The Pirro Nord site (Apricena, Fg, Southern Italy) in the context of the first European peopling: Convergences and divergences

Abstract

Pirro Nord, located in Apricena, Southern Italy, represents one of the earliest records of hominin dispersal into Europe. The site is dated on a biochronological basis between 1.6 and 1.3 Ma and a significant vertebrate assemblage (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit) is associated with lithic artefacts which show many similarities with more or less contemporaneous lithic assemblages in Europe and with the African Mode 1.Since 2006, 340 artefacts have been found in the Pirro 13 fissure, and the lithic series is considered as a homogenous assemblage in terms of taphonomical, technological and raw material characteristics. Flint is the main raw material and the available and exploited flint cobbles and pebbles have different morphologies and sizes. The raw material has been collected in a secondary position near the actual location of the deposit.Two main reduction sequences have been performed by hominins in Pirro Nord: an “opportunistic” debitage, with multiple striking platforms in order to produce flakes of different morphologies including some “debordant” flakes and at least one cutting edge, and a “centripetal” or convergent debitage for the production of flakes with convergent cutting edges. The “opportunistic” approach has been adopted for the reduction of the largest flint cobbles and the polyhedral pebbles/cobbles. This method is considered as an adaptation to the raw material shape. The debitage is always made by direct percussion and hard hammer. Most of the cores are abandoned non-exhausted. In some rare cases, the use of flint pebbles of poor quality is also documented and seems to be the result of a very opportunistic and expeditious behaviour. Four flakes are retouched and are from an advanced phase of the debitage.The patterns from Pirro Nord fit well with the technological features provided by most of the European Mode 1 sites. Some peculiar features may be observed, possibly due to the main use of flint. The site with the highest similarities with Pirro Nord is Cà Belvedere di, possibly because the raw materials are ovoid flint pebbles. The lithic strategies at Pirro Nord are characterized, (1) by “opportunistic” and expedient behaviour adapted to the raw material constraints, suggested by the very short reduction sequences and by the non-exhaustion of the cores and, (2) by a series of products (pointed flakes) that appears to indicate a presumable intentionality.