Arene Candide Cave Research Articles

Human remains from Arma di Nasino (Liguria) provide novel insights into the paleoecology of early Holocene foragers in northwestern Italy

We report the discovery and analysis of new Mesolithic human remains—dated to ca. 10,200–9000 cal. BP—from Arma di Nasino in Liguria, northwestern Italy, an area rich in Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic attestations, but for which little information on Early Holocene occupation was available. The multi-proxy isotopic profile of the two individuals reveals that—despite the proximity of the site to the Mediterranean seashore and the use of shellfish as decorative elements in burials—the ecology of these foragers was based on the exploitation of high-altitude resources, presumably in the nearby western Alps. This constitutes the first direct evidence in northwestern Italy of a significant ecological shift towards higher altitudes following deglaciation, especially when compared to isotopic data of the Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from the nearby site of Arene Candide Cave, who exploited terrestrial resources nearer to the coast and at lower altitudes. While the biochemistry of Nasino’s skeletal assemblage revealed new details on Early Holocene lifeways in the area, the osteobiography of one individual offers glimpses into the life experience of a specific female forager, depicting a scenario of early skeletal trauma, developmental disturbances, long-term impairments, and resilience amongst the last European hunter-gatherers.

New human remains from the Late Epigravettian necropolis of Arene Candide (Liguria, northwestern Italy): Direct radiocarbon evidence and inferences on the funerary use of the cave during the Younger Dryas

The Arene Candide Cave is a renowned site on the northwestern Italian coast that has yielded numerous burials dating back to the terminal phases of the Pleistocene (Epigravettian culture). Thanks to the exceptional preservation of the remains, and to the information collected during the excavations that begun in the 1940s, researchers were able to reconstruct a complex pattern of manipulation of older burials that consistently occurred when interring new individuals. Therefore, the Epigravettian necropolis provides a rare glimpse into the modalities, and possibly the motives, of funerary behavior in the Late Upper Paleolithic, a period during which formal burial was highly selective. The reasons for this selection are still unclear, but it has been proposed that they may be related to “exceptional events” (violence and trauma) and “exceptional people” (disease and deformities due to congenital conditions).This study presents an assemblage of hundreds of skeletal elements and fragments belonging to two new individuals, and to individuals of the necropolis that were already known. The remains, which had never been described since their excavation in 1940–42, were discovered during the reassessment of the collections kept at the Museum of Natural History, Section of Anthropology and Ethnology of the University of Florence.The analysis extends our knowledge of the biological profile of the individuals buried at the site, which is fundamental for our understanding of Late Upper Paleolithic funerary behavior. The inclusion of two new individuals in the skeletal series, both children aged around 1–1.5 years, suggests that age may have not been a significant factor in determining funerary treatment.New radiocarbon dates on human bone – together with the cross-referencing of the available dates with the stratigraphic relations between burials and clusters of bones in secondary deposit – suggest that the entire necropolis is bracketed within a millennium corresponding to the Younger Dryas cooling event (i.e. between ca. 12,900 and 11,600 cal BP). Arene Candide Cave was a highly-visible landmark in the landscape, and funerary gestures in the Epigravettian necropolis emphasized the ties with the ancestors. It is possible that funerary behavior at Arene Candide was a means of claiming territorial access to resources, as well as reinforcing and transmitting communal identity and values, through a period of climate-induced resource stress and competition. Isolation and small refugia during cooling events may have contributed to exacerbating genetic drift, and increased the frequency of cultural means to sanction “exceptional people and events”.

Dating the funerary use of caves in Liguria (northwestern Italy) from the Neolithic to historic times: Results from a large-scale AMS campaign on human skeletal series

The multidisciplinary research team of this new project aimed at the chronological, anthropological and funerary behavior characterization of the skeletal remains unearthed from various caves in western Liguria (northwestern Italy) between the mid-1800s and the 1990s. Most of the burials and scattered bone assemblages were excavated prior to the development of modern stratigraphic methods, or come from disturbed contexts, often resulting in a vague chrono-cultural attribution. We present here the results of a systematic dating project that produced 130 new AMS dates on human bone samples (documented burials or individuals from scattered remains) from sixteen Ligurian caves, including most of the skeletal series from renowned sites such as Arene Candide Cave and Grotta Pollera.Results highlighted the funerary use of these caves from the last quarter of the sixth millennium BCE to the Common Era, with the majority of results clustering in the first half of the fifth millennium BCE. These dates allow for an initial assessment of patterns in Neolithic mortuary use of Ligurian caves, and aided in particular the characterization of funerary practices during the Square Mouthed Pottery culture.

