A multidisciplinary approach to a unique Palaeolithic human ichnological record from Italy (Bàsura Cave)

Autor: Marta Zunino, Marco Avanzini, Daniele Arobba, Marco Romano, Isabella Salvador, Paolo Citton, Fabio Negrino, Marco Firpo, Ivano Rellini, E. Starnini
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
History
none
Cave use
Crawling
01 natural sciences
finger flutings
Stone Age
purl.org/becyt/ford/1 [https]
purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5 [https]
Multidisciplinary approach
0601 history and archaeology
Biology (General)
humans
Group level
Active group
geography.geographical_feature_category
060102 archaeology
biology
General Neuroscience
human footprints
06 humanities and the arts
General Medicine
Italy
dog
Social relationship
Medicine
Upper Paleolithic
fossils
bear
Research Article
cave use
010506 paleontology
human locomotion
QH301-705.5
Science
Trace fossil
General Biochemistry
Genetics and Molecular Biology
Human footprints
Prehistory
morphometric analysis
Cave
Group (stratigraphy)
human
Sedimentology
purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 [https]
Morphometric analysis
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
geography
Fossil Record
General Immunology and Microbiology
evolutionary biology
Human locomotion
biology.organism_classification
Archaeology
Northern italy
human activities
paleontology
Cave bear
Finger flutings
Zdroj: CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
instacron:CONICET
eLife, Vol 8 (2019)
eLife
Popis: Based on the integration of laser scans, sedimentology, geochemistry, archeobotany, geometric morphometrics and photogrammetry, here we present evidence testifying that a Palaeolithic group of people explored a deep cave in northern Italy about 14 ky cal. BP. Ichnological data enable us to shed light on individual and group level behavior, social relationship, and mode of exploration of the uneven terrain. Five individuals, two adults, an adolescent and two children, entered the cave barefoot and illuminated the way with a bunch of wooden sticks. Traces of crawling locomotion are documented for the first time in the global human ichnological record. Anatomical details recognizable in the crawling traces show that no clothing was present between limbs and the trampled sediments. Our study demonstrates that very young children (the youngest about 3 years old) were active members of the Upper Palaeolithic populations, even in apparently dangerous and social activities.
eLife digest The fossil traces of Stone Age humans and other animals in the Grotta della Bàsura cave system in Italy have been studied since the 1950s. Italian archaeologist Virginia Chiappella published the first studies; she documented bones from an extinct cave bear, human and animal footprints, charcoal from torches, finger marks, and lumps of clay stuck on the walls. Since then, many more archeologists and anthropologists have studied the cave and its fossils. Yet there are still lessons to be learned from this prehistoric site. Now, Romano et al. have combined a number of different approaches and used some of the latest technology and cutting-edge software to analyze 180 footprints and other tracks found in the cave. These trace fossils date to about 14,000 years ago, and the analysis revealed that they were left by a group of Stone Age humans who descended at least 400 meters into the cave. The group consisted of two adults, an adolescent and two children of about three and six years old. At one point they had to crawl through a low tunnel – something that has not previously been documented in the fossil record. The group were all barefoot, had no clothing on their arms and legs and used wooden torches to light the way. Together, these findings suggest that young children were active group members during the late Stone Age, even when carrying out apparently dangerous activities. Romano et al. now hope that their multidisciplinary approach may help other scientists looking to understand how humans behaved elsewhere in the world at various points in history.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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