Tephrostratigraphy of Grotta del Cavallo, Southern Italy: Insights on the chronology of Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Mediterranean

Abstract

The Grotta del Cavallo contains one of the most important stratification of Mousterian, Uluzzian and Final Epigravettian tecnocomplexes; its chronology is of paramount importance for understanding the timing of the transition between Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in the Mediterranean region as well as the demise of the Neanderthal and the dispersal of the first anatomically modern humans through Europe. Within the stratigraphy of the cave three different volcanic ash layers occur (layer G, Fa and C-II). They are located in the middle section of the Mousterian (layer G), in between the Mousterian and Uluzzian layers (layer Fa) and on top of the Uluzzian horizons (layer C-II). The three tephra layers were chemically fingerprinted and correlated to well-known and precisely dated widespread Late Pleistocene tephra markers. Specifically, layer G, Fa and C-II were correlated to the X-6 (108.7 ± 0.9 ka), Y-6 (45.5 ± 1.0 ka) and Campanian Ignimbrite (39.85 ± 0.14 ka), respectively. These findings provide robust chronological points allowing to conclude that: (i) the Mousterian occupation of the cave took place after the fall of the sea level following the MIS 5e high-stand; (ii) the Mousterian-Uluzzian boundary can be dated to 45.5 ± 1.0 ka and climatostratigraphically firmly placed at the transition between the Greenland Interstadial 12 (GI12)-Greenland Stadial 12 (GS12); (iii) the Uluzzian lasted for at least five millennial spanning the GS12-GI9 period and ended at beginning of the Heinrich Event 4

The Uluzzian in the north of Italy: insights around the new evidence at Riparo Broion

“…Due to its dispersion and tiny size, charred wood was not considered worth to be selected for dating. The radiocarbon date obtained from collagene ultrafiltration treatment consistently overlaps with the chronometric interval available for A3 at Fumane cave and Cavallo cave in the south of Italy (Douka et al 2014;Zanchetta et al 2018), thus supporting arguments for considering the position of Riparo Broion in the Uluzzian chronological range. Refinement of the chronology will be one of the focuses in ongoing programs.…”

“…One further possibility to explain these divergences is grounded in chronology, thus considering that the "deviated" character of the Fumane Uluzzian in A3 derives from "archaicity" with respect to Broion. However, given the strict cultural correlation of the latter to the Cavallo EIII assemblage and the chronological time frame recently secured at 45.5±1.0ka cal BP from the tephra Y-6 in layer Fa (Zanchetta et al 2018), this diversity in the north of Italy should be attributed to a culture. Given the coarse resolution of the currently available dataset at Riparo Broion, a new chronometric programme is on-going to ascertain whether layers A3 and 1f-1g are contemporaneous at Fumane and Broion respectively.…”

“…Furthermore, the recent analysis of two tephra layers, Y6 and Campanian Ignimbrite, sandwiching the Uluzzian at the base (layer Fa) and at the top (layer CII) respectively (Zanchetta et al 2018), dispels doubts on the solidity of the Uluzzian at Grotta del Cavallo, and sets its duration between 45.5±1.0 ky BP and 39.85±0.14 ky BP. This date range confirms the previous chronometry based on marine shells, charcoal and a probability distribution function for layer EIII (Douka et al 2014).…”

Lithic techno-complexes in Italy from 50 to 39 thousand years BP: An overview of lithic technological changes across the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic boundary

“…No evidence of interstratification has ever been found in Italy. Importantly, a stratigraphic discontinuity, usually represented by volcanic layers, erosional events or sedimentary hiatuses, recurs between the Mousterian and the overlying layers in southern Italy, suggesting a break in the human occupation of these sites (Fumanal, 1997;Peresani et al, 2014;Moroni et al, 2018a;Zanchetta et al, 2018) and in Liguria at Riparo Mochi .…”

Neandertals on the beach: Use of marine resources at Grotta dei Moscerini (Latium, Italy)

“…The Mousterian stratigraphic sequence of Grotta del Cavallo, approximately 4 m thick, dates between MIS 5.5 (129 to 116 ka) [29] at the base (layer N, a Tyrrhenian beach gravel) and 45.5 ± 1.0 ka at the top (layer Fa, a volcanic ash layer; [30]. Layer G in the middle of the sequence is another ash layer dated to 108.7 ± 0.9 ka [30]. Thus layer L below G must date between MIS5.5 and MIS 5.2, and is broadly contemporaneous to the early part of the Moscerini sequence.…”