Changing mobility patterns at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Lower limb biomechanics of Italian Gravettian and Mesolithic individuals

Changes in human adaptations, including biological traits, appear to have been influenced by the major climatic shift at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 20,000 years BP). Previous studies on lower limb biomechanics recognized a general trend towards a reduction in mobility levels from the Mid Upper to the Late Upper Palaeolithic. However, the influence of changing mobility types and levels on the postcranium might be more complex than previously recognized. In addition, mobility could change in more subtle ways than simply increasing or decreasing, for example when human groups change their terrain of choice for subsistence activities. This chapter focuses on the Gravettian individuals from Grimaldi caves (north-western coast of Italy) and Mesolithic from Mezzocorona, Mondeval da Sora, and Vatte di Zambana (north-east of Italy), and further investigates the issue of mobility changes as inferred from lower limb skeletal properties using a multivariate approach. Results show no clear differences in biomechanical patterns between the Middle and Late Upper Palaeolithic: most individuals resemble modern runners in a multivariate setting. In addition, results suggest that the level of mechanical strains that prehistoric people were subject to largely surpasses what a modern athlete could experience. Mesolithic individuals do not appear sedentary, but all of the three individuals show pathological conditions or trauma that could have affected their gait.