Human adaptations to climatic change in Liguria across the Middle–Upper Paleolithic transition

Abstract

ABSTRACTThere has been much focus on the disruptive effects of dramatic climatic shifts on Paleolithic population dynamics, but the topic of cultural continuity across such events has been less intensely investigated, despite its importance to the way archeologists think about the ways humans have interacted with their environment in the past. This paper presents data from western Liguria (Italy) and especially the site of Riparo Bombrini, to investigate the nature of the apparent resilience of the Proto‐Aurignacian technocomplex in the face of the Phlegrean Fields super‐eruption ca. 40 000 cal a BP and the general climatic instability during Marine Isotope Stage 3. While the Proto‐Aurignacian shows some internal variability that could reflect an adaptation to changing environmental conditions, overall it remains very stable in terms of its techno‐typology and social geography across these events. Additionally, the radiocarbon chronology for the site clearly shows that the Proto‐Aurignacian outlasts both the super‐eruption and Heinrich Event 4 as a whole, by as much as 2000 years. Comparisons with the regional Mousterian record indicate that the Proto‐Aurignacian marks the advent of a new way for humans to respond to climatic change, which opens up new avenues to reflect on the disappearance of the Mousterian.