Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Climbing the time to see Neanderthal behaviour’s continuity and discontinuity: SU 11 of the Oscurusciuto Rockshelter (Ginosa, Southern Italy)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Oscurusciuto Rockshelter (Ginosa, Southern Italy) is a perfect sample-site for the reconstruction of multiple aspects of the last Neanderthals life. Different settlement strategies are attested in the excavated portion of the stratigraphic sequence, dated between ~ 55 and 43 ka BP. As a first goal, the reconstruction of the site spatial organization across the palimpsest SU 11 was achieved by a high-temporal-resolution approach (assisted by sedimentological analysis), integrating lithic technology, zooarchaeology and spatial analysis (by means of the GIS technology). As a second goal, a diachronic perspective was adopted by comparing results from SU 11 with the previously studied evidence from the underlying SU 13. Results were processed at a diachronic scale, highlighting similarities and differences related both to the type of activities carried out at the site and to their spatial management. This allowed us to recognize discontinuities and, especially, continuities of settlement dynamics, which can be related to phenomena of cultural transmission hinting to a “memory of places”. Such results stimulate the debate not only on the necessity to study Middle Palaeolithic contexts at different temporal scales but also on the necessity to develop more refined multidisciplinary analytical protocols. The study of settlement dynamics at high-resolution scales allows to take advantage of the potentialities of contextual analysis i.e. the integration of results from different disciplines and data from the whole range of archaeological evidence in order to reconstruct solid behavioural models.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler DS, Prindiville TJ, Conard NJ (2003) Patterns of spatial organization and land use during the Eemian interglacial in the Rhineland: new data from Wallertheim, Germany. Eurasian Prehistory 1(2):25–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson L, Lejay M, Brugal JP, Costamagno S, Heckel C, de Araujo IM, Pradeau JV, Salomon H, Sellami F, Théry-Parisot I, Barshay-Szmidt C, Mensan R, Bon F (2018) Insights into Aurignacian daily life and camp organization: the open-air site of Régismont-le-haut. Quat Int 498:69–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.04.034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angelucci DE, Anesin D, Susini D, Villaverde V, Zapata J, Zilhão J (2018) A tale of two gorges: Late Quaternary site formation and surface dynamics in the Mula basin (Murcia, Spain). Quat Int 485:4–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.06.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baena Preysler J, Torres Navas C (2019) Explaining links from the past: material distribution in Charco Hondo 2 Acheulian archeological site (Madrid, Spain). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11:4397–4421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00816-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey GN (2007) Time perspectives, palimpsests and the archaeology of time. J Anthropol Archaeol 26(2):198–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2006.08.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey G, Galanidou N (2009) Caves, palimpsests and dwelling spaces: examples from the Upper Palaeolithic of south-east Europe. World Archaeology 41(2):215–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargalló A, Gabucio MJ, Rivals F (2016) Puzzling out a palimpsest: testing an interdisciplinary study in level O of Abric Romaní. Quat Int 417:51–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.066

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bataille G (2006). The production and usage of stone Artefacts in relation to faunal exploitation – the repeatedly visited primary Butchering Station of level II/7E. In: Chabai V, Richter J, Uthmeier Th (eds.), Kabazi II: the 70 000 years since the last interglacial. Palaeolithic sites of Crimea, Vol. 2. University of Cologne, Simferopol – Cologne. pp. 111–130

  • Binford LR (1980) Willow smoke and dogs’ tails: hunter-gatherer settlement systems and archaeological site. Am Antiq 45(1):4–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford LR (1983). Pursuit of the past. Decoding the Archaeological Record. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London

  • Boëda E (2013) Techno-logic & technology: a paleo-history of sharp lithic objects [techno-logique & technologie: Une paléo-histoire des objets lithiques tranchants]. Archéo-éditions, Prigonrieux

    Google Scholar 

  • Boscato P (2017). Ambienti ed economia nel Paleolitico medio della Puglia: lo studio delle faune. In: Radina F (Ed), Atti XLVII Riun. Sc. I.I.P.P., Ostuni (BR), 9-13 Ottobre 2012. Firenze, pp. 119-124

  • Boscato P, Crezzini J (2007) The exploitation of ungulate bones in Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. Hum Evol 21:311–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11598-006-9031-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boscato P, Crezzini J (2012) Middle-upper Palaeolithic transition in southern Italy: Uluzzian macromammals from Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia). Quat Int 252:90–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boscato P, Ronchitelli A (2017). Le strutture di combustione al Riparo l’Oscurusciuto (Ginosa e TA). In: Radina F (Ed), Atti XLVII Riun. Sc. I.I.P.P., Ostuni (BR), 9-13 Ottobre 2012. Firenze, pp. 175-180