New insights on Final Epigravettian funerary behavior at Arene Candide Cave (Western Liguria, Italy).

We gained new insights on Epigravettian funerary behavior at the Arene Candide cave through the osteological and spatial analysis of the burials and human bone accumulations found in the cave during past excavations. Archaeothanathological information on the human skeletal remains was recovered from diaries, field pictures and notes, and data from recent excavations was integrated. The secondary deposits have traditionally been interpreted as older burials that were disturbed to make space for new inhumations. Our results suggest that those disturbances were not casual: older burials were intentionally displaced to bury younger inhumations. Subsequently, some skeletal elements, especially crania, were arranged around the new burial; these were often placed within stone niches. Based on the composition of some clusters, which contain the bones of two individuals displaced together, it is possible that a double burial composed of two adults was originally present at the site. This would be a burial type that had not been recognized at Arene Candide until now. Strikingly, this potential double burial contained an individual showing pathological bowing of the limbs, a finding which is not infrequent in skeletons from Gravettian and Epigravettian multiple burials. In addition, the crania and other skeletal elements derived from this burial were intentionally placed around a new inhumation, whose skeleton possibly shows a milder form of the same disease (possibly hereditary rickets). This and other observations suggest that the five individuals belonging to the second phase of this "cemetery" (AMS dates spanning 12,030 -11,180 cal BP) might have been buried over a relatively brief time span. Our study demonstrated similar behaviors in the first phase of mortuary use of the cave (12,820-12,420 cal BP), indicating a remarkable persistence in Final Epigravettian funerary models despite their archaeologically apparent rarity and intermittent nature.

Cereal remains, plant impressions and 14C direct dating from the Neolithic pottery of Arene Candide Cave (Finale Ligure, NW Italy)

The systematic examination of the VI and early V millennium BCE pottery from the Arene Candide Cave (Finale Ligure, Western Liguria) revealed several charred macroremains embedded in the paste, as well as imprints of a wide range of botanical remains. The analysis was conducted in stereomicroscopy (10–750×) on charred vegetal remains that were either extracted from the ceramic fabric or studied via intracavitary casts. Some of them were further investigated by SEM.Most of the bioclasts belong to cereals: Triticum monococcum, Triticum dicoccum, Hordeum vulgare and phytoliths of Pooideae. We also recognized endocarps belonging to Prunus mahaleb and Rubus cf. R. idaeus and woods of Rosaceae Prunoideae, Quercus t. ilex/coccifera, cf. Juniperus sp. and Pinus t. sylvestris. The imprints of fern fronds attributable to two typical of wetlands - Osmunda regalis and Thelypteris palustris – are of particular interest.The extraction of bioclasts allowed the identification and sampling of organic material suitable for 14C analysis without damaging ceramics. This constitutes a feasible methodological alternative to those currently in use. The dates obtained on plant remains extracted from potsherds corroborate the currently proposed chrono-cultural seriation for the Impresso-Cardial Complex of the Ligurian-Provençal region.

Climate and environmental changes recognized by micromorphology in Paleolithic deposits at Arene Candide (Liguria, Italy)

The lowermost part of the stratigraphic sequence of the Arene Candide Cave, a key Upper Palaeolithic site in Italy, attests to significant climate and environmental change at the beginning of the Late Pleniglacial in coastal Liguria (Northwest Italy). These archaeological layers were studied using a suite of mineralogical and chemical technique including a contextual sedimentological analysis (micromorphology). This study shows that the lower layers are dominated by cryoclastic sediments covered by cyclically organized blackish and reddish layers, or lenses. The black layers mainly consist of bird and bat guano deposits, interfingered with thin brownish sandy-silt layers of aeolian origin, that contain large amount of Ca phosphate. In contrast, the bright red layers are rubified sediment due to Fe re-oxidizing in insoluble form. In these layers evidence of syngenetic freeze-thaw cycles, associated with gelifluction processes, indicates a cool episode in a (semi) arid periglacial environment coupled to an increase in humidity between ca. 31 and 27 ka cal BP. Subsequently, the occurrence of features associated with repeated runoff and debris flow processes that caused a significant accumulation of poorly layered and sorted materials in the overlying sediments indicates a further intensification of humid conditions and reflects a longer phase of more humid and temperate climate. This change from arid to semiarid/humid climates resulted in an increase in sediments resulting from the erosion of Pliocene marine terraces and soils located outside the cave. The identification in the studied sequence of guano layers and the scarcity of artefacts, in conjunction with an absence of clear cultural micromorphological evidence, support an interpretation of sporadic human occupation of this part of the cave during Middle Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian). Therefore, the finding in such a context of the lavish ceremonial burial of the so called "Young Prince" may suggest that the cave was used as a special place for burials at that time.

