Placing the origin of an undeciphered script in time is crucial to understanding the invention of writing in human history. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, developed a script, now engraved on ...fewer than 30 wooden objects, which is still undeciphered. Its origins are also obscure. Central to this issue is whether the script was invented before European travelers reached the island in the eighteenth century AD. Hence direct radiocarbon dating of the wood plays a fundamental role. Until now, only two tablets were directly dated, placing them in the nineteenth c. AD, which does not solve the question of independent invention. Here we radiocarbon-dated four Rongorongo tablets preserved in Rome, Italy. One specimen yielded a unique and secure mid-fifteenth c. date, while the others fall within the nineteenth c. AD. Our results suggest that the use of the script could be placed to a horizon that predates the arrival of external influence.
Abstract
Radiocarbon dating provides a key chronological framework for studying past environmental changes. Raw radiocarbon ages measured in samples must be converted to calendar ages using an ...appropriate calibration curve. Tree-ring datasets provide the gold-standard for developing a precise curve of atmospheric radiocarbon levels over long-time scales. Here, we reconstruct atmospheric radiocarbon levels using a millennium-long section of tree-ring chronology segments that extend into the last glacial period. The samples were obtained from subfossil larch trees recovered from clay quarries at Revine, Italy. Our reconstruction shows higher variations in the amplitude of atmospheric radiocarbon between 18,475 and 17,350 calendar years before the present than that detected in the IntCal20 calibration curve. Comparing the new tree-ring based reconstruction with Beryllium-10 fluxes derived from ice cores, we hypothesise that these variations are driven by solar variability. Our results demonstrate the unique value of sub-decadal radiocarbon sequences derived from glacial tree-ring chronologies.
This study presents an exceptional collection of 54 Late Pleistocene human remains that correspond to at least three Neanderthal individuals from Simanya Gran, the main gallery of Cova Simanya, ...located in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. The collection comprised 53 unpublished remains that were unearthed during the 1970s and an additional tooth discovered during 2021 excavations. The specimens represent an adult with a small stature, a periadolescent aged approximately 11.5 years, and an immature individual aged approximately 7.7 years, thus offering a more complete demographic perspective. The collection encompasses diverse anatomical parts including upper and lower dentition, mandible, vertebrae, and limb bones from both the upper and lower extremities. Attempts to extract aDNA were unsuccessful. Renewed archaeological investigations at Cova Simanya have facilitated the reevaluation of the original stratigraphic context of these remains, leading to the discovery of the additional tooth, aligning with the periadolescent individual. This assemblage is currently the most extensive Neanderthal collection from the northeastern Mediterranean Iberia, offering invaluable insights into the morphology and evolutionary trajectory of Late Pleistocene hominins. Hence, Simanya Neanderthals will enhance our understanding of Neanderthal demographics and evolution, paving the way for an in-depth examination of the morphological diversity and evolutionary context of Iberian Neanderthals.
One of the unanswered questions in Palaeolithic studies is how Neanderthals adapted their subsistence strategies by changing their diet at such a late stage of their existence. Zooarchaeological and ...taphonomic studies are critical to determine anthropogenic behaviour and to accurately understand the strategies used to exploit different ecological niches. In this line of research, the present paper aims to provide a thorough assessment of the unpublished faunal assemblages from two Late Mousterian Italian sites: Riparo del Broion (northern Italy) and Roccia San Sebastiano cave (southern Italy). These two sites occupy two distant and different areas of Italy, however providing late Neanderthals coeval occupations dated between 50,000–44,000 cal BP.
In this study we analysed more than 27,000 remains following a multidisciplinary approach that combines taxonomical, anatomical and taphonomic investigations. Moreover, an experimental study that supports the instrumental use of valve fragments of Anodonta sp. is also presented for Riparo del Broion. Strontium isotope analysis of cervid remains, the most exploited prey in both sites, provides useful information to explore selection of available animals, the mobility of human groups, and the composition of animal herds.
In general, the characteristics of the territory of the two sites highlight the exploitation of different resources that could vary from almost specialized small game (Riparo del Broion) to selective ungulates (Roccia San Sebastiano) hunting strategies. At Riparo del Broion, the main exploitation of red deer was accompanied by beaver hunting, fishing, and shellfish gathering from freshwater lake environments. On the contrary, human groups at Roccia San Sebastiano cave hunted almost exclusively red deer, despite the sea was not far from the cave. The absence of shellfish and fish remains is remarkable. In addition, the transformation and use of diaphyseal bone flakes as retouchers at both sites and the presence of a probable “bone awl” at Roccia San Sebastiano, further confirm an extended capacity in the use of a large range of materials for different subsistence activities.
Present results consist of the first zooarchaeological comparison of the Late Mousterian levels of Roccia San Sebastiano cave and Riparo del Broion. These allowed us to detail environments, and subsistence strategies of two Neanderthal groups that inhabited different ecological niches of the Italian territory and provide important data to disentangle possible changes in faunal exploitation strategies, butchering, processing, and cultural behaviours during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy.