  • Boscato P, Boschian G, Caramia F, Gambassini P (2009) Il Riparo del Poggio a Marina di Camerota (Salerno): culture ed ambiente. Riv Sci Preist LIX:5–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosch RF, White WB (2004) Lithofacies and transport of clastic sediments in karstic aquifers. In: Sasowsky ID, Mylroie JE (eds) In Studies of cave sediments. Academic Press: Cambridge/Plenum Press, New York, pp 1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantingham PJ, Surovell TA, Waguespack NM (2007) Modeling post-depositional mixing of archaeological deposits. J Anthropol Archaeol 26:517–540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2007.08.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunn H, Harris JWK, Isaac G, Kaufulu Z, Kroll E, Schick K, Toth N, Behrensmeyer AK (1980) FxJj50: an early Pleistocene site in northern Kenya. World Archaeol 12(2):109–136 http://www.jstor.org/stable/124398. . Accessed 15 Dec 2014

    Google Scholar 

  • Canals A, Vallverdú J, Carbonell E (2003) New archaeo-stratigraphic data for the TD6 level in relation to Homo antecessor (Lower Pleistocene) at the site of Atapuerca, North-Central Spain. Geoarchaeology 18:481–504. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.10071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caramia F, Gambassini P (2006) Il Musteriano evoluto del Riparo del Poggio (strati 9 e 10) a Marina di Camerota – Salerno. Rassegna di Archeologia Preistorica e protostorica 22(A):67–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrión JS, Walker MJ (2019) Background to neanderthal presence in Western mediterranean Europe. Quat Sci Rev 217:7–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.10.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmignani L (2010) L’industria litica del livello FIIIe di Grotta del Cavallo (Nardò, Lecce): osservazioni su una produzione lamino-lamellare in un contesto del Musteriano finale. Origini 32:7–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmignani L (2011). Le ultime espressioni del Musteriano nell’Italia del Sud-Est. Variabilità tecnologiche e comportamenti tecno-economici in un contesto peninsulare: I casi di Grotta del Cavallo e Grotta Mario Bernardini. Nardo (Lecce). PhD Dissertation, Università degli Studi di Siena

  • Carr C (1991) Left in the dust. Contextual information in model-focused archaeology. In: Kroll EM, Douglas Price T (eds) The interpretation of archaeological spatial patterning. Springer, New York-London, pp 221–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrer F (2017) Interpreting intra-site spatial patterns in seasonal contexts: an ethnoarchaeological case study from the Western Alps. J Archaeol Method Theory 24(2):303–327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9268-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chacón MG, Bargalló A, Gabucio MJ, Rivals F, Vaquero M (2015) Neanderthal behaviors from a spatio-temporal perspective: an interdisciplinary approach to interpret archaeological assemblages. In: Conard NJ, Delagnes A (eds) Settlement dynamics of the middle Paleolithic and middle stone age, IV edn. Kerns Verlag, Tübingen, pp 253–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Chadelle JP (2000). Le gisement de champ-Parel 3 à Bergerac (Dordogne, France). Observations taphonomiques Sur un atelier de taille aurignacien en plein-air/the site of champ-Parel 3 near Bergerac (Dordogne, France). Taphonomic observations on an Aurignacian open-air lithic workshop. Paléo 12:409–412; https://doi.org/10.3406/pal.2000.1612

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark AE (2015). Spatial structure and the temporality of assemblage formation: a comparative study of seven open air Middle Paleolithic sites in France. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Arizona, U.S.A.

  • Clark AE (2017) From activity areas to occupational histories: new methods to document the formation of spatial structure in hunter-gatherer sites. J Archaeol Method Theory 24:1300–1325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-017-9313-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke DL (1977) Spatial archaeology. Academic Press. Inc., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Collinson JC, Mountney NP, Thompson DB (2006) Sedimentary structures, 3. Terra Publishing, Harpenden

    Google Scholar 

  • Conolly J, Lake M (2006) Geographical information system in archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Crezzini J, Boscato P, Ricci S, Ronchitelli A, Spagnolo V, Boschin F (2016) A spotted hyaena den in the middle Palaeolithic of Grotta Paglicci (Gargano promontory, Apulia, Southern Italy). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 8:227–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0273-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Lumley H, Barrier P, Cauche D, Echassoux A, El Guennouni K, Khatib S, Mestour B, Valensi P (2018). Comportements de subsistance et mode de vie des Homo erectus Européens évolués de la Grotte du Lazaret. In: de Lumley MA (Ed.), Les restes humains fossiles de la grotte du Lazare t. Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. CNRS Editions, Paris. pp. 155–215

  • De Stefani, M., Dini, M., Klempererova, H., Peresani, M., Ranaldo, F., Ronchitelli, A., Ziggiotti, S. (2012). Continuity and replacement in flake production across the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition: a view over the Italian Peninsula. In: Pastoors A (Ed.). Flakes not blades: the role of flake production at the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Mettmann, 135–151.

