Radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis on the purported Aurignacian skeletal remains from Fontana Nuova (Ragusa, Italy)

Abstract

Proving voyaging at sea by Palaeolithic humans is a difficult archaeological task, even for short distances. In the Mediterranean, a commonly accepted sea crossing is that from the Italian Peninsula to Sicily by anatomically modern humans, purportedly of the Aurignacian culture. This claim, however, was only supported by the typological attribution to the Aurignacian of the lithic industries from the insular site of Fontana Nuova. AMS radiocarbon dating undertaken as part of our research shows that the faunal remains, previously considered Aurignacian, actually date to the Holocene. Absolute dating on dentinal collagen also attributes the human teeth from the site to the early Holocene, although we were unable to obtain ancient DNA to evaluate their ancestry. Ten radiocarbon dates on human and other taxa are comprised between 9910–9700 cal. BP and 8600–8480 cal. BP, indicating that Fontana Nuova was occupied by Mesolithic and not Aurignacian hunter-gatherers. Only a new study of the lithic assemblage could establish if the material from Fontana Nuova is a mixed collection that includes both late Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) and Mesolithic artefacts, as can be suggested by taking into account both the results of our study and of the most recent reinterpretation of the lithics. Nevertheless, this research suggests that the notion that Aurignacian groups were present in Sicily should now be revised. Another outcome of our study is that we found that three specimens, attributed on grounds both of morphological and ZooMS identifications to Cervus elaphus, had δ13C values significantly higher than any available for such species in Europe.

Exploring late Paleolithic and Mesolithic diet in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy through multiple proxies

“…Bone collagen stable isotope values of human remains from Upper Paleolithic (Gravettians are squares in gray; Epigravettians are circles in blue) and Mesolithic (triangles in red) sites in Italy (data from literature; Craig et al, 2010; Di Maida, Mannino, Krause‐Kyora, Jensen, & Talamo, 2019; Floris, Melis, Mussi, Palombo, & Iacumin, 2012; Francalacci & Tarli, 1988; Gazzoni, 2011; Gazzoni et al, 2013; Mannino, Di Salvo, et al 2011; Mannino, Thomas, Leng, Di Salvo, & Richards, 2011; Mannino et al, 2012; Mannino et al, 2015; Pettitt, Richards, Maggi, & Formicola, 2003; Vercellotti et al, 2008) see Table S2. Faunal data from Riparo Tagliente, Riparo Villabruna and Mondeval de Sora are also shown (see Table 3).…”

Genomic and dietary transitions during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Sicily

“…Southern Italy has long been viewed as a southern refugium ( 61, 62 ) during the LGM, ∼25,000 years ago, from where Europe was repopulated ( 16, 52, 63 ). The earliest evidence for the presence of Homo sapiens in Sicily dates to ∼17,000-16,000 calBCE, following the time when a land bridge connected the island to peninsular Italy ( 64, 65 ). Some Late Epigravettian sites in Sicily contain rock panels with engraved animal figures, which are indistinguishable from those of the Franco-Cantabrian style typical of the Magdalenian ( 66 ).…”

The Gravettian child mandible from El Castillo Cave (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain)

“…Furthermore, for other human remains that were previously “considered” Aurignacian or Gravettian, radiocarbon dating demonstrated their attribution to more recent cultures, such as the fossils from the Isturitz cave (Henry‐Gambier, Normand, & Pétillon, ), or those from Krems‐Hundssteig (Trinkaus & Pettit, ), Kroneprusy (Svoboda, van der Plicht, Vlček, & Kuželka, ), Vogelherd (Conard, Grootes, & Smith, ) and Fontana Nuova (Di Maida et al, ), and consequently there were not considered.…”