1. Paleoenvironmental context of the early Neanderthals of Poggetti Vecchi for the late middle Pleistocene of Central Italy
- Author
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Federico Masini, Marco Spadi, Chiara Capalbo, Nicola Macchioni, Anna Revedin, Amina Vietti, Marta Mariotti Lippi, Biancamaria Aranguren, Mario Voltaggio, Gianna Giachi, Carmine D’Amico, Chiara Capretti, Paul Mazza, Claudia Giuliani, Elsa Gliozzi, Lorena Sozzi, Pasquino Pallecchi, Francesco Ciani, Marco Benvenuti, Andrea Savorelli, Simona Lazzeri, Daniela Esu, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Benvenuti, Marco, Bahain, Jean Jacque, Capalbo, Chiara, Capretti, Chiara, Ciani, Francesco, D’Amico, Carmine, Esu, Daniela, Giachi, Gianna, Giuliani, Claudia, Gliozzi, Elsa, Lazzeri, Simona, Macchioni, Nicola, Lippi, Marta Mariotti, Masini, Federico, Mazza, Paul Peter A., Pallecchi, Pasquino, Revedin, Anna, Savorelli, Andrea, Spadi, Marco, Sozzi, Lorena, Vietti, Amina, Voltaggio, Mario, Aranguren, Biancamaria, Benvenuti, M., Bahain, J., Capalbo, C., Capretti, C., Ciani, F., D’Amico, C., Esu, D., Giachi, G., Giuliani, C., Gliozzi, E., Lazzeri, S., Macchioni, N., Lippi, M., Masini, F., Mazza, P., Pallecchi, P., Revedin, A., Savorelli, A., Spadi, M., Sozzi, L., Vietti, A. K, Voltaggio, M., and Aranguren, B.
- Subjects
Marine isotope stage ,010506 paleontology ,Pleistocene ,Late middle Pleistocene ,Context (language use) ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,01 natural sciences ,Sudden death ,Paleontology ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Earth-Surface Processes ,Late Middle Pleistocene ,Central Italy ,Palaeoloxodon ,biology ,Early Neanderthal ,Settore GEO/01 - Paleontologia E Paleoecologia ,biology.organism_classification ,Early Neanderthals ,Archaeology ,Paleoenvironment ,Facies ,Paleoecology ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Sedimentary rock ,Geology - Abstract
Work on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2 are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages. 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 by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6. Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold episode during the onset of MIS 6 led to the sudden death of the elephants, which formed an unexpected food resource for the humans of the area. The Poggetti Vecchi site adds new information on the behavioral plasticity and food procurement strategies that early Neanderthals were able to develop in Italy during the middle to the late Pleistocene transition.
- Published
- 2017