•Late Middle Palaeolithic sites are key to understanding Human subsistence•Two of the most recent sites in Italy to have yielded a Neanderthal deciduous tooth•Zooarchaeological analysis highlights diversified "menu" between north to south Italy•Detailed taphonomic analysis shows use of a broad range of materials as tools•Patterns suggest Late-Neanderthals diversified subsistence behaviour
The arrival of Modern Humans (MHs) in Europe between 50 ka and 39 ka coincides with significant changes in human behaviour, notably regarding the production of tools, the exploitation of resources ...and the systematic use of ornaments and colouring substances. The emergence of the so-called modern behaviour is usually associated with MHs, although claims of symbolic thinking in non-MH groups have been advanced in past decades. In this paper, we present a synthesis of the Italian evidence concerning bone tool manufacturing and the use of ornaments and pigments in the time span encompassing the replacement of Neandertals by MHs. Current data show that Mousterian bone tools were mostly obtained from bone fragments used "as is". Conversely an organized production of “finely shaped” bone tools is characteristic of the Uluzzian and the Protoaurignacian, and the complexity inherent in the manufacturing processes suggests that bone artefacts are not to be considered expedient. Some traces of symbolic activities are associated with Neandertals in northern Italy. Ornaments (mostly tusk shells) and pigments used for decorative purposes are well recorded during the Uluzzian. Their features and distribution suggest an intriguing cultural homogeneity within this technocomplex. The Protoaurignacian is characterized by a wider range of archaeological evidence, consisting of personal ornaments (mostly pierced gastropods), pigments and engraved items.
ABSTRACT
The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, between 50 000 and 40 000 years ago, is a period of important ecological and cultural changes. In this framework, the Rock Shelter of Uluzzo C ...(Apulia, southern Italy) represents an important site due to Late Mousterian and Uluzzian evidence preserved in its stratigraphic sequence. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary analysis performed on the materials collected between 2016 and 2018 from the Uluzzian stratigraphic units (SUs) 3, 15 and 17. The analysis involved lithic technology, use‐wear, zooarchaeology, ancient DNA of sediments and palaeoproteomics, completed by quartz single‐grain optically stimulated luminescence dating of the cave sediments. The lithic assemblage is characterized by a volumetric production and a debitage with no or little management of the convexities (by using the bipolar technique), with the objective to produce bladelets and flakelets. The zooarchaeological study found evidence of butchery activity and of the possible exploitation of marine resources, while drawing a picture of a patchy landscape, composed of open forests and dry open environments surrounding the shelter. Ancient mitochondrial DNA from two mammalian taxa were recovered from the sediments. Preliminary zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry results are consistent with ancient DNA and zooarchaeological taxonomic information, while further palaeoproteomics investigations are ongoing. Our new data from the re‐discovery of the Uluzzo C Rock Shelter represent an important contribution to better understand the meaning of the Uluzzian in the context of the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition in south‐eastern Italy.
Personal ornaments are commonly linked to the emergence of symbolic behavior. Although their presence in Africa dates back to the Middle Stone Age, evidence of ornament manufacturing in Eurasia are ...sporadically observed in Middle Palaeolithic contexts, and until now, large-scale diffusion has been well documented only since the Upper Palaeolithic. Nevertheless, little is known during the period between ca. 50,000 and 40,000 years ago (ka), when modern humans colonized Eurasia replacing existing hominin populations such as the Neandertals, and a variety of “transitional” and/or early Upper Palaeolithic cultures emerged. Here, we present shell ornaments from the Uluzzian site of Grotta del Cavallo in Italy, southern Europe. Our results show evidence of a local production of shell beads for ornamental purposes as well as a trend toward higher homogeneity in tusk bead shape and size over time. The temporal interval of the layers of interest (45–40 ka) makes Cavallo the earliest known shell ornament making context in Europe.
The arrival of Modern Humans (MHs) in Europe between 50 ka and 36 ka coincides with significant changes in human behaviour, regarding the production of tools, the exploitation of resources and the ...systematic use of ornaments and colouring substances. The emergence of the so-called modern behaviours is usually associated with MHs, although in these last decades findings relating to symbolic thinking of pre-Sapiens groups have been claimed. In this paper we present a synthesis of the Italian evidence concerning bone manufacturing and the use of ornaments and pigments in the time span encompassing the demise of Neandertals and their replacement by MHs. Current data show that Mousterian bone tools are mostly obtained from bone fragments used as is. Conversely an organized production of fine shaped bone tools is characteristic of the Uluzzian and the Protoaurignacian, when the complexity inherent in the manufacturing processes suggests that bone artefacts are not to be considered as expedient resources. Some traces of symbolic activities are associated to Neandertals in Northern Italy. Ornaments (mostly tusk shells) and pigments used for decorative purposes are well recorded during the Uluzzian. Their features and distribution witness to an intriguing cultural homogeneity within this technocomplex. The Protoaurignacian is characterized by a wider archaeological evidence, consisting of personal ornaments (mostly pierced gastropods), pigments and artistic items.
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