  • Dell’Unto N (2014). The Use of 3D Models for Intra-Site Investigation in Archaeology. In Campana S, Remondino F (Eds.), 3D Recording and Modeling in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. BAR International Series 2598. Archaeopress

  • Depaepe P (2004) Fonctions des sites et gestion du territorire: le Paléolithique Moyen Récent de la Vallée de la Vanne (France). In: Conard NJ (ed) Settlement dynamics of the middle Paleolithic and middle stone age, vol II. Kerns Verlag, Tübingen, pp 373–393

    Google Scholar 

  • Diez-Martín F, Sánchez-Yustos P, Uribelarrea D, Domínguez-Rodrigo M, Fraile-Márquez C, Obregón RA, Díaz-Muñoz I, Mabulla A, Baquedano E, Pérez-González A, Bunn HT (2014) New archaeological and geological research at SHK main site (bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania). Quat Int 322-323:107–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.11.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diez-Martín F, Fraile C, Uribelarrea D, Sánchez-Yustos P, Domínguez-Rodrigo M, Duque J, Díaz I, De Francisco S, Yravedra J, Mabulla A, Baquedano E (2017) SHK extension: a new archaeological window in the SHK fluvial landscape of middle bed II (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania). Boreas 46(4):831–859. https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenu P, Pizziolo G, Sarti L, Viti S (2002). Elaborazioni GIS e VR dei livelli Musteriani FIIIc ed FIIId di Grotta del Cavallo (Nardò, Lecce). In: Peretto C (Ed.) 2002. Analisi informatizzata e trattamento dati delle strutture di abitato di età preistorica e protostorica in Italia. Origines, Firenze, pp. 101e116

  • Fletcher R (2008) Some spatial analyses of chalcolithic settlement in southern Israel. J Archaeol Sci 35:2048–2058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.01.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folgado M, Brenet M (2010) Economie de débitage et organisation de l’espace technique sur le site du Paléolithique moyen de plein-air de La Mouline (Dordogne, France). In: Conard NJ, Delagnes A (eds) Settlement dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, III edn. Kerns Verlag, Tübingen, pp 427–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabucio MJ, Cáceres I, Rosell J, Saladié P, Vallverdú J (2014) From small bone fragments to Neanderthal activity areas: the case of level O of the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain). Quat Int 330:36–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.12.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabucio MJ, Fernández-Laso MC, Rosell J (2018) Turning a rock shelter into a home. Neanderthal use of space in Abric Romaní levels M and O. Hist Biol 30(6):743–766. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2017.1340470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galanidou N (1997) Home is where the hearth is’: the spatial organisation of the upper Palaeolithic Rockshelter occupations at Klithi and Kastristsa in Northwest Greece. BAR International Series, Oxford, p 687

    Google Scholar 

  • Galanidou N (2000) Patterns in Caves: Foragers, Horticulturists, and the Use of Space. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 19(3):243–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Gambassini P (1997) Il Paleolitico di Castelcivita: Culture e Ambiente. Electa:343–375

  • Gamble C (1986) The Paleolithic settlement of Europe. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcea EAA, Spagnolo V (2018). Spatial analysis of the Khartoum variant site 8-B-10C (8th-6th mill. BC) at Sai Island (Sudan): preliminary results. 2018 IEEE international workshop on metrology for archaeology and cultural heritage (MetroArchaeo 2018) proceedings. Pp. 456-460

  • García-Moreno A, Smith GM, Kindler L, Pop E, Roebroeks W, Gaudzinski-Windheuser S, Klinkenberg V (2016) Evaluating the incidence of hydrological processes during site formation through orientation analysis. A case study of the middle Palaeolithic Lakeland site of Neumark-Nord 2 (Germany). J Archaeol Sci Rep 6:82–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.01.023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geneste JM (2010) Systèmes techniques de production lithique. Techniques & Culture 54-55:419–449. https://doi.org/10.4000/tc.5013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gravina B, Bachellerie F, Caux S, Discamps E, Faivre JP, Galland A, Michel A, Teyssandier N, Bordes JG (2018) No reliable evidence for a Neanderthal-Châtelperronian Association at La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire. Sci Rep 8:15134. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33084-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayden B (2012) Neandertal social structure? Oxf J Archaeol 31(1):1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2011.00376.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontol Electron 4(1):9pp

