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Complete Neanderthal skeletons are almost unique findings. A very well-preserved specimen of this kind was discovered in 1993 in the deepest recesses of a karstic system near the town of Altamura in Southern Italy. We present here a detailed description of the cranium, after we virtually extracted it from the surrounding stalagmites and stalactites. The morphology of the Altamura cranium fits within the Neanderthal variability, though it retains features occurring in more archaic European samples. Some of these features were never observed in Homo neanderthalensis, i.e. in fossil specimens dated between 300 and 40 ka. Considering the U-Th age we previously obtained (>130 ka), the morphology of Altamura suggests that the archaic traits it retains may have been originated by geographic isolation of the early Neanderthal populations from Southern Italy. 3D reconstruction of a human cranium held within a deep cave in Italy is achieved with advanced virtual anthropology techniques; its features indicate that geographic isolation contributed to variation and evolution along the Neanderthal lineage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trace amounts of sulphur in speleothems suggest that stalagmites may act as archives of sulphur deposition, thereby recording aspects of atmospheric variability in sulphur content. Accurate interpretation of this novel sulphur archive depends upon understanding how biogeochemical cycling in the soil and epikarst above the cave may modify the precursor atmospheric values of sulphur concentration and isotopic composition prior to incorporation into the speleothem record. Dual isotope analysis of δS-SO and δO-SO is used to trace biogeochemical transformations of atmospheric sulphur through the cave system at Grotta di Ernesto in the Italian Alps and builds towards a framework for interpretation of speleothem sulphur archives which depends on overlying ecosystem dynamics and karst hydrological properties. A three component model of atmospheric sulphate signal modification is proposed to be driven by (1). vegetation and soil cycling, (2). the degree of groundwater mixing in the karst aquifer; and (3). redox status. The relative influence of each process is specific to individual drip flow sites and associated stalagmites, rendering each sulphur archive a unique signal of environmental conditions. Under conditions found in the soil and epikarst above Grotta di Ernesto, the dual isotope signatures of sulphate sulphur and oxygen incorporated into speleothem carbonate, closely reflect past conditions of industrial sulphur loading to the atmosphere and the extent of signal modification through biogeochemical cycling and aquifer mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study regarding the role of epikarst hydrology and its implications for stalagmite capture of climate changes at Grotta di Ernesto, a cave in Italy. The study monitored the drip rate of 11 stalacites located at 15-30m below the surface at monthly intervals since January 2002 and was measured by chronometer. Results show that the electrical conductivity values of the drips are affected by the karst aquifer structure above the cave.

Past climate archives show the Last Interglacial (LIG) period as similar to slightly warmer than current temperatures. However, there is a lack of LIG proxy evidence regarding variations of the climate across large topographic features and how this manifests at different altitudes. Here, we analysed two flowstones from Bigonda Cave, northeast Italy, to reconstruct LIG climate conditions in a region where precipitation is strongly influenced by the presence of the Alps. Stable isotope ratios, trace element concentrations and speleothem petrography from 133 ka to 105 ka allowed the detection of various hydroclimate and environmental conditions. Composite speleothem δ18O records from northeast Italy were found to closely follow the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation curve, attesting to the influence of solar isolation on Earth's hydroclimate. Our reconstructions indicate a northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone during the LIG maximum, permitting Atlantic-derived moisture to travel further east across North Africa than at present, before being directed north towards the Alps. The latter part of the LIG exhibited frequent, extreme precipitation events in the SE Prealps due to orographic lifting of moisture from both the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas. Socio-economic planning must prepare for extreme autumnal flooding events and serious summer droughts, particularly important in vulnerable mountainous regions. • Last Interglacial speleothem multi-proxy records from the NE Italian Prealps. • Three infiltration sources identified permits robust hydroclimate reconstruction. • Solar insolation