Paleoenvironmental context of the early Neanderthals of Poggetti Vecchi for the late middle Pleistocene of Central Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Benvenuti ◽  
Jean-Jacques Bahain ◽  
Chiara Capalbo ◽  
Chiara Capretti ◽  
Francesco Ciani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Sedimentary Facies ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
New Information ◽  
Cold Episode ◽  
Procurement Strategies

AbstractWork on thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi in Grosseto, Italy, exposed an up to 3-meter-thick succession of seven sedimentary units. Unit 2 in the lower portion of the succession contained vertebrate bones, mostly of the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, commingled with stone, bone, and wooden tools. Thermal carbonates overlying Unit 2 are radiometrically dated to the latter part of the middle Pleistocene. This time span indicates that early Neanderthals produced the human artifacts from Poggetti Vecchi. The elephant bones belong to seven individuals of different ages. Sedimentary facies analysis and paleoecological evidence suggest a narrow lacustrine-palustrine embayment affected by water-level fluctuations and, at times, by hydrothermal water. Cyclic lake-level variations were predominantly forced by the rapid climatic fluctuations that occurred at Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6–7 transition and throughout the MIS 6. Possibly an abrupt, intense, and protracted cold episode during the onset of MIS 6 led to the sudden death of the elephants, which formed an unexpected food resource for the humans of the area. The Poggetti Vecchi site adds new information on the behavioral plasticity and food procurement strategies that early Neanderthals were able to develop in Italy during the middle to the late Pleistocene transition.

Sedimentology, faunal content and pollen record of Middle Pleistocene palustrine and lagoonal sediments from the Peri-Adriatic basin, Abruzzi, eastern central Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierluigi Pieruccini ◽  
Claudio Di Celma ◽  
Federico Di Rita ◽  
Donatella Magri ◽  
Giorgio Carnevale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Freshwater Wetlands ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Facies Succession

AbstractA 25 m-thick outcrop section exposed at Torre Mucchia, on the sea-cliff north of Ortona, eastern central Italy, comprises a rare Middle Pleistocene succession of shallow-water and paralic sediments along the western Adriatic Sea. An integrated study of the section, including facies and microfacies analyses, and characterization of paleobiological associations (mollusks, fishes, ostracods, foraminifers and pollen), enable a detailed reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions during deposition. The shallow-water deposits include a transgressive, deepening- and fining-upward shoreface to offshore-transition facies succession overlain by a regressive shoreface-foreshore sandstone body with an erosive base and a rooted and pedogenically altered horizon at the top that imply deposition during sea-level fall. This forced regressive unit is overlain by paralic strata forming a transgressive succession comprising palustrine carbonates and back-barrier lagoonal mudstones. The palustrine carbonates exhibit some of the typical features encountered in palustrine limestones deposited within seasonal freshwater wetlands (marl prairies). Following the sea-level rising trend, the freshwater marshes were abruptly replaced by a barrier-lagoon system that allowed deposition of the overlying mud-rich unit. Within these deposits, the faunal assemblages are consistent with a low-energy brackish environment characterized by a relatively high degree of confinement. The pollen record documents the development of open forest vegetation dominated by Pinus and accompanied by a number of mesophilous and thermophilous tree taxa, whose composition supports a tentative correlation with Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 17. The new pollen record from Torre Mucchia improves our understanding of the vegetation development in the Italian Peninsula during the Middle Pleistocene and sheds new light on the role played by the most marked glacial periods in determining the history of tree taxa.