  • Henry D (2012) The palimpsest problem, hearth pattern analysis, and middle Paleolithic site structure. Quat Int 247:246–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.10.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higham T, Douka K, Wood R, Ramsey CB, Brock F, Basell L, Camps M, Arrizabalaga A, Baena J, Barroso-Ruíz C, Bergman C, Boitard C, Boscato P, Caparrós M, Conard NJ, Draily C, Froment A, Galván B, Gambassini P, Garcia-Moreno A, Grimaldi S, Haesaerts P, Holt B, Iriarte-Chiapusso MJ, Jelinek A, Pardo JFJ, Maíllo-Fernández JM, Marom A, Maroto J, Menéndez M, Metz L, Morin E, Moroni A, Negrino F, Panagopoulou E, Peresani M, Pirson S, de la Rasilla M, Riel-Salvatore J, Ronchitelli A, Santamaria D, Semal P, Slimak L, Soler J, Soler N, Villaluenga A, Pinhasi R, Jacobi R (2014) The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance. Nature 512(7514):306–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodder J, Hutson S (2003) Reading the past. In: Current approaches to interpretation in archaeology, 3rd edn. Cambridge University press, Cambridge, pp 156–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Iacoviello F, Martini I (2012) Provenance and geological significance of red mud and other clastic sediments of the Mugnano cave (Montagnola Senese, Italy). Int J Speleol 41:317–328. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.41.2.17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iacoviello F, Martini I (2013) Clay minerals in cave sediments and terra rossa soils in the Montagnola Senese karst massif (Italy). Geological Quarterly 57:527–536. https://doi.org/10.7306/gq.1111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ichikawa M, Hattori S, Yasuoka H (2011). Environmental knowledge among Central African hunter-gatherers: types of knowledge and intra-cultural variations. In: Hitchcock RK, Lovis WA, Whallon R (Eds.). Information and its role in hunter-gatherer bands. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, U.S.A. pp. 117–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Inizan ML, Reduron-Ballinger M, Roche H, Tixier J (1995) Technologie de la pierre taillée. Préhistoire de la pierre taillée, t. 4. CREP, Meudon

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaubert J, Verheyden S, Genty D, Soulier M, Cheng H, Blamart D, Cheng H, Blamart D, Burlet C, Camus H, Delaby S, Deldicque D, Edwards RL, Ferrier C, Lacrampe-Cuyaubère F, Lévêque F, Maksud F, Mora P, Muth X, Régnier É, Rouzaud JN, Santos F (2016) Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel cave in southwestern France. Nature 534(7605):111–114. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karkanas P, Shahack-Gross R, Ayalon A, Bar-Matthews M, Barkai R, Frumkin A, Gopher A, Stiner MC (2007) Evidence for habitual use of fire at the end of the lower Paleolithic: site-formation processes at Qesem cave, Israel. J Hum Evol 53(2):197–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.04.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly RL (2013). The lifeways of hunter-gatherers. The foraging spectrum. Cambridge University Press, New York

  • Kent S (1987) Understanding the use of space: an ethnoarchaeological approach. In: Kent S (ed) Method and theory for activity area research. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 1–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Kent S (1991) The relationship between mobility strategies and site structure. In: Kroll EM, Douglas Price T (eds) The interpretation of archaeological spatial patterning. Plenum Press, New York, pp 33–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancelotti C, Negre Pérez J, Alcaina-Mateos J, Carrer F (2017) Intra-site spatial analysis in ethnoarchaeology. Environ Archaeol 22(4):354–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2017.1299908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leierer L, Jambrina-Enríquez M, Herrera-Herrera AV, Connolly R, Hernández CM, Galván B, Mallol C (2019) Insights into the timing, intensity and natural setting of Neanderthal occupation from the geoarchaeological study of combustion structures: a micromorphological and biomarker investigation of El Salt, unit Xb, Alcoy, Spain. PLoS One 14(4):e0214955. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lembo G, Bertolini M, Peretto C, Rufo E, Thun Hohenstein U (2012). Analisi spaziali dei reperti faunistici e litici dell’US 5. In: Peretto, C. (Ed.), L’insediamento musteriano di Grotta Reali. Rocchetta a Volturno, Molise, Italia. Museologia Scientifica e Naturalistica 8/2, pp. 133-141

  • Leroi-Gourhan A (1964) Le geste et la parole, t. Albin Michel, Paris, pp I–II

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Ortega E, Bargalló A, de Lombera-Hermida A, Mosquera M, Ollé A, Rodríguez-Álvarez XP (2017) Quartz and quartzite refits at gran Dolina (sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos): connecting lithic artefacts in the middle Pleistocene unit of TD10. 1. Quat Int 433(A):85–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovis WA, Donahue RE (2011). Space, Information, and Knowledge: Ethnocartography and North American boreal forest hunter-gatherers. In: Hitchcock RK, Lovis WA, Whallon R (Eds.). Information and its role in hunter-gatherer bands. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, U.S.A. pp. 58–84

