Chronometric data and stratigraphic evidence support discontinuity between Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens in the Italian Peninsula
The process by which Palaeolithic Europe was transformed from a Neanderthal-dominated region to one occupied exclusively by Homo sapiens has proven challenging to diagnose. A blurred chronology has made it difficult to determine when Neanderthals disappeared and whether modern humans overlapped with them. Italy is a crucial region because here we can identify not only Late Mousterian industries, assumed to be associated with Neanderthals, but also early Upper Palaeolithic industries linked with the appearance of early H. sapiens, such as the Uluzzian and the Aurignacian. Here, we present a chronometric dataset of 105 new determinations (74 radiocarbon and 31 luminescence ages) from four key southern Italian sites: Cavallo, Castelcivita, Cala, and Oscurusciuto. We built Bayesian-based chronometric models incorporating these results alongside the relative stratigraphic sequences at each site. The results suggest; 1) that the disappearance of Neanderthals probably pre-dated the appearance of early modern humans in the region and; 2) that there was a partial overlap in the chronology of the Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian, suggesting that these industries may have been produced by different human groups in Europe.
Authors
- Katerina Douka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0558-0011)
- Annamaria Ronchitelli
- Vincenzo Spagnolo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2090-0260)
- Stefano Benazzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4305-6920)
- Ivan Martini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4629-9784)
- Jean‐Luc Schwenninger
- Simona Arrighi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0168-8639)
- Jacopo Crezzini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5888-082X)
- Thibaut Devièse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0495-7398)
- Giulia Marciani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8384-8581)
- Thomas Higham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5949-598X)
- Matteo Rossini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2279-5055)
- Francesco Boschin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5795-9050)
- Clarissa Dominici (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5787-7178)
- Marine Frouin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5299-1203)
- Paolo Boscato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5715-4789)
- Armando Falcucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3255-1005)
- Adriana Moroni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3623-9446)
- Maxine McCarty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9647-875X)
Institutions
- University of Siena (IT)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Vienna (AT)
- Collège de France (FR)
- Aix-Marseille Université (FR)
- Institute of Human Sciences (AT)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Centre de Recherche et d’Enseignement de Géosciences de l’Environnement (FR)
- Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes (IT)
- Oxford Archaeology (GB)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Stony Brook University (US)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51546-9
- Citations
- 22
- Primary Topic
- Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 81.82
Funders
- National Geographic Society
- Università degli Studi di Siena
- University of Oxford
- European Commission
- Universität Wien