The site of Isernia La Pineta has provided a large quantity of information using an interdisciplinary approach. This has allowed the reconstruction in detail of the activities of a human group and the environment in which they took place around 700,000 years ago. Among the four living floors, 3a of the first sector has a particular significance, both because it is the best known and because it is rich in finds. This palaeosurface is dated to 736,000+ 40,000 yrs, and belongs to a complex stratigraphic series characterised by fluvial and lacustrine deposits, travertine and volcanic tuffs. The faunal remains are predominantly bison, elephant and rhinoceros. Less common are megaceros, red deer, fallow deer, thar and hippopotamus. Amongst the carnivores, bear is common, and lion is known from a single ferine tooth. Impact areas caused by intentional fracturing are evident on a great number of bones, characterised by a concave pattern with the detachment of small flakes from the ventral surface. Striations related to butchery with lithic instruments are sometimes visible. With regard to the lithic industry, it has been pointed out more than once that there is a clear dichotomy in the use of raw materials: limestone and flint. The flint has often been worked using the anvil technique in order to produce the greatest possible number of flakes, even the smallest of which were used in subsistence activities as demonstrated by SEM microwear analysis. Amongst the limestone artefacts, choppers and rabots have been identified. The detailed study of the distribution of faunal remains and lithics on the archaeosurfaces of the Middle Pleistocene site of Isernia La Pineta, which has been carried out with the supply of informatic technologies has contributed to clarify the behavioural strategies performed by the human groups who lived in the Isernia basin. This study has also allowed to propose an original pattern concerning food procurement strategies, thus helping to understand in which way the role of Isernia within the early phase of european human population.
Middle Pleistocene behavioural strategies: the contribution of Isernia La Pineta site (Molise, Italy)
PERETTO, Carlo;ARZARELLO, Marta;GALLOTTI, Rosalia;LEMBO, Giuseppe;THUN HOHENSTEIN, Ursula
2004
Abstract
The site of Isernia La Pineta has provided a large quantity of information using an interdisciplinary approach. This has allowed the reconstruction in detail of the activities of a human group and the environment in which they took place around 700,000 years ago. Among the four living floors, 3a of the first sector has a particular significance, both because it is the best known and because it is rich in finds. This palaeosurface is dated to 736,000+ 40,000 yrs, and belongs to a complex stratigraphic series characterised by fluvial and lacustrine deposits, travertine and volcanic tuffs. The faunal remains are predominantly bison, elephant and rhinoceros. Less common are megaceros, red deer, fallow deer, thar and hippopotamus. Amongst the carnivores, bear is common, and lion is known from a single ferine tooth. Impact areas caused by intentional fracturing are evident on a great number of bones, characterised by a concave pattern with the detachment of small flakes from the ventral surface. Striations related to butchery with lithic instruments are sometimes visible. With regard to the lithic industry, it has been pointed out more than once that there is a clear dichotomy in the use of raw materials: limestone and flint. The flint has often been worked using the anvil technique in order to produce the greatest possible number of flakes, even the smallest of which were used in subsistence activities as demonstrated by SEM microwear analysis. Amongst the limestone artefacts, choppers and rabots have been identified. The detailed study of the distribution of faunal remains and lithics on the archaeosurfaces of the Middle Pleistocene site of Isernia La Pineta, which has been carried out with the supply of informatic technologies has contributed to clarify the behavioural strategies performed by the human groups who lived in the Isernia basin. This study has also allowed to propose an original pattern concerning food procurement strategies, thus helping to understand in which way the role of Isernia within the early phase of european human population.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