  • Machado J, Pérez L (2016) Temporal frameworks to approach human behavior concealed in middle Palaeolithic palimpsests: a high-resolution example from El salt stratigraphic unit X (Alicante, Spain). Quat Int 417:66–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machado J, Hernández M, Mallol C, Galván B (2013) Lithic production, site formation and middle Palaeolithic palimpsest analysis: in search of human occupation episodes at Abric del Pastor stratigraphic unit IV (Alicante, Spain). J Archaeol Sci 40(5):2254–2273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.01.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machado J, Mayor A, Hernández CM, Galván B (2019) Lithic refitting and the analysis of Middle Palaeolithic settlement dynamics: a high-temporal resolution example from El Pastor rock shelter (Eastern Iberia). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11:4539–4554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00859-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackay A, Sumner A, Jacobs Z, Marwick B, Bluff K, Shaw M (2014) Putslaagte 1 (PL1), the Doring River, and the later middle stone age in southern Africa’s winter rainfall zone. Quat Int 350:43–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.05.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marciani G (2018). Continuities and discontinuities during the late middle Palaeolithic at the Oscurusciuto rock shelter (southern Italy). An integrated study of lithic manufacture in the strata SU 15, SU 14, SU 13 and SU 11. Ph.D. Dissertation. Erasmus Mundus, Universitat Rovira, Virgili Tarragona, Spain

  • Marciani G, Spagnolo V, Aureli D, Ranaldo F, Boscato P, Ronchitelli A (2016) Middle Palaeolithic technical behaviour: material import-export and Levallois production at the SU 13 of Oscurusciuto rock shelter, southern Italy. J Lit Stud 3(2):24. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v3i2.1414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marciani G, Arrighi S, Aureli D, Spagnolo V, Boscato P, Ronchitelli A (2018). Middle Palaeolithic lithic tools. Techno-functional and use-wear analysis of target objects from SU 13 at the Oscurusciuto rock shelter, Southern Italy. J. Lit. Stud. in press. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.2745

  • Marciani G, Ronchitelli A, Arrighi A, Badino F, Bortolini E, Boscato P, Boschin F, Crezzini J, Delpiano D, Falcucci A, Figus C, Lugli F, Oxilia G, Romandini M, Riel-Salvatore J, Negrino F, Peresani M, Spinapolice EE, Moroni A, Benazzi S (2019) Lithic techno-complexes in Italy from 50 to 39 thousand years BP: An overview of lithic technological changes across the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic boundary. Quaternary International

  • Martínez-Moreno J, Mora R, de la Torre I (2004) The middle-to-upper Palaeolithic transition in Cova gran (Catalunya, Spain) and the extinction of Neanderthals in the Iberian Peninsula. J Hum Evol 58:211–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.09.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Moreno J, de la Torre I, Mora R, Casanova J (2010) Technical variability and changes in the pattern of settlement at Roca dels Bous (southeastern pre-Pyrenees, Spain). In: Conard N (ed) Settlement dynamics of the middle Paleolithic and middle stone age, III edn. Tübingen, Kerns Verlag, pp 485–507

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Moreno J, Mora R, Roy Sunyer M, Benito Calvo A (2016) From site formation processes to human behaviour: towards a constructive approach to depict palimpsests in Roca dels Bous. Quat Int 417:82–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Moreno J, Mora Tocal R, Benito Calvo A, Roy Sunyer M, Sánchez-Martínez J (2019) A bunch of refits: 497D blade knapping assemblage of the early upper Paleolithic in Cova gran (Northeast Iberia). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11:4585–4600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0726-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martini I (2011) Cave clastic sediments and implications for speleogenesis: new insights from the Mugnano cave (Montagnola Senese, northern Apennines, Italy). Geomorphology 134(3–4):452–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.07.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martini I, Ronchitelli A, Arrighi S, Capecchi G, Ricci S, Scaramucci S, Spagnolo V, Gambassini P, Moroni A (2018) Cave clastic sediments as a tool for refining the study of human occupation of prehistoric sites: insights from the cave site of La Cala (Cilento, southern Italy). J Quat Sci 33(5):586–596. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mcbrearty S, Brooks AS (2000) The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behaviour. J Hum Evol 39(5):453–563. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2000.0435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellars P (1996) The Neanderthal legacy. An archaeological perspective from Western Europe. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellars P, Stringer C (1989) The human revolution. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

    Google Scholar 

  • Modolo M, Rosell J (2017) Reconstructing occupational models: bone refits in level I of Abric Romaní. Quat Int 435(A):180–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mora R, Martínez-Moreno J, Roy Sunyer M, Benito Calvo A, Polo-Díaz A, Samper Carro S (2018) Contextual, technological and chronometric data from Cova gran: their contribution to discussion of the middle-to-upper Paleolithic transition in northeastern Iberia. Quat Int 474(A):30–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.05.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreau G, Locht J-L (2017) Importance de l’utilisation du Système d’Information Géographique pour les vastes sites de plein air du Paléolithique moyen en France septentrionale. L’Exemple de Caours (Somme, France) et Beauvais (Oise, France). Archéo numér 1(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.21494/iste.op.2017.0170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moroni A, Boscato P, Ronchitelli A (2013) What roots for the Uluzzian? Modern behaviour in central-southern Italy and hypotheses on AMH dispersal routes. Quat Int 316:27–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.10.051

