Paleoenvironmental context of the early Neanderthals of Poggetti Vecchi for the late middle Pleistocene of Central Italy

Abstract

Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven\ud sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked\ud elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2\ud are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals\ud produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages.\ud Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoecological evidence suggest a narrow lacustrine-palustrine embayment affected by water-level fluctuations and, at times, by hydrothermal water. Cyclic lake-level variations were predominantly forced\ud by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6.\ud Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold episode during the onset of MIS 6 led to the sudden death of the\ud elephants, which formed an unexpected food resource for the humans of the area. The Poggetti Vecchi site adds new\ud information on the behavioral plasticity and food procurement strategies that early Neanderthals were able to develop in\ud Italy during the middle to the late Pleistocene transition

Piacenzian–Gelasian non‐marine ostracods from the Dunarobba Fossil Forest (Tiberino Basin, Umbria, central Italy)

“…improvisa , which is typical of temporary waters (Meisch ; Benvenuti et al . ). In addition, the molluscs are mainly represented by aquatic prosobranchs and terrestrial pulmonate gastropods (Ciangherotti et al .…”

“…Candona (Candona) improvisa , a living species known from the fossil record since the Calabrian outside of Italy (Croatia and Serbia: Sokač ; Krstić & Dimitrijević ), was recovered for the first time in Italy from the middle Pleistocene of Poggetti Vecchi (Tuscany) (Benvenuti et al . ); thus, the Dunarobba record represents its most ancient occurrence. Finally, the fossil species C .…”

Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy)

“…41). Precisely in view of the multifunctional character of the digging sticks and the difficulty of identifying specific use-wear traces, it is not at present possible to make hypotheses about their use at the site, even though they are certainly of anthropic and not natural input, since the U 2 paleosurface corresponds to a period of low or almost absent sedimentary supply (1).…”

“…Radiometric datings suggest that the Poggetti Vecchi succession accumulated during a time spanning the latest marine isotope stage 7 (MIS7) interglacial and the whole MIS6 glacial. A multidisciplinary research has been conducted on the paleoenvironmental conditions at the time of the formation of the site (1). Due to the low resistance to decay of wood, prehistoric wooden tools, and especially early Middle Paleolithic ones, are very rarely found.…”

A Middle Palaeolithic wooden digging stick from Aranbaltza III, Spain

“…In southern Europe the only direct evidence of wooden tools predating modern human arrival are the wooden artefacts from Abric Romaní and the recently discovered sticks from Poggetti Vecchi. At Poggetti Vecchi more than 30 fragments interpreted as sticks have been recovered from a MIS7-6 open air context [ 13 , 14 ]. At Abric Romaní putative tool functions have been inferred from the morphologies of the wooden artefacts, including objects interpreted as vessels or shovels [15–16.…”