The Mousterian Settlement in the Ciota Ciara Cave: the oldest evidence of Homo Neanderthalensis in Piedmont (Northern Italy)

Arzarello, Marta; Daffara, Sara; Berruti, Gabriele Luigi Francesco; Berruto, Gaetano; Bertè, Davide; Berto, Claudio; Gambari, Filippo Maria; Peretto, Carlo

doi:10.4081/jbr.2012.4068

Cited by 8 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…The study of the supply areas has been performed on the lithic remains coming from levels 13 and 103 and it has been carried out in several phases: the discovery of the raw materials outcrops in the proximity of the archaeological site; the cataloguing of the rock outcrops and their GPS tracking; the specimen of the raw material and the characterization of the exploited raw materials by stereo-microscope observations and, where necessary, through the use of a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) (Arzarello et al 2012a;2012b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The continuous presence of the cave bear is diagnostic that the deposit is former 28ka, because likewise this species disappears from the Alps. The presence of some faunal remains like Cervus elaphus, Lynx lynx and Meles meles suggests the existence of a deciduous woodland and the incidence of Hystrix is typical of a warm climate (Arzarello et al 2012a;2012b).…”

Section: Palaeo-environmental Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reasonably, the human groups that occupied the Ciota Ciara cave, during the Middle Palaeolithic, collected lithic raw materials on Monte Fenera within a range of few kilometres (less than 1 km for spongolite, sandstone, mylonite and opal, and about 2.5 km for quartz), since the area is characterized by the lithologies represented in the archaeological record (Arzarello et al 2012a;2012b).…”

Section: Supply Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Species living in woodland environments are dominant: Myodes glareolus is the most frequent rodent, afterwards followed by another taxon living in woodland, Apodemus (Sylvaemus) Terzea, 1983) allow a calibration of the site into a temperate period of OIS 5 (OIS 5c or 5a), even if not available a radiometric dating yet (Arzarello et al 2012a;2012b).…”

Section: Palaeo-environmental Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stratigraphic units highlighted are extended over the whole area investigated (8 m 2 ), with the exception of the S.U.103 localized, exclusively, in an area of about 50 cm 2 , probably as a result of the water percolation in the area along the rock wall. The spatial distribution analysis of lithic and faunal remains did not enable us to actually identify any particular spatial organization, probably due to the restricted area of investigation (Arzarello et al 2012a;2012b) (Figure 3). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Mousterian lithic assemblage of the Ciota Ciara cave (Piedmont, Northern Italy): exploitation and conditioning of raw materials

Daffara¹,

Arzarello

Berruti

et al. 2014

JLS

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The Ciota Ciara cave is situated in Monte Fenera’s karst (Borgosesia – Vercelli), at 670 metres above sea level. It is the most important evidence of a Middle Palaeolithic settlement in Piedmont: the cave was used by Homo neanderthalensis during the OIS 5, in a mild-humid period, as proven by faunal remains. The environment was characterized by deciduous woodland and glades. The intersection between different habitats, the presence of lithic raw materials, the karst morphology and water sources were certainly the main factors that encouraged human settlement during the Upper Pleistocene period, between 80.000 and 70.000 BP. In 2009 systematic excavations began in the cave by the University of Ferrara, in partnership with the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Piemonte e del Museo di Antichità Egizie. Research focused on the cave’s atrium where three stratigraphic units were investigated: 13, 103 and 14

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Palaeo-environmental Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Supply Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Palaeo-environmental Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Mousterian lithic assemblage of the Ciota Ciara cave (Piedmont, Northern Italy): exploitation and conditioning of raw materials

Daffara¹,

Arzarello

Berruti

et al. 2014

JLS

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New insights on the Monte Fenera Palaeolithic, Italy: Geoarchaeology of the Ciota Ciara cave

et al. 2018

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Monte Fenera is a mostly carbonate hill at the southern border of the Western Alps. It hosts several archaeological sites, among them karstic caves bearing evidence of Palaeolithic occupation. These sites have a long history within Alpine archaeology—having been explored since the 19th century—but information on their stratigraphy, chronology, and formation remains incomplete. They are among the few cave‐sites occupied before the Alpine Last Glacial Maximum in the area, and their study is crucial for understanding human occupation and regional environmental evolution during the Pleistocene. Here we focus on Ciota Ciara, a cave formed in Triassic dolostone, and in particular on the Middle‐to‐Upper Pleistocene succession unearthed at its south‐western entrance since 2009. This succession was analyzed by means of several geoarchaeological methods including stratigraphy, routine sediment analyses, and archaeological micromorphology. Our study shows that sediment accumulation was due to the repeated occurrence of concentrated flow and runoff events from the karstic system alternating with episodes of wall disintegration and short phases of surface stabilization. Post‐depositional processes include frost action, hydromorphism, and diagenesis that have selectively affected the archaeological remains. The results of the study shed light on site formation and have relevance for Pleistocene cave archaeology more widely in the southern Western Alps.

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Conditioning of the raw materials on discoid exploitation strategies during the Early Middle Palaeolithic: the example of Payre level D (South-East France)

Daffara

Borel

Moncel

2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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In the last decades, a growing attention was paid towards the exploitation of other lithic raw materials than flint. In this context, the lithic assemblage of Payre level D, dated to the end of the MIS 6, offers the opportunity to make some considerations about the modalities of a discoid technology on various lithic raw materials. Payre is a very well-known Middle Palaeolithic site located on the right edge of the Middle Rhône valley. Three main archaeological levels attest an intense human frequentation of the site between the end of MIS 8 and the beginning of MIS 5. The rich faunal and lithic assemblages, recovered during systematic excavations from 1990 to 2002, have been deeply analysed for a precise understanding of the site formation processes and the modalities of the human occupation of the area. The exploitation of different local and semi-local raw materials made Payre an interesting case to observe how lithic resources with different petrographic characteristics were exploited by the Neanderthal groups. The present work aims to observe how the lithic raw materials have affected the discoid reduction sequences. This knapping method is widely attested in archaeological level D, the last large phase of human occupation at Payre. Among the different raw materials exploited (flint, vein quartz, quartzite, basalt and limestone), the discoid method is just applied on flint and vein quartz. The new technological analysis carried out focuses for the first time on the characteristics of the discoid technology present in level D and on the differences in discoid reduction sequences depending on the raw materials. The results indicate some expedients used to apply discoid reduction strategies on vein quartz and adapt this technology to the features of a coarse-grained stone. The use of such expedients testifies a large capability to manage the raw materials but also of the discoid method itself. Results allow to make considerations on some of the criteria proper to the technological definition of the method.

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The Mousterian Settlement in the Ciota Ciara Cave: the oldest evidence of Homo Neanderthalensis in Piedmont (Northern Italy)

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

The Mousterian lithic assemblage of the Ciota Ciara cave (Piedmont, Northern Italy): exploitation and conditioning of raw materials

The Mousterian lithic assemblage of the Ciota Ciara cave (Piedmont, Northern Italy): exploitation and conditioning of raw materials

New insights on the Monte Fenera Palaeolithic, Italy: Geoarchaeology of the Ciota Ciara cave

Conditioning of the raw materials on discoid exploitation strategies during the Early Middle Palaeolithic: the example of Payre level D (South-East France)

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