Les occupations gravettiennes de la Grotte Santa Maria di Agnano (Pouilles, Italie) – Zone SMA-Esterno : typo-technologie lithique et archéozoologie

Abstract

The Gravettian in Apulia constitutes a singular cultural entity in the context of the prehistoric chrono-cultures of Upper Paleolithic in Italy. This situation can particularly be observed in the Gravettian sequence of the Paglicci cave on Mount Gargano, the lithic series of which show an original development. In the very heart of Apulia, until recently, no field for comparison could be found for the time sequence of the Paglicci cave. But the recent discovery of Gravettian occupation in the stratigraphic sequence of the SMA-external area of Santa Maria di Agnano makes it possible to revisit the status of the Paglicci cave, but also to clarify the specific characters of the Gravettian in Apulia. The lithic industry of SU 9-6 of SMA-Esterno is characterized by the presence of many burins on retouched truncation associated with straight backed points, Gravette or Vachons type. This association reminds us of the assemblage of Paglicci layer 21, attributed to Middle Gravettian. C14 datings for both sites match. Finally, at the base of the Gravettian SMA sequence, SU 11 provided large dihedral burins matching those found Paglicci layers 23-22 attributed to ancient Gravettian. The preliminary zooarchaeological study was carried out on a sample of 2007 remains of large mammals. In total, 816 taxinomic and anatomic remains (NRDt) could be identified, i.e. a 40.7% determination rate. The faunic spectrum consists of 10 taxons, among which 4 species of carnivores (leopard, wolf, fox, badger), 5 ungulates (horse, aurochs, ibex, deer and wild boar) and 1 leporid (hare). Ungulates prevail, as far as remains (98.7% of NRDt) or the minimum number of individuals (82.4% of NMI total) are concerned. Taphonomic analyses indicate that bones were not subject to deep post-depositional modifications. Consequences of weathering are visible on 17% of the cortical surfaces. Non-anthropic biological modifications are scarce: 13% of the material were impacted by roots and 0.7% show the results of carnivorous activity. The hare may be the only species, among herbivores, that was accumulated by a carnivore. The analysis of bone fractures and the traces left by the edge of a lithic tool reveal that the bone material was essentially accumulated and modified by human groups. Hunting is clearly aimed at both Horses (Equus caballus) and Aurochs (Bos primigenius), with occasional Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), Wild Boar (Sus s. scrofa) and Ibex (Capra ibex). The individuals represented are mainly sub-adults and mature adults. The human groups living on the site probably got their meat resources from the plain bordering the Adriatic shore and the vast, more or less flat, plateau overlooking the site. According to the skeleton representations in which the stylopod and zeugopod prevailed, after an initial treatment at the slaughter site, the Gravettians carried the most nutritious parts to the camp. The study of human activities indicates extensive processing of carcasses for their meat and extraction of marrow from long bones. Finally, specific research for fat from the cancellous tissue of the epiphyses of both long and short bones is proposed.