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Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: the site of Pirro Nord (Southern Italy)

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Abstract

Some flint lithic artifacts were discovered in the fissure fillings of the well-known Pirro Nord site (Apulia, Southern Italy). The lithic industry, composed by three cores and some flakes, has been found to be associated to an Early Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage. The fossil association contains a wide range of micromammals, including Allophaiomys ruffoi and Episoriculus gibberodon and large mammals including Bison degiulii and Equus altidens together with African elements as the gelada baboon Theropithecus and the saber-toothed cat Megantereon whitei. It defines the latest Villafranchian chronological unit (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit) in the Western European mammal biochronology. The lithic industry of Pirro Nord represents the oldest occurrence of the genus Homo in Europe as it is attributable to a chronological interval between 1.3 and 1.7 Ma. This supports the hypothesis that the genus Homo, with Oldowaian technology, extended its range in Europe, probably from western Asia, during the first half of the Early Pleistocene. The new discovery from Pirro Nord changes the chronology of the first arrival of hominids in Europe and offers new perspectives in the debate about the human dispersal in the Early Pleistocene.

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Acknowledgements

Our work in the Apricena quarries has been possible thanks to the kindness and collaboration of the quarry owners, Franco and Gaetano Dell’Erba, who granted access to the working area. Dott. G. Andreassi (Soprintendente per i Beni Archeologici della Regione Puglia), authorized the still ongoing survey. We thank F. C. Howell for the discussions and criticism of the early version of the manuscript. L. Abbazzi, L. Bellucci, R. Bevilacqua, A. Cipullo, M. Delfino, M.P. Ferretti, E. Martinetto, and M. Zunino for their help in the field and discussions on fossil record and biochronology; D. Aureli, for drawings of the lithic artifacts. This research was supported by grants from the Universities of Firenze, Roma “La Sapienza” and Torino.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento delle Risorse Naturali e Culturali, Università di Ferrara, C.se Ercole I d’Este 32, I-44100, Ferrara, Italy

    Marta Arzarello

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, via S. Maria, 53, I-56126, Pisa, Italy

    Federica Marcolini

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, I-10125, Torino, Italy

    Giulio Pavia, Marco Pavia & Mauro Petrucci

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università “La Sapienza”, P.le A. Moro 5, I-00185, Roma, Italy

    Carmelo Petronio & Raffaele Sardella

  5. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, via G. La Pira 4, I-50121, Firenze, Italy

    Lorenzo Rook

Authors
  1. Marta Arzarello
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  2. Federica Marcolini
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  3. Giulio Pavia
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  4. Marco Pavia
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  5. Carmelo Petronio
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  6. Mauro Petrucci
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  7. Lorenzo Rook
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  8. Raffaele Sardella
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Correspondence to Giulio Pavia.

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Arzarello, M., Marcolini, F., Pavia, G. et al. Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: the site of Pirro Nord (Southern Italy). Naturwissenschaften 94, 107–112 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0173-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0173-3

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