Neanderthal ecology and the exploitation of cervids and bovids at the onset of MIS4: A study on De Nadale cave, Italy

Abstract

North-eastern Italy was a familiar region for Neanderthal groups, as attested by over 20 Middle Palaeolithic multi-layered sites in caves, rockshelters and at the open, investigated during the last decades. Of this large record, evidence pointing for human frequentation during to the Marine Isotopic Stage 4 is documented at a very ephemeral level. Here we contribute to shed light on a so sparse context through the presentation of De Nadale Cave, a single-layered Quina Mousterian site located in the Berici Hills and dated to 70.2 + 1/-0.9 ka BP. In the following article, zooarchaeological results are presented with important implications in hunting behaviour and subsistence strategies. The scarcity of comparative data from MIS 4 sites in continental and peninsular Italy does not provide hints for evaluating the significance of De Nadale in Neanderthal land-use, rather discussing differences on a diachronic scale with MIS 3 Middle Palaeolithic archaeofaunal assemblages in the same region.