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moroni A, Ronchitelli A, Arrighi S, Aureli D, Bailey SE, Boscato P, Boschin P, Capecchi G, Crezzini J, Douka K, Marciani G, Panetta D, Ranaldo F, Ricci S, Scaramucci S, Spagnolo V, Benazzi S, Gambassini P (2018) Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia – southern Italy). The Uluzzian in the mirror. J Anthropol Sci 96:125–160. https://doi.org/10.4436/JASS.96004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moroni A, Boschian G, Crezzini J, Montanari-Canini G, Marciani G, Capecchi G, Arrighi S, Aureli D, Berto C, Freguglia M, Araujo A, Scaramucci S, Hublin JJ, Lauer T, Benazzi S, Parenti F, Bonato M, Ricci S, Talamo S, Segre AG, Boschin F, Spagnolo V (2019) Late Neandertals in Central Italy. High-resolution chronicles from Grotta Dei Santi (Monte Argentario - Tuscany). Quat Sci Rev 217:130–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.11.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moroni A, Spagnolo V, Crezzini J, Boschin F, Benvenuti M, Gardin S, Cipriani S, Arrighi S (in press) Settlement, space organization and land-use of a small Middle Bronze Age community of central Italy. The case study of Gorgo del Ciliegio (Arezzo-Tuscany). Quat Int xxx:1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.02.011

  • Neruda P (2017) GIS analysis of the spatial distribution of middle Palaeolithic artefacts in Kůlna cave (Czech Republic). Quat Int 435(A):58–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newell R (1987) Reconstruction of the partitioning and utilization of outside space in a late prehistoric/early historic Inupiat village. In: Kent S (ed) Method and theory for activity area research: an ethnoarchaeological approach. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 107–175

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell J (1987) Alyawara site structure and its archaeological implications. Am Antiq 52:74–108. https://doi.org/10.2307/281061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz Nieto-Márquez I, Baena Preysler J (2017) Did stones speak about people? Flint catchment and Neanderthal behavior from area 3 (Cañaveral, Madrid-Spain). Quat Int 435(A):144–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.01.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palma di Cesnola A (1964) Prima campagna di scavi nella Grotta del Cavallo presso Santa Caterina (Lecce). Riv Sci Preist 19:41–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Palma di Cesnola A (2004) Rapports entre l’Aurignacien et l’Uluzzien en Italie. In: Actes du XIVème Congrès UISPP Université de Liège, Belgique, 2–8 septembre 2001, Section 6. Le Paléolitique Supérieur, BAR, pp 7–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelegrin J, Karlin C, Bodu P (1988). “Chaînes opératoires”: un outil pour le préhistorien. Technologie préhistorique Notes et Monographies techniques, 25

  • Peresani M, Chrzavzez J, Danti A, de March M, Duches R, Gurioli F, Muratori S, Romandini M, Trombino L, Tagliacozzo A (2011) Fire-places, frequentations and the environmental setting of the final Mousterian at Grotta di Fumane: a report from the 2006-2008 research. Quartar 58:131–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Peretto C, Biagi P, Boschian G, Broglio A, De Stefani M, Fasani L, Fontana F, Grifoni R, Guerreschi A, Iacopini A, Minelli A, Pala R, Peresani M, Radis G, Ronchitelli A, Sarti L, Hohenstein UT, Tozzi C (2004) Living-floors and structures from the lower paleolithic to the bronze age in Italy. Coll Antropol 28:63–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Perlès C (1991). Economie des matières premières et économie du débitage: deux conceptions opposées? In: 25 [Vingt Cinq] Ans d’études Technologiques En Préhistoire: Bilan et Perspectives. Apdca, Juan-Lespins, pp. 35–45

  • Plavšić S (2015) Spatial Distribution Analysis of Burnt Artifacts and Combustion Areas in Layer 3 of Velika Balanica Cave [Анализа просторне дистрибуције горелих артефаката и зона горења у слоју 3 Велике Баланице]. J Serb Archaeol Soc 31:7–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranaldo F (2017). L’arco ionico pugliese tra la fine del Paleolitico medio e gli esordi del Paleolitico superiore: problemi e prospettive di ricerca per la ricostruzione dei sistemi antropici. In: Radina F (Ed), Atti XLVII Riun. Sc. I.I.P.P., Ostuni (BR), 9-13 Ottobre 2012. Firenze, pp. 53-60

  • Real C, Eixea A, Sanchis A, Morales JV, Klasen N, Zilhão J, Villaverde V (2018) Abrigo de la Quebrada level IV (Valencia, Spain): interpreting a middle Palaeolithic palimpsest from a Zooarchaeological and lithic perspective. J Paleolithic Archaeol:1–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-018-0012-z

