Neanderthal child and adult remains from a Mousterian deposit in Northern Italy (Caverna delle fate, finale ligure)

Abstract

Recent identification of human skeletal material from the early Würmian bone assemblage found in the Caverna delle Fate, Finale Ligure, N. Italy, at the end of the 19th century has provided the first certain Neanderthalian remains of Northern Italy. A frontal bone fragment (Le Fate I) and a hemimandible (Le Fate II) are from an 8–10-year-old child and add to the as yet scanty knowledge of Neanderthal infant morphology. The third fragment (Le Fate III) (mandible fragment) is from an adult. Evolutionary trends involving several morphological features and in apparent contrast with the absolute age of the specimens (75,000−14,000+21,000 and 82,000−25,00036,000 yr B.P., as calculated by direct non-destructive high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry of the bones from the 231Pa/235U and from the 230Th/234U ratios respectively) are described. The data as a whole lend further support to the suggestion that a Mediterranean Neanderthal population may have existed.