@article{10902/28555,
year = {2023},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/28555},
abstract = {Documenting the subsistence strategies developed by early modern humans is relevant for understanding the success of their dispersal throughout Eurasia. Today, we know that there was not a single colonization event and that the process was progressive while coping with the MIS3 abrupt climatic oscillations. Modern humans expanded into the continent by adapting to different topographic situations and by exploiting resources in diverse ecological niches. The northern part of Italy is one of the first European regions where early modern humans are documented. Here, we present the subsistence regimen adopted by the Protoaurignacian groups in two different levels in Fumane Cave based on archaeozoological data. New radiocarbon dates confirm an overlap between Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian occupations, around 42 and 41,000 cal BP, and reveal that modern humans occupied the cave from GI10 to GS9, the last level coinciding with the Heinrich Event 4. The data indicate seasonal site occupations during late spring/summer and that prey exploitation was focused mostly on ibex and chamois, killed in nearby areas. The whole faunal assemblage suggests the presence of early modern humans in a cold environment with mostly open landscapes and patchy woodlands. The estimation of net primary productivity (NPP) in Fumane, compared with other contemporaneous Italian sites, reflects how the NPP fluctuations in the Prealpine area, where Fumane is located, affected the biotic resources in contrast to known Mediterranean sites. From a pan- European perspective, the spatiotemporal fluctuation of the NPP versus the subsistence strategies adopted by Protoaurignacian groups in the continent supports rapid Homo sapiens dispersal and resilience in a mosaic of environments that were affected by significant climate changes.},
organization = {This research is funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research
and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement No. 818299‐SUBSILIENCE project (https:// www. subsi lience.
eu). G. T. and M.V.C. were funded by the former project and later by a Juan de la Cierva Formación Grant (Ref:
FJC2019-040637-I and FJC2021-047601-I) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Research
and fieldwork at Fumane Cave are coordinated by the University of Ferrara (M. Peresani) in the framework of
a project supported by the Ministry of Culture—SAPAB Archaeological Superintendence, public institutions
(Lessinia-Regional Natural Park, B.I.M. Adige, Fumane Municipality), private associations and companies, and
in collaboration with Italian and European research centres. The authors thank all the colleagues from EvoAdapta
Group for the constant enriching discussions and Prof. L. G. Straus for his edition of the English in the accepted
version. Finally, we are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions which
have helped us to improve the manuscript.},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
publisher = {Scientific Reports, 2023, 13, 3788},
title = {Subsistence of early anatomically modern humans in Europe as evidenced in the Protoaurignacian occupations of Fumane Cave, Italy},
author = {Marín Arroyo, Ana Belén and Vidal Cordasco, Marco Adolfo and Terlato, Gabriele and Peresani, Marco},
}