Ungulate dietary adaptations and palaeoecology of the Middle Pleistocene site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni, Central Italy)

2018 ◽  
Vol 496 ◽  
pp. 238-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Strani ◽  
Daniel DeMiguel ◽  
Fabio Bona ◽  
Raffaele Sardella ◽  
Italo Biddittu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Middle Pleistocene

Stratigraphy and sedimentary process in a closed-basin lake in Central Italy during the Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Gravina ◽  
Beatrice Moroni ◽  
Riccardo Vivani ◽  
Alessandro Ludovisi ◽  
Roberta Selvaggi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Lake Sediments ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Climate Variations ◽  
Sedimentary Process ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Precipitation Processes

<p>Shallow and closed lakes are affected by meteorological and climate variations and are especially sensitive to the change in their hydrological balance. In central Italy, there is the fourth-largest lake of the country, the Trasimeno Lake, whose water level has undergone various fluctuations over the centuries with alternation of flood and drought periods because of its shallow depth and the absence of natural outflows [1].</p><p>Sediment archives are used as information records to study chemical, physical, and biological environmental variations and changes in the hydrological budget driven by climatic fluctuations, but this is particularly complicated in shallow lakes due to the multiple perturbative phenomena. A robust study depends on the ability to obtain valid high-resolution geochemical data from lake sediments.</p><p>We conducted high-resolution geochemical analysis on three sediment cores about 1 meter long each, collected in Lake Trasimeno. We sectioned at 1  or 2 cm interval, which provided a detailed characterization of the significant changes in lacustrine processes that occurred in the basin during the Anthropocene (~last 150 years) [2], combining quantitative chemical (ICP-OES) and semi-quantitative (XRD and SEM) investigations. Geochemical variables are used as paleolimnological proxies to reconstruct past lake events that occurred within the water column. In particular, we report the study of the endogenic precipitates characteristic of the Trasimeno sediments, whose precipitation processes have been influenced by water fluctuations and anthropogenic impacts.</p><p>Given the strong presence of water fluctuations, the investigation period was divided into three distinct phases related to the lake's hydrometric state and characterized by sedimentary compounds of different nature. The endogenic carbonate compounds of calcite (commonly present in the Trasimeno sediments) contain a different Mg percentage during the different hydrometric phases. The lake sediments are particularly rich in Mg-calcite due to both water level changes and biological effects. Moreover, co-precipitation of non-crystalline Ca-P compounds (e.g., apatite type) has been detected during a hydrometric phase characterized by high microorganisms activity. Precipitation processes were triggered in Trasimeno by the growth of nutrient discharge into the lake (since the 1970s) and are currently studied for their importance in controlling eutrophication phenomena.</p><p>In conclusion, our findings show that rapid lake responses to water fluctuations and climate variations were transcribed within the sedimentary stratigraphic archives, which underlines their value and high quality in paleoenvironmental and paleohydrological reconstruction.</p><p>References:</p><p>[1] Frondini, Dragoni, Morgantini, Donnini, Cardellini, Caliro, Melillo, and Chiodini (2019). An En-dorheic Lake in a Changing Climate: Geochemical Investigations at Lake Trasimeno (Italy).Water, 11(7):1319.</p><p> [2] Gaino, E., Scoccia, F., Piersanti, S., Rebora, M., Bellucci, L. G., and Ludovisi, A. (2012). Spiculerecords of Ephydatia fluviatilis as a proxy for hydrological and environmental changes inthe shallow Lake Trasimeno (Umbria, Italy). Hydrobiologia, 679(1):139–153.</p>

scholarly journals The Provenance of Marbles and Alabasters Used in the Monuments of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey): New Information from a Systematic Review and Integration of Archaeological and Archaeometric Data

Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 519-552
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Scardozzi
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Building Stone ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
New Information ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
Procurement Strategies ◽  
The City ◽  
Chronological Time

Determining the provenance of the stones used for ancient architectures is very important in order to reconstruct many social and economic questions linked to the life of a city. This paper integrates previous and new archaeometric data about marble and alabaster quarries in south-western Phrygia (Lykos valley), and offers a review of some results of the research activities carried out between the years 2013–2018 and aimed to reconstruct the building stone procurement strategies adopted in the city of Hierapolis in Phrygia across a broad chronological time span from the Hellenistic age to the Byzantine period. The research activities based on a multidisciplinary approach, integrating the archaeological and art-historian study of the monuments, the topographical investigation of the quarries, and the archaeometric characterisation both of extraction sites and marbles and alabasters used in the building sites of the urban area and in the necropolises.

