1. LA POLLEDRARA The excavations of the Middle Pleistocene
taken between 1985-1999, have uncovered about 750 square metres of a paleosurface belonging to an ancient stream bed dissecting a leucitic granular tuffite bank. The deposit is included within the terminal series of the pyroclastic deposits of the “Sabatino ” volcanic complex and has been associated...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.503.2997 http://www0.sovraintendenzaroma.it/content/download/4843/62754/file/415_418.pdf |
| Summary: | taken between 1985-1999, have uncovered about 750 square metres of a paleosurface belonging to an ancient stream bed dissecting a leucitic granular tuffite bank. The deposit is included within the terminal series of the pyroclastic deposits of the “Sabatino ” volcanic complex and has been associated with the “Aurelian Formation”, correlated with OIS 9. The palaeosurface was covered irregularly by a large number of faunal remains (so far over 9000 finds), particularly of Elephas antiquus and Bos primigenius, which accumulated in various levels in the deepest part of the stream bed and which are scattered within a single level in the marginal areas. The bone assem-blage shows varying states of surficial preser-vation: highly abraded bones are very numer-ous; a few bones are fresh in appearance or have only minor traces of abrasion; sometimes only the exposed surface of the bone shows traces of weathering, whereas the surface of the bone in contact with the paleosurface is unal-tered. A more recent phase, characterized by the obliteration of the watercourse and the forma-tion of a marshy environment, has been revealed during the latest archaeological cam-paigns. The bones from this layer have very fresh surfaces; the partially articulated skele-tons of two elephants (Elephas antiquus) and one wolf (Canis lupus) have also been recov-ered from this layer. The bones were embedded in a light grey ashy tuffite and were fossilized by their transforma-tion into fluoroapatite- a resistant material linked to post-volcanic gaseous activity. The bone assemblage varies greatly not only in the state of the surface preservation, but also in various degrees of fragmentation. One of the aims of the taphonomic analysis of the deposit, currently in progress, is to clarify the various processes of bone fragmentation, for example, environmental conditions, trampling by ani-mals, carnivore and human activity. The pres-ence of a lithic industry made from small siliceous pebbles in association with the bones, testifies the presence of ... |
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