Mammuthus primigenius in the cave and portable art: An overview with a short account on the elephant fossil record in Southern Europe during the last glacial

A rich Upper Paleolithic iconography testifies to a long coexistence of humans and Mammuthus primigenius during the last glacial in most of Europe, including northern Spain, and supplies additional information for a better understanding of the dispersion and last occurrence of woolly mammoths in southernmost Europe (i.e. in the Iberian and Italian peninsulas) during this time. In Italy, where the scanty M. primigenius findings are likely not younger than 38 ka (except for the Gravettian remains from the Arene Candide cave, eastern Liguria), no representations of woolly mammoths have been reported to date. An exception is the carved mammoth objects (a few Gravettian ornaments and female figurines), recorded in Ligurian sites, but the hypothesis that they could have been imported from some distant area cannot be ruled out. Conversely, in Spain along the northern Atlantic coast, M. primigenius remains have been found in some sites yielding mammoth representations. In southern Spain, where M. primigenius was present in the Padul basin (Granada) during most of MIS 3 (between 40.4 and 30.6 cal ka BP), artistic representations of woolly mammoths are unknown. As regard to Palaeoloxodon, some populations were present during the late MIS 3 in the Iberian Peninsula as in Western Europe, whereas no sound data support the persistence of straight-tusked elephants on mainland during MIS 2. Therefore, whether the intriguing elephant painting of the Spanish El Castillo cave could represent a straight-tusked elephant – suggesting a survival of the species in Northern Spain during the Last Glacial Maximum – or an unusual representation of a woolly mammoth, still remains an unanswered question.

LATEGLACIAL BATS FROM THE “M” LAYERS OF THE ARENE CANDIDE CAVE (LIGURIA, ITALY)

The Arene Candide Cave (Finale Ligure, Northern Italy) is considered one of the most important prehistoric site in Italy. The archaeological excavations conducted by the “Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana” of Rome revealed 3 different horizons: an upper horizon with Holocene human presence dated from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period, and two underlying Pleistocene horizons with Gravettian and Epigravettian lithic artefacts. The stratigraphical sequence of the upper Palaeolithic is divided in two groups of strata separated by a depositional gap: the “P” complex, divided in 13 layers, dated from 25,620 to 18,560 years BP, and the 5 “M” layers dated between 11,750 and 9,980 years BP (14C non-calibrated dating). In this paper the fossil bone remains of bats from “M” layers are described. Fifteen taxa, divided into 3 families and 6 genera have been identified: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum , R. mehelyi , R. euryale , R. hipposideros , Myotis myotis , M. blythii , M. capaccinii , M. emarginatus , M. mystacinus s.l. , Myotis sp. (small sized), Plecotus auritus s.l ., Nyctalus lasiopterus , N. noctula , Barbastella barbastellus and Miniopterus schreibersii . Comments for each of these taxa on current ecological and geographical distributions are presented, together with some osteometric measures and recent data referred to Late Pleistocene fossils bats in Italy. Finally, the value of this bat tanathocoenoses as a microclimatic, environmental, and human activity indicators is discussed. SHORT NOTE

Archaeometric analyses of Early and Middle Neolithic pottery from the Pian del Ciliegio rock shelter (Finale Ligure, NW Italy)

The Neolithic site of Pian del Ciliegio is a rock shelter located in the Ponci Valley, at 220 m asl, in the Finalese (Liguria, NW Italy), a well-known karstic area characterised by the existence of several caves with prehistoric occupation. Archaeometric investigations (by optical microscopy and XRPD) were carried out on pottery samples mostly belonging to the Square-Mouthed Pottery Culture and the Impressed Ware Culture found out in the recent excavations of this site. Several fabrics were distinguished among the Square-Mouthed Pottery Culture pottery, suggesting different raw materials sources and production techniques. However, the nature of the mineral inclusions indicates in all cases local or circum-local production (e.g. within a range of a maximum of a few ten kilometres). All Square-Mouthed Pottery fabrics, in fact, contain elements that can be referred to the Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks outcropping in the area. In most cases they are associated with angular sparry calcite inclusions, possibly added as temper, which is a typical feature of other Neolithic pottery production from cave contexts studied in the area. On the contrary the Impressed Ware, although represented by a few sherds, shows a great variability both in fabrics and raw material provenance. Together with different local fabrics (with metamorphites ± calcite), fabrics with ophiolitic inclusions (possibly from Tuscany) and volcanic temper (from Central Italy) were found too. These data confirm and integrate those resulting from the investigation of the neighbouring Arene Candide cave site: a long-distance movement by sea of people and goods, pottery included, during the Early Neolithic is now clearly demonstrated.