was the main forcing mechanism of the oxygen isotope record. • The LIG was punctuated by hot dry summers and extreme cave flooding events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Stalagmite ER78, from Grotta di Ernesto cave in NE Italy displays clear annual lamination consistent with its shallow depth below a forest ecosystem subject to autumnal peaking of water infiltration. Synchrotron radiation scanning micro-X-ray fluorescence analyses of heavy elements at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility beamline ID22, and light elements at ID21, with 1–3μm resolution has been combined with data from ion microprobe analyses to reveal chemical variability across the visible layers of these annual laminae. A series of elements display a symmetrical peak, centered around the thin, dark layer at the top of each lamina. The peak concentration is ordered Y>Zn, Cu and Pb>P and Br. This hierarchy is thought to reflect the selectivity of transport of these elements, possibly by organic colloids flushed from the soil zone during autumn infiltration. Ion microprobe analysis indicates Na and F also increase, as does H, the latter reflecting increased microporosity. Sr displays a trough around the dark and thin autumn layer implying that its incorporation may be limited by competition with other elements. Mg and S show a different pattern of annual variation and Fe displays none. The trace metals, Br and Y display peak abundance in the early 20th century, which appears to reflect a period of tree-felling rather than a climatic anomaly. The results demonstrate the power of the high spatial resolution and low detection limits of the synchrotron technique, and its ability to produce quantitative maps that allow distinction of layered structure from that of isolated particles, or irregular inhomogeneities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Stalagmite SV1 from Grotta Savi, located at the SE margin of the European Alps (Italy), is the first Alpine speleothem that continuously spans the past c . 17 kyr. Extension rate and δ 18 O c record for the Lateglacial probably reflect a combination of temperature and rainfall, with rainfall exerting the dominant effect. Low speleothem calcite δ 18 O c values were recorded from c . 14.5 and 12.35 kyr, during GI-1 (Bølling–Allerød) interstadial, which, in our interpretation, was warm and wet. The GS-1 (Younger Dryas) was characterized by a shift to heavier δ 18 O c , coinciding with δ 13 C c enrichment and extremely low extension rate ( [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conturines cave opens at the base of a cirque wall at 2775 m a.s.l. in the Dolomites(Northern Italy). Large parts of the cave floor are covered by an extensive and unusuallythick (up to 3.4 m) flowstone. This and other speleothems are inactive, corrodedand cut by fractures. Eight drill cores covering the entire stratigraphy of the basalflowstone were obtained along the course of the gallery. Four methods were applied toestablish a chronological framework of this unique long-term paleoenvironmentalarchive. 230Th ages on several cores demonstrate that calcite deposition had terminatedbefore 650 ka BP. U-Pb dating was attempted but yielded unfavourably low U/Pbratios. Polarity determinations of demagnetised samples were carried out on the full length offour cores. Most cores show already reverse magnetisation in their top parts. Two long coresdrilled in the proximal part of the speleothem show replicated evidence of several polaritychanges, providing a strong indication that the flowstone reaches back at least to thePliocene. Finally, pollen was extracted from flowstone samples in order to establish independentpalynostratigraphic constraints. The pollen density is low, but the presence of Nyssa indicatesan Early Pleistocene or Pliocene age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1993, a fossil hominin skeleton was discovered in the karst caves of Lamalunga, near Altamura, in southern Italy. Despite the fact that this specimen represents one of the most extraordinary hominin specimens ever found in Europe, for the last two decades our knowledge of it has been based purely on the documented on-site observations. Recently, the retrieval from the cave of a fragment of bone (part of the right scapula) allowed the first dating of the individual, the quantitative analysis of a diagnostic morphological feature, and a preliminary paleogenetic characterization of this hominin skeleton from Altamura. Overall, the results concur in indicating that it belongs to the hypodigm of Homo neanderthalensis, with some phenetic peculiarities that appear consistent with a chronology ranging from 172 ± 15 ka to 130.1 ± 1.9 ka. Thus, the skeleton from Altamura represents the most ancient Neanderthal from which endogenous DNA has ever been extracted., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)