scholarly journals Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and archaeology of Middle Pleistocene localities near Ceprano, Campogrande area, Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 155-171
Author(s):  
Italo Biddittu ◽  
Marie-Hélène Moncel ◽  
Salvatore Milli ◽  
Luca Bellucci ◽  
Massimo Ruffo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Homo Heidelbergensis ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Meandering Channel ◽  
Human Fossil ◽  
Fossil Specimen ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Late Middle Pleistocene

AbstractThe Ceprano human calvarium, dated around 400,000 yr, is a well-known fossil specimen. It represents significant evidence of hominin presence in the Italian peninsula during the Middle Pleistocene and may be considered representative of an archaic variant of the widespread and polymorphic species Homo heidelbergensis. Since its discovery (March 1994), systematic surveys in the Campogrande area near Ceprano, central Italy, identified 12 localities (CG1-12) with archaeological and/or paleontological assemblages. On this basis, fieldwork was carried out at Campogrande between 2001 and 2006, including drilled cores and excavations, allowing a detailed description of the stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context associated with the human fossil specimen and the archaeological materials. In the present paper we focus on the stratigraphy and sedimentological features of the uppermost deposits, coupled with a detailed appraisal of the available lithic assemblages that mostly belongs to overlying sediments (CG9 and CG10 localities). We conclude that the Ceprano hominin died in a floodplain environment with a low topographic gradient, where a fluvial meandering channel occurred. The archaeological materials describe a network of sites that document common behavioural features of human groups of the mid-to-late Middle Pleistocene, representing evidence of the regionalization observed across Europe after Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 12.

Lateglacial and early-Holocene palaeohydrological changes in the upper reaches of the Ūla River: An example from southeastern Lithuania

The Holocene ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauras Balakauskas ◽  
Julius Taminskas ◽  
Jonas Mažeika ◽  
Miglė Stančikaitė
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Loss On Ignition ◽  
Capture Event ◽  
River Capture ◽  
New Information ◽  
Aeolian Sediments ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Weichselian Glaciation

A reconstructed pattern of Lateglacial and Holocene hydrological changes in the area of the former lakes Dūbas, Pelesa and Matara is presented. The investigated basin is situated in southeastern Lithuania, beyond the marginal ridge of the Weichselian Glaciation, on the margin of the sandy plain that is the watershed between the Ūla and Katra rivers. Pollen analysis, radiocarbon dating, loss-on-ignition measurements and GIS-based simulation of water level fluctuations have been applied in order to obtain new information on the development of the Ūla–Katra watershed area. The results of multiproxy investigations revealed the history of the development and extinction of Dūbas, Pelesa and Matara lakes. A single basin, covering a large part of the study area, had formed after the retreat of the continental ice sheet from southeastern Lithuania. This basin was divided into three separate lakes during the Allerød Interstadial as a result of a drop in water level. Blocking of the drainage by aeolian sediments around the early Boreal caused another rise in the water-table and the successive merging of the separate lakes. Probably as a result of river capture, the single lake was drained abruptly after c. 2000 years. Another river-capture event in the 19th century caused abrupt drainage of the study area, which led to the final extinction of the three lakes.

Tree-ring analysis of wetlands of the upper St. Lawrence River, Quebec: response to hydrology and climate

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 482-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Jean ◽  
André Bouchard
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Water Level Fluctuations ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Climatic Variations ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Growth Variation ◽  
St Lawrence River

A dendrochronological analysis of three tree species colonizing a swamp along the St. Lawrence River was undertaken to (a) study the extent to which water-level fluctuations have an impact on tree growth in comparison to climatic variations; (b) compare the responses of three species (Acerrubrum L., Larixlaricina (Du Roi) K. Koch, and Thujaoccidentalis L.) with hydrologic and climatic variations; and (c) examine the duration of the influence of water-level fluctuations on tree growth. Tree cores from 78 stands were cross-dated and verified with COFECHA and a master chronology for each species was produced using ARSTAN. Response function analyses were used to measure the influence of climate (temperature and precipitation) and water level on tree growth. Water-level fluctuations have a significant influence on A. rubrum growth, accounting for 30% of the tree growth variation. A significant relationship exists between L. laricina and water-level fluctuations, but only 9% of the tree growth is explained by hydrology. No significant relationship was found between water levels and T. occidentalis growth. Climatic fluctuations are a more important influence on growth for all three species, accounting for 46% to 51% of the tree growth variation not explained by water levels.