Parietal art discovered at Arene Candide Cave (Liguria, Italy)

The authors have discovered small oval panels of parallel lines in the famous Ligurian cave of Arene Candide, and show that it must be art of the Epigravettian period, c. 11-10000bp (uncalibrated).

Italian Prehistoric Archaeology in the International Context

The author outlines a short history of the interrelationships between Italian and foreign prehistory scholars in the period going from the unification of Italy to 1945. There was a remarkable season of excavations and research during the second half of the nineteenth century that also helped to create a bond between the Italians and the scholars of other European countries. The beginning of the twentieth century was characterized by a progressive isolation of Italians studying their country’s prehistory. A new phase begins in 1940 with the excavations of Luigi Bernabo Brea in the Arene Candide cave and joint projects of archaeological research and excavations became a reality starting at the end of the Second World War.

Archaeometric research on the Early Neolithic pottery production in Liguria (Northern Italy): preliminary data from San Sebastiano di Perti (Savona)

The Early Neolithic site of San Sebastiano di Perti is the only open-air site of the Impressed Ware Culture so far discovered in Liguria. It is located in the Finalese area, on a river terrace along the Pora Valley. One radiocarbon AMS date of 6760±45 BP (GrA-25715) was obtained from two caryopsis of Hordeum vulgare. The ceramic assemblage consists of 123 potsherds mainly decorated with impressions from Cardium shell and with implements; six representative samples have been submitted for thin-section analyses. The petrographic characteristics of the inclusions are consistent with those of the acid metavolcanites and metasediments of the Permo-Carboniferous basement and of the Miocenic limestones outcropping in the area. A local production and the use of raw materials of fluvial origin (from the Pora River) can be hypothesised. The San Sebastiano production differs in textural, compositional and technical features from other ceramic contexts of neighbouring cave sites of the same chronology and Culture studied so far. In particular, it is important to point out the absence at San Sebastiano of fabrics with crushed calcite temper, that are on the contrary frequent, for instance, at the Arene Candide Cave.

Tempo and mode of formation of the Late Epigravettian necropolis of Arene Candide cave (Italy): direct radiocarbon evidence

Existing 14C dates of charcoal and bone samples from different layers of the Late Epigravettian sequence at Arene Candide (Liguria, Italy) place the formation of the deposit between 12,000 and 10,000 (uncal.) BP, but it is unclear how long this cave was used for funerary purposes. Clarifying this point has important archaeological and anthropological implications, given number and variety of inhumations. These include single and double burials of richly ornamented adults, adolescents and children and disarticulated accumulations of bones. Six new direct 14C AMS dates obtained from human skeletons place more precisely the necropolis at the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene boundary, and appear distributed in two distinct groups that indicate two phases of funerary utilisation of the cave. Although separated by many centuries, the two phases of interment show recurring formal elements. Both groups include skeletons in anatomical connection exhibiting similar grave goods as well as chaotic accumulations of bones and, more importantly, the double burial of an adult with a child lying to its left. The reappearance of similar funerary patterns in the same site at two widely separated points in time suggests that the cave held a symbolic significance over several centuries. This, and the additional evidence of funerary use of the cave during the preceding Gravettian, points to the endurance of Upper Palaeolithic cultural traditions.

Improved Separation of Neolithic Metapodials of Sheep (Ovis) and Goats (Capra) from Arene Candide Cave, Liguria, Italy

Separation of Neolithic sheep and goat bones from the site of Arene Candide is examined using the distal metacarpal, and the proximal and distal metatarsals. The two published methods for the distal metacarpal work quite well, particularly when used in conjunction. Metrical methods for the distal metatarsal work better than sometimes believed. A metrical method is put forward for the proximal metatarsal. Whether these methods work equally well at other sites is unknown. At Arene Candide both sheep and goats were present in the Middle Neolithic, but no goats can be demonstrated in the Early Neolithic.

