 295 and 290 ka, close to the transition from MIS 9 to MIS 8. They fit chronologically between the industries of layers m and d from Torre in Pietra, a site 26 km northwest of Rome. The presence of the Levallois debitage is indisputable yet it occurs within an original technical context, different from what is known in other early occurrences of the Levallois. The date confirms the proposed chronology for the early Levallois in Europe. More importantly these two assemblages demonstrate that this technology can emerge in more diversified contexts than usually described. This suggests that its dispersal in Europe may have been rapid.

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Widespread diffusion of technical innovations around 300,000 years ago in Europe as a reflection of anthropological and social transformations? New comparative data from the western Mediterranean sites of Orgnac (France) and Cave dall’Olio (Italy)

Cited by 53 publications

References 61 publications

The Aggradational Successions of the Aniene River Valley in Rome: Age Constraints to Early Neanderthal Presence in Europe

The Aggradational Successions of the Aniene River Valley in Rome: Age Constraints to Early Neanderthal Presence in Europe

Technological adaptation and the emergence of Levallois in Central Europe: new insight from the Markkleeberg and Zwochau open‐air sites in Germany

Early Levallois and the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in central Italy

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