Inversion tectonics during post-orogenic extensional collapse: a comparison between ancient (North Sea, UK) and recent (Fucino Basin, central Apennines Apennines) intermontane systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Patruno ◽  
Vittorio Scisciani
Keyword(s):  
Gravitational Collapse ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Coupled Analysis ◽  
Inversion Tectonics ◽  
Central Apennines ◽  
The North ◽  
Fucino Basin ◽  
Extensional Collapse

<p>Post-orogenetic extensional/gravitational collapse events constitute a relatively poorly understood tectonic process, which is responsible for the quick and effective dismantling of the thickened crust and topographic bulge of fold-and-thrust belt edifices. These events are also responsible for the accumulation of very thick post-orogenetic successions and, in case of active extension, may trigger moderate to strong earthquakes resulting in obvious seismic hazards (e.g., the 1915 Mg 7.0 Fucino earthquake in Central Italy, which caused 30,000 victims)</p><p>Here, we combine seismic interpretation coupled with well analyses, basin modelling and a thorough literature review, in order to compare an ancient and a modern example of study areas subject to post-orogenetic collapse. The Devonian-age Old Red Sandstones of north-western Europe and ?Plio-Quaternary fill of the Fucino intramontane extensional basin in the central Apennines (Italy) share several stratigraphic, depositional and tectonic characteristics. Both are characterized by remarkably similar seismic-stratigraphic architecture (with syn-depositional half-grabens) and maximum thickness of >1,500 metres. In the Fucino, the border faults associated to the main tectonic depocentres achieved maximum throw rates of 1,000-1,400 mm/kyr.</p><p>Both units comprise thick continental siliciclastic successions, dominated by lacustrine and alluvial to fluvio-deltaic facies. The facies architecture reveals a progressive transition from localized, fault-bounded depocentres to transgressive lacustrine successions in wider basins that are less reliant on the sole fault-driven subsidence. The studied units were deposited due to high and quick tectonic subsidence which took place very shortly after the end (or during?) of crustal shortening processes (respectively Caledonian and Apenninic orogenesis) and in a post-orogenic collapse context.</p><p>In both study areas, the sedimentation of the thick continental units are intimately associated to a polyphase inversion tectonics, with pre-existing inherited deep-seated discontinuities affected, in places, first by a positive and subsequently by a negative reactivation during the extensional collapse. A further element common in the two study areas, is a strike-slip or oblique tectonics occurring during or immediately prior to the extensional collapse achieved by the normal faulting. This has been interpreted as a consequence of the gradual rotation of the stress vectors around their axes, culminating in the relaxation of the horizontal compressive stress and the onset of the post-orogenetic extensional/gravitational collapse process itself. For example, in the Fucino Basin, maximum Plio-Quaternary sediment thicknesses of >1700 m occur in two tectonic depocentres, situated respectively to the north and east of the basin. In contrast, the south-eastern striking dip-slip border faults bounding the eastern edge of the Fucino show maximum slip rates in the Lower-Middle Pleistocene, with evidence (e.g., Gioia dei Marsi) for a very recent activity, possibly linked with the 1915 seismic event.</p><p>The study of post-orogenic extensional collapse by comparison of ancient and recent basins suggest that in these settings poly-phase tectonic inversion commonly occurs and promote multiple reactivation of inherited zones of weakness. The comprehension of the common and dissimilar features, may be fundamental to better understand the mechanism and evolution of post-orogenic chain reworking and for natural resources and geological hazards assessment, including earthquakes. The coupled analysis of an ancient and recent example enables just that.</p>

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