X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets: a probable upper Paleolithic case.

The skeleton of a middle-aged adult male, found in the Late Epigravettian necropolis of Arene Candide cave (Italy) and dated to the XII millennium B.C., exhibits abnormal changes, including bowing deformities, stunted growth, enthesopathies, and increased bone density. The pattern of the observed changes is less consistent with diagnoses of metaphyseal chondrodysplasias, hypophosphatasia, dietary rickets, or diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) than with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets, which is the most likely etiological factor. This diagnosis may explain other abnormalities (exceptional elongation of the skull and bilateral absence of the lesser trochanter) displayed by other individuals from the same site.

Bilateral absence of the lesser trochanter in a Late Epigravettian skeleton from Arene Candide (Italy)

A virtually complete skeleton recovered from excavations in a Late Upper Paleolithic context by Cardini between 1940 and 1942 at the Arene Candide cave (NW Italy) lacks the normal development of the left and right lesser trochanters. The specimen is a short-statured male about 25 years old and shows no other especially peculiar skeletal irregularities, except for high negative angles of femoral torsion. We discuss a number of possible etiologies for the anomalous absence of the lesser trochanters. The condition is most likely a result of an epigenetic effect or a traumatic avulsion of both lesser trochanters. If the absence of normal development of the lesser trochanters involves a congenital condition, it is an extremely rare, previously undescribed trait. If the condition results from bilateral traumatic avulsion, it is probably the result of excessive muscular stress on the proximal femur and provides further evidence of hardship of life in Paleolithic populations and of the ability of these people to survive debilitating trauma.

THE RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY OF THE NEOLITHIC AND COPPER AGE OF NORTHERN ITALY

Summary. Until twenty years ago the chronology of the Neolithic and Copper Age settlement of Northern Italy was almost exclusively based on the stratigraphical sequence of the Arene Candide cave in Liguria. The research carried out since the sixties has strongly increased our knowledge of the earliest farming communities and the first copper using people who inhabited the country between the end of the seventh and the beginning of the fourth millennium BP. This article considers the available evidence for this period which is now supported by a good set of radiocarbon dates.

Dietary reconstruction at Arene Candide Cave (Liguria, Italy) by means of trace element analysis

Dietary reconstruction in the Epigravettian and Middle Neolithic samples from the Arene Candide cave was performed by means of a multi-element (Ba, Cu, Mg, Mn, Sr, V and Zn) approach. The analysis was carried out by ICP/AE spectrometry. Statistical elaboration of the data points to different diagenetic behaviours from the seven elements. Barium and zinc are found to be the best palaeonutritional indicators in both periods. The reconstruction of the dietary habits of the Epigravettian human sample as shown by trace element analysis is in agreement with anthropological and archaeological findings. For the Middle Neolithic human sample, no nutritional shift in a vegetarian direction can be detected on the basis of trace element analysis. This finding is discussed in the light of the environmental context of the cave site. High levels of zinc can be detected in human bones. This result suggests that marine molluscs were an important food source.

Some remarks on the new radiocarbon dates from the Arene Candide Cave (Savona, Italy)

In this short note the new radiocarbon dates of some layers of the Arene Candide cave are discussed from an archaeological point of view. The new chronology resulting from these dates and its cultural implications are compared with the previous interpretations based on the old date: 10330±95 B.P.

Evidence of spinal tuberculosis at the beginning of the fourth millennium BC from Arene Candide cave (Liguria, Italy)

This paper describes tuberculosislike lesions affecting the spine of Neolithic skeleton found in Arene Candide cave (Liguria, Italy) and representing one of the earliest cases of this disease in Europe. The burial is attributed to middle Neolithic (square-mouthed pottery culture) whose layers date, by 14C, to the first half of the fourth millennium BC. The skeleton, well preserved in the postcranial portion, belongs to a male aged about 15 years having a very light body build. Resorptive lesions localized to the lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebral bodies, collapse and angular kyphosis, resulting from complete destruction of T11 and T12 and partial destruction of T10 and L1, are the main pathologic features. The morphology of the lesions, sites involved, and age of the specimen are consistent with a diagnosis of tuberculous spondylitis (Pott's disease). The extreme gracility of the skeleton, along with other signs of stress (Harris lines, enamel hypoplasia) suffered during the last years of life, and the limited bony regeneration point to a disease process in its late phase having arisen at the beginning of adolescence. The funerary ritual suggests that the social integration of this adolescent was not prevented by the severe infirmity.