Human settlement and vegetation-climate relationships in the Greenland Stadial 5 at the Piovesello site (Northern Apennines, Italy)

Bibliographic Data

ID24087092
AuthorsM Peresani (0000-0001-6562-6336, University of Ferrara, corresponding author), Cesare Ravazzi (0000-0002-2311-484X, Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes), Roberta Pini (0000-0002-6408-0850, Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes), Davide Margaritora (0000-0003-1436-4588, University of Ferrara), Arianna Cocilova (University of Ferrara), Davide Delpiano (0000-0001-8950-1466, University of Ferrara), Stefano Bertola (University of Ferrara), Lorenzo Castellano (0000-0003-4076-7145, Institute of the Black World), Fabio Fogliazza, Gabriele Martino (Metropolitana Milanese (Italy)), Cristiano Nicosia (0000-0002-4716-8893, University of Padua), Patrick Simon (0009-0004-2505-6411)
Year2018
Volume90
Issue3
Pages503-528
Publication date2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuaternary Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-5894 • E-ISSN: 1096-0287
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/qua.2018.76
OpenAlexW2897411755
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited63

The Gravettian settlements of Europe are considered as an expression of human adaptation to harsh climates. In Southern Europe, however, favorable vegetation-climate conditions supported hunters-gatherer subsistence and the maintenance of their large-scale networks. This was also the case of the North-Adriatic plain and the Apennine mountain ridge in Italy. Traditionally considered lacking evidence, the northern part of the Apennine ridge has recently yielded the Early Gravettian site of Piovesello, located at 870 m a.s.l. Survey and excavation revealed lithic artifacts in primary position embedded in loamy sediments. Radiocarbon dating, anthracological and extended palynological and microcharcoal analyses have been integrated to reconstruct the palaeoecological context of this camp which was probably positioned above the timberline in an arid rocky landscape, bounding the fronts of local glaciers close to their maximum expansion at the time of Greenland Stadial (GS) 5 (32.04 - 28.9 ka cal BP). Human activity left ephemeral traces represented by lithic artefacts, charcoal, and the introduction of radiolarites from sources in proximity to the site and of chert from very far western sources. Evidence from Piovesello contributes to the reconstruction of human and vegetation ecology during Late Pleistocene glaciations and also provides hints for the historical biogeography of petrophytic plants and their orographic relics in the northern Apennine.

Archaeology · Context (archaeology) · Geography · Holocene · Macrofossil · Palynology · Physical geography · Pleistocene · Radiocarbon dating · Ridge · Stadial · Vegetation (pathology) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Geology · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology