Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic
Abstract Italy is very rich in Middle Palaeolithic sites, and the Veneto region ranges among those with the best archaeozoological information. Most of the Middle Palaeolithic sites are located in caves and rock shelters situated at the mouths of the Alpine valleys, in the piedmont slopes. The two s...
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crwiley:10.1002/oa.761 2024-06-23T07:57:22+00:00 Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic Fiore, Ivana Gala, Monica Tagliacozzo, Antonio 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.761 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Foa.761 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.761 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor International Journal of Osteoarchaeology volume 14, issue 3-4, page 273-286 ISSN 1047-482X 1099-1212 journal-article 2004 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.761 2024-06-06T04:21:10Z Abstract Italy is very rich in Middle Palaeolithic sites, and the Veneto region ranges among those with the best archaeozoological information. Most of the Middle Palaeolithic sites are located in caves and rock shelters situated at the mouths of the Alpine valleys, in the piedmont slopes. The two sites that offer the best archaeozoological data are Grotta di Fumane and Grotta S. Bernardino. Grotta S. Bernardino was occupied alternately by humans and carnivores, in particular bear. The fauna is largely dominated by ungulate remains, with red and roe deer prevalent over chamois and ibex; elk and giant deer are also present. Among the carnivores, the most frequent species is cave bear followed by lynx and leopard. Furthermore, hare, beaver and marmot are present together with remains of both fish and birds. It is possible that bears or birds of prey introduced the rare fish remains. In the Mousterian levels, hunting of the most common species was mainly directed towards young adult and adult individuals, suggesting the possibility of selective hunting. Marmot, beaver and probably bear, together with some species of birds (ducks, geese and Galliformes) were also hunted. At Grotta Fumane, Mousterian and Aurignacian levels reveal evidence of human activity related to carcass processing and bone exploitation. The most frequent ungulates are red deer, followed by roe deer and ibex; less frequent are chamois, bovids and giant deer ( Megaloceros giganteus ). Among the carnivores, bears (both Ursus arctos and Ursus spelaeus ) are present, as are wolf, red fox and hyena ( Crocuta crocuta ). Hare and marmot are also present together with abundant bird remains. The most common species of bird are: Tetrao tetrix , Crex crex and Pyrrhocorax graculus . Mortality data for ungulates suggest that young adults and adults were preferentially selected. The faunal assemblage indicates that economic, ecological and climatic changes took place between the Mousterian and the Aurignacian levels. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos Lynx Wiley Online Library Giganteus ENVELOPE(62.500,62.500,-67.567,-67.567) International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 14 3-4 273 286 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Italy is very rich in Middle Palaeolithic sites, and the Veneto region ranges among those with the best archaeozoological information. Most of the Middle Palaeolithic sites are located in caves and rock shelters situated at the mouths of the Alpine valleys, in the piedmont slopes. The two sites that offer the best archaeozoological data are Grotta di Fumane and Grotta S. Bernardino. Grotta S. Bernardino was occupied alternately by humans and carnivores, in particular bear. The fauna is largely dominated by ungulate remains, with red and roe deer prevalent over chamois and ibex; elk and giant deer are also present. Among the carnivores, the most frequent species is cave bear followed by lynx and leopard. Furthermore, hare, beaver and marmot are present together with remains of both fish and birds. It is possible that bears or birds of prey introduced the rare fish remains. In the Mousterian levels, hunting of the most common species was mainly directed towards young adult and adult individuals, suggesting the possibility of selective hunting. Marmot, beaver and probably bear, together with some species of birds (ducks, geese and Galliformes) were also hunted. At Grotta Fumane, Mousterian and Aurignacian levels reveal evidence of human activity related to carcass processing and bone exploitation. The most frequent ungulates are red deer, followed by roe deer and ibex; less frequent are chamois, bovids and giant deer ( Megaloceros giganteus ). Among the carnivores, bears (both Ursus arctos and Ursus spelaeus ) are present, as are wolf, red fox and hyena ( Crocuta crocuta ). Hare and marmot are also present together with abundant bird remains. The most common species of bird are: Tetrao tetrix , Crex crex and Pyrrhocorax graculus . Mortality data for ungulates suggest that young adults and adults were preferentially selected. The faunal assemblage indicates that economic, ecological and climatic changes took place between the Mousterian and the Aurignacian levels. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fiore, Ivana Gala, Monica Tagliacozzo, Antonio |
spellingShingle |
Fiore, Ivana Gala, Monica Tagliacozzo, Antonio Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic |
author_facet |
Fiore, Ivana Gala, Monica Tagliacozzo, Antonio |
author_sort |
Fiore, Ivana |
title |
Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic |
title_short |
Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic |
title_full |
Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic |
title_fullStr |
Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic |
title_sort |
ecology and subsistence strategies in the eastern italian alps during the middle palaeolithic |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/oa.761 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Foa.761 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oa.761 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(62.500,62.500,-67.567,-67.567) |
geographic |
Giganteus |
geographic_facet |
Giganteus |
genre |
Ursus arctos Lynx |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos Lynx |
op_source |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology volume 14, issue 3-4, page 273-286 ISSN 1047-482X 1099-1212 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.761 |
container_title |
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
3-4 |
container_start_page |
273 |
op_container_end_page |
286 |
_version_ |
1802650984467398656 |