A stable isotope study of fossil mammal remains from the Paglicci cave, southern Italy, 13 to 33 ka BP: palaeoclimatological considerations

Abstract

A set of 102 samples of fossil skeletal remains of mammals from a sediment sequence from the Paglicci cave in southern Italy, was studied for the oxygen isotopic composition of bone and tooth phosphate. The samples belong to Cervus elaphus, Bos primigenius and Equus caballus and come from various levels of a succession spanning about 33 to 13 ka BP (calibrated 14C ages). On the basis of X-ray diffraction studies on every sample, most of them show no evidence of recrystallisation and may thus be considered reliable for isotopic study. δ 18O p values range from 16.8%o to 20.5%o (V-SMOW). Cervus and Bos samples show trends in their isotopic values that are similar to each other. The δ 18O w calculated from their δ 18O p P values, using previously established equations, form sections of a climatic curve that agree quite well with the palaeoclimatological curve obtained from the GRIP ice core, despite minor differences in the timing and intensity of some climatic events. Despite the relatively low latitude of the area and its central position in the Mediterranean basin, we may conclude that major climatic changes left their signature on the isotopic composition of the samples studied.