  • Romagnoli F, Vaquero M (2016) Quantitative stone tools intra-site point and orientation patterns of a middle Palaeolithic living floor: a GIS multi-scalar spatial and temporal approach. Quartar 63:47–60. https://doi.org/10.7485/QU63_3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronchitelli A, Boscato P, Surdi G, Masini F, Petruso D, Accorsi CA, Torri P (2011) The Grotta Grande of Scario (Salerno, Italy): archaeology and environment during the last interglacial (MIS 5) of the mediterranean region. Quat Int 231:95–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.07.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Romero L, Canals A, Pérez-González A, Márquez B, Mosquera M, Karampaglidis T, Arsuaga JL, Baquedano E (2017) Breaking the palimpsest: an approach to the cultural sequence of Neanderthal occupation at the Navalmaíllo rockshelter, Pinilla del Valle (Spain). Trab Prehist 74(2):225–237. https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2017.12192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sano K, Arrighi S, Stani C, Aureli D, Boschin F, Fiore I, Spagnolo V, Ricci S, Crezzini J, Boscato P, Gala M, Tagliacozzo A, Birarda G, Vaccari L, Ronchitelli A, Moroni A, Benazzi S (2019) The earliest evidence for mechanically delivered projectile weapons in Europe. Nature Ecol Evol 3(10):1409–1414. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0990-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sañudo P, Vallverdú-Poch J, Canals A (2012) Spatial patterns in level j. In: Carbonell I, Roura E (eds) High resolution archaeology and Neanderthal behavior. Time and space in level J of Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain). Springer, London, pp 47–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Sañudo P, Blasco R, Fernández Peris J (2016) Site formation dynamics and human occupations at Bolomor cave (Valencia, Spain): an archaeostratigraphic analysis of levels I to XII (100–200 ka). Quat Int 417:94–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiffer MB (1972) Archaeological context and systemic context. Am Antiq 37:156–165. https://doi.org/10.2307/278203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiffer MB (1975a) Behavioral chain analysis: activities, organization, and the use of space. Fieldiana Anthropol 65:103–119 http://www.jstor.org/stable/29782476. Accessed 13 Jan 2013

  • Schiffer MB (1975b) Archaeology as behavioral science. Am Anthropol 73:836–848 http://www.jstor.org/stable/674791. Accessed 12 Jan 2015

    Google Scholar 

  • Shennan S (1997) Quantifying archaeology. Edimburg University Press, Edimburg

    Google Scholar 

  • Spagnolo V (2017). Studio delle strategie insediative del Paleolitico medio in Italia centro-meridionale. PhD Dissertation, Università degli Studi di Siena

  • Spagnolo V, Marciani G, Aureli D, Berna F, Boscato P, Ranaldo F, Ronchitelli A (2016) Between hearths and volcanic ash: the SU 13 palimpsest of the Oscurusciuto rock shelter (Ginosa - southern Italy): analytical and interpretative questions. Quat Int 417:105–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spagnolo V, Marciani G, Aureli D, Berna F, Toniello G, Astudillo FJ, Boschin F, Boscato P, Ronchitelli A (2019) Neanderthal activity and resting areas from stratigraphic unit 13 at the middle Palaeolithic site of Oscurusciuto (Ginosa - Taranto, southern Italy). Quat Sci Rev 217:169–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.06.024

    Google Scholar 

  • Speth JD, Tchernov E (2001) Neandertal hunting and meat-processing in the near east. In: Stanford CB, Bunn HT (eds) Meat-eating and human evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 52–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Speth JD, Meignen L, Bar-Yosef O, Goldberg P (2012) Spatial organization of middle Paleolithic occupation X in Kebara cave (Israel): concentrations of animal bones. Quat Int 247:85–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spinapolice EE (2018) Neanderthal mobility pattern and technological organization in the Salento (Apulia, Italy). In: Borgia V, Cristiani E (eds) Palaeolithic Italy: advanced studies on early human adaptations in the Apennine peninsula. Sidestone Press, Leiden, pp 94–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson MG (1991) Beyond the formation of hearth-associated artifact assemblages. In: Kroll EM, Douglas Price T (eds) The interpretation of archaeological spatial patterning. Springer, New York-London, pp 269–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Surovell TA, Waguespack NM, Mayer JH, Kornfeld M, Frison GC (2005) Shallow site archaeology: artifact dispersal, stratigraphy, and radiocarbon dating at the Barger gulch locality B Folsom site, Middle Park, Colorado. Geoarchaeology 20(6):627–649. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.20071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thacher D, Milne SB, Park R (2017) Applying GIS and statistical analysis to assess the correlation of human behaviour and ephemeral architectural features among Palaeo-Eskimo sites on southern Baffin Island. Nunavut J Archaeol Sci Reports 14:21–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valensi P, Michel V, El Guennouni K, Liouville M (2013) New data on human behavior from a 160,000 year old Acheulean occupation level at Lazaret cave, south-East France: an archaeozoological approach. Quat Int 316:123–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.10.034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallverdú J, Vaquero M, Cáceres I, Allué E, Rosell J, Saladié P, Chacón G, Ollé A, Canals A, Sala R, Courty MA, Carbonell E (2010) Sleeping activity area within the site structure of archaic human groups: evidence from Abric Romaní level N combustion activity areas. Curr Anthropol 51:137–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero M (2008) The history of stones: behavioural inferences and temporal resolution of an archaeological assemblage from the middle Palaeolithic. J Archaeol Sci 35(12):3178–3185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.07.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero M, Chacón MG, Cuartero F, García-Antón MD, Gómez de Soler B, Martínez K (2012) Time and space in the formation of lithic assemblages: the example of Abric Romaní level J. Quat Int 247:162–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.12.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero M, Bargalló A, Chacó MG, Romagnoli F, Sañudo P (2015) Lithic recycling in a middle Paleolithic expedient context: evidence from the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain). Quat Int 361:212–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.05.055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whallon R (1984) Unconstrained clustering for the analysis of spatial distributions in archaeology. In: Hietala HJ (ed) Intrasite spatial analysis in archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 242–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Werdelin L, Lewis M (2013) Temporal change in functional richness and evenness in the eastern African Plio-Pleistocene carnivoran guild. PLoS One 8(3):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057944

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whallon R (2011). An introduction to information and its role in hunter-gatherer bands. In: Hitchcock RK, Lovis WA, Whallon R (Eds.). Information and its role in hunter-gatherer bands. The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, U.S.A. pp. 1–27

  • Wiśniewski A, Adamiec G, Badura J, Bluszcz A, Kowalska A, Kufel-Diakowska B, Mikołajczyk A, Murczkiewicz M, Musil R, Przybylski B, Skrzypek G, Stefaniak K, Zych J (2013) Occupation dynamics north of the Carpathians and Sudetes during the Weichselian (MIS5d-3): the lower Silesia (SW Poland) case study. Quat Int 294:20–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2011.09.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiśniewski A, Lauer T, Chłoń M, Pyżewicz K, Weiss M, Badura J, Kalicki T, Zarzecka-Szubińska K (2019) Looking for provisioning places of shaped tools of the late Neanderthals: a study of a Micoquian open-air site, Pietraszyn 49a (southwestern Poland). Comptes Rendus Palevol 18(3):367–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2019.01.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The research projects, still ongoing, began in 1998 and were carried on by the Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, U.R. Preistoria e Antropologia of the University of Siena (Italy) with the partnership of Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Brindisi, Lecce e Taranto, the local Section of Legambiente and the Municipality of Ginosa. The authors are indebted to the Municipality of Ginosa, Ms. Piero di Canio (and his family), Onlus CESQ and to all the participants in the excavation of 2009-2011 (with some of the authors: C. Abruzzese, S. Alconchel Romero, S. Condemi, J. Crezzini, Elena D’Itria, P. Gambassini, F. Granito, Z. Guerrero Bueno, S. Mainieri, A. Moro, G. Musella, E. Orso, F. Paraskoulakis, M. J. Peñalver Puerta, A. Pizzarelli, F. Ranaldo, M. Serradimigni, V. Stasolla, M. Valeri). Many thanks to Sem Scaramucci for helping with English reviewing. The sedimentological and stratigraphic analyses were funded by the National Geographic Society/Exploration Grant Program (grant NGS-61617R-19 to I. Martini).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.R. Preistoria e Antropologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy

    Vincenzo Spagnolo, Giulia Marciani, Daniele Aureli, Paolo Boscato, Francesco Boschin & Annamaria Ronchitelli

  2. Centro Studi sul Quaternario Onlus, Sansepolcro, Italy

    Vincenzo Spagnolo & Francesco Boschin

  3. Dipartmento di Beni Culturali, Università di Bologna, Ravenna, Italy

    Giulia Marciani

  4. UMR 7041, Equipe AnTET, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre, France

    Daniele Aureli

  5. Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy

    Ivan Martini

Authors
  1. Vincenzo Spagnolo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Giulia Marciani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Daniele Aureli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ivan Martini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paolo Boscato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Francesco Boschin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Annamaria Ronchitelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Annamaria Ronchitelli is the research coordinator with Paolo Boscato and Francesco Boschin. Giulia Marciani in collaboration with Daniele Aureli studied the lithic industry. Ivan Martini performed the geoarchaeological analysis. Francesco Boschin and Paolo Boscato analysed the faunal remains. Vincenzo Spagnolo conceptualized the paper and performed the palimpsest dissecting and the spatial analyses. All the authors collaborated in writing reviewing and editing the final version of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vincenzo Spagnolo.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Is ‘Neanderthal behaviour' a useful concept?

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Spagnolo, V., Marciani, G., Aureli, D. et al. Climbing the time to see Neanderthal behaviour’s continuity and discontinuity: SU 11 of the Oscurusciuto Rockshelter (Ginosa, Southern Italy). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 54 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00971-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00971-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation