Search

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants. Ancient DNA data generation Before the LGM LGM in southwestern and western Europe Post-LGM in the Italian peninsula Post-LGM in western and central Europe Post-14 ka to Neolithic Phenotypically relevant variants Discussion and conclusions Methods

During the Upper Palaeolithic animal teeth were consistently used by Anatomically Modern Humans as ornamental and symbolic objects used to facilitate individual and group-level interaction. Two key Northeastern Italian sites, "Grotta di Fumane" (VR) and "Grotta del Broion" (VI) show that Cervus elaphus teeth were often used for this purpose. While Grotta di Fumane yielded evidence of red deer incisors with groovings on the root, Grotta del Broion testifies to the use of deer canines and a completely different techonological approach based on preparatory scraping and perforation by rotation. An in-detail description of these processes thanks to stereomicroscope and 3D digital microscope allowed us to uncover a pattern of regional variabiliy in tooth choice and alteration practices that may be linked to the adaptive strategies of Aurignacian and Gravettian hunter-gatherers of Northern Italy as well as to the emergence of a symbolic behaviour which is deeply rooteed in human culture.

Si descrivono i risultati della campagna di scavo paleontologico effettuata nella Grotta di Cala di Biagio a Pianosa (Marina di Campo, LI)

The Middle Bronze Age site of Gorgo del Ciliegio is located in the Afra valley (Upper Tiber basin) in the proximity of strategic trans-Apennine passes connecting the Tyrrhenian regions of Central Italy to the Po plain and the Umbrian-Marches territories. At Gorgo del Ciliegio a Middle Bronze Age small settlement composed of a single house and various kinds of ancillary features was discovered. Through a multi-disciplinary approach it was possible to gather a large amount of information about settlement dynamics implemented by people living at Gorgo del Ciliegio and about the ways in which this community interacted with and took advantage of the surrounding environment/landscape, while adapting the site's economy to natural features. This paper focuses on the evidence provided by material culture, environment and landscape considered as interrelating indicators of social identity and economic strategies. In order to contextualize these issues, broad space was given to the spatial organization and the architectural features as key factors of socio-economic complexity. The authors conclude that Gorgo del Ciliegio was a farm settlement being probably part of a more extensive settlement system, composed of several farms dispersed along the Afra valley. This specific context proved to be particularly suitable for interweaving relations and exchanges with the Adriatic regions, and thus promoting (and being promoted by) the development of an economy mainly based on mobile pastoralism.

The Oscurusciuto rock shelter (southern Italy) is crucial for the understanding of Neanderthals’ subsistence and settlement strategies as it contains a ~ 6-m-thick reliable deposit made up of several Middle Palaeolithic levels. This paper focuses on level SU 14, a 60-cm-thick deposit of volcanic tephra containing traces of human occupation only in the few upper centimetres. Geochemical and mineralogical features of SU 14 deposits allowed their correlation to the ‘Mount Epomeo Green Tuff’ eruption, which came from Ischia volcano and dated to ~ 55,000years bp. The pyroclastic materials injected into the atmosphere caused an ash fall-out over a large part of southern Italy, resulting in the alteration of ecosystems. Sedimentological data demonstrate that the formation of SU 14 is attributable to a short-term event. Moreover, the lithic behaviour indicates that Neanderthals used the shelter mainly to perform specific activities related to the first phases of the reduction sequence (i.e. selection and import of pebbles into the site, initialisation and production of the first generation of debitage objectives, and introduction of already finished tools). Consequently, the layer SU 14 raises questions regarding the impact of deposition of volcanic ash on human communities, offering the opportunity to investigate the settlement and technological choices made by Neanderthals who were constrained by such an adverse environmental event.

Most of the Middle Palaeolithic evidence of Central Italy still lacks a reliable chrono-cultural framework mainly due to research history. In this context Grotta dei Santi, a wide cave located on Monte Argentario, on the southern coast of Tuscany, is particularly relevant as it contains a very well preserved sequence including several Mousterian layers. Research carried out at this site in the last years (2007–2017) allowed for a preliminary estimation of its chronology based on a set of radiometric determinations which place the investigated sequence in the time interval between 50 and 40 ka BP. Alongside the chronological issue, this paper mainly focuses on the geoarchaeological and zooarchaeological (micro and macro fauna) studies carried out on the materials retrieved during the 2007–2014 excavation fieldworks. The results of these studies are consistent with those from the radiometric chronology. A state of art concerning the MIS3 Italian sites is also provided in order to highlight the key role Grotta dei Santi may play in the assessment of late Neandertals’ behaviour within the framework of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition of Central Italy.

The surface texture of a stone represents a sensitive parameter in evaluating its conservation state. In monuments and sculptures, in fact, external agents continuously alter the appearance of stones, determining peculiar weathering patterns and modifying properties such as retention of water and particles, interaction with light, color, and finishing. The application of protective coatings also determines changes in surface appearance of a stone, usually evaluated and monitored by color change tests. Surface metrology methods offer the possibility to quantify these changes, evaluating the impact of external agents (natural, i.e. weathering, and artificially, i.e. protective coatings) on natural stones. In this research, we demonstrate the potential of surface areal measurements in describing the evolution of weathering processes and the effects of protective treatments on porous stone materials. The obtained results suggest that the extent of the modifications is related to the scale of observation (small- vs. large-scale undulations, i.e. roughness and waviness, respectively), with an overall increase of surface roughness as the weathering proceeds. Unexpectedly, coatings based on nanoparticle dispersions increase the topographic height parameters, due to the absence of a homogeneous film.

Stratigraphic Unit 13 of Oscurusciuto Rockshelter (Ginosa, Taranto, Southern Italy) is a short Mousterian palimpsest representing the first stable occupation of the site soon after the deposition of a thick layer of tephra (Mt. Epomeo Green Tuff - Ischia datable around 55 kya BP). Different activities were identified by integrating the study of lithic finds, faunal remains, and the microarchaeology of combustion features. Additionally, geo-statistical analysis of these data has been carried out using a specifically designed geodatabase within a GIS platform. Our results produced an articulated picture of this Neanderthal site as a tripartite location made of spatially segregated and integrated activity areas. A hearths' alignment (parallel to the rockshelter wall) divides the settled area into an inner and outer part. The inner part, between the hearths and the shelter wall, displays an abrupt rarefaction of the anthropic finds and was interpreted as a possible sleeping/resting area. In the outer part, several multipurpose activity areas have been identified, mostly associated with the combustion features. The Northern sector of the settlement appears devoted particularly to lithic production (to a lesser degree, activities related with lithic tools use and faunal processing took place). In the Southern sector the main activities carried out represent more intensive production and use of lithic tools and the butchering and consumption of animal resources. Additionally, in this sector evidence of space maintenance behaviour (cleaning up of working areas and refuse dumping) has been attested.

The Uluzzian techno-complex is commonly considered to be a “transitional industry” mostly on the basis of some inferred characteristics such as a chiefly flake-based production, a small amount of Upper Palaeolithic-like tools and a combination of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic elements both in the toolkit and in the technical systems. Following its discovery, the Uluzzian was identified as the Italian counterpart of the French Châtelperronian and attributed to Neandertals. However, a study issued in 2011 has established the modern character of the two deciduous teeth found in 1964 in the Uluzzian deposit of Grotta del Cavallo, fostering renewed interests to the Uluzzian culture, which real nature is almost unknown to the international scientific community. Here we provide preliminary results of the study on the lithic assemblage from the earliest Uluzzian layer and on backed pieces from the whole Uluzzian sequence of Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia, Italy), the type site of the Uluzzian. Moreover, besides a thorough review on the stratigraphy of Grotta del Cavallo (Supplementary Materials), we provide updated information on the human remains by presenting two unpublished teeth from the reworked deposit of the same cave. We conclude that the early Uluzzians demonstrate original technological behavior and innovations devoid of any features deriving or directly linked with the late Mousterian of Southern Italy. Therefore, the novelty nature of the Uluzzian techno-complex (with respect to the preceding Mousterian) complies with the recent reassessment of the two deciduous teeth from Grotta del Cavallo in suggesting an earliest migration of modern humans in southern Europe around 45,000 years ago.

Prehistoric dental treatments have been known from the Neolithic 9,000-7,500 years before present (BP) [1], when the adoption of early farming culture caused an increase of carious lesions [2]. Only a few early cases have been documented [3], some were characterized by in vivo perforation of the crown surface made by a drilling tool [1]. Here we document the earliest evidence of proto-dental therapeutic intervention on a Late Upper Paleolithic modern human lower right third molar (RM3) from a burial in Northern Italy [4]. The RM3 belongs to a young male individual (ca. 25 years old) unearthed in 1988 from the Epigravettian deposit of Riparo Villabruna (Sovramonte – Belluno, Italy), and dated around 14,160-13,820 BP. This tooth presents a large occlusal cavity, with a polished internal surface and extensive enamel chipping traces on the steep mesial wall. Within the cavity four caries are present. The cavity is sub-squared on the lingual and mesial sides but rounded on the buccal and distal sides. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) we show the presence of striations within the cavity, which fade out towards the occlusal surface probably as a consequence of tooth wear. The striations have a ”V” shaped transverse section and microstriations at the bottom, sharply defined, with a high apex, steep sides, narrow cross-sections and well-defined parallel ancillary ridging, as typically displayed by cutmarks on teeth [5]. Based on in vitro experimental replication and a complete functional reconstruction of the Villabruna dental arches, we confirm that the identified striations and the associated extensive enamel chipping on the mesial wall of the cavity were produced ante-mortem by pointed flint tools during scratching and chiseling activities. The Villabruna specimen is therefore the oldest known evidence of dental caries intervention, suggesting rudimentary knowledge of disease treatment well before the Neolithic. This study also suggests that primitive forms of carious treatment in human evolution entail an adaptation of the well-known toothpickings for levering and scratching rather than drilling practices.