The Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Guado San Nicola was discovered in 2005 in a fossil fluvial terrace of the Volturno River, close to the village of Monteroduni, Molise, Italy. Palaeontological remains and lithic artefacts, including both handaxes and Levallois, discoid and opportunistic debitage, were recovered in fluvial and slope sediments rich in volcanoclastic materials. This site includes four distinct human occupation levels. In two of them both "shaping-faconnage" and "knapping-debitage" technologies are highlighted, placing this site at the Lower/Middle Palaeolithic transition.
In the present study, geochronological analyses by Ar-$^{40}$/$^{39}$Ar on single-crystal and ESR/U-series on teeth were performed to precise the chronological framework of the occupations. The $^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar data obtained securely bracket the human occupation levels at the transition between the interglacial and glacial marine isotopic stages MIS 11 (i.e. 400 $\pm$ 9 ka) and MIS 10 (i.e. 345 $\pm$ 91 ka). The weighted mean age obtained from ESR/U-series dating of six teeth (i.e. 364 $\pm$ 36 ka) is in very good agreement with the $^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar results. The radio-isotopic constraints we presented place the Guado San Nicola site as one of the earliest testimonies of Levallois debitage in Western Europe and confirm the potential and accuracy of paleo-dosimetric methods to date Middle Pleistocene sites.
$^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar and ESR/U-series dates for Guado San Nicola, Middle Pleistocene key site at the Lower/Middle Palaeolithic transition in Italy
Résumé
en
The Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Guado San Nicola was discovered in 2005 in a fossil fluvial terrace of the Volturno River, close to the village of Monteroduni, Molise, Italy. Palaeontological remains and lithic artefacts, including both handaxes and Levallois, discoid and opportunistic debitage, were recovered in fluvial and slope sediments rich in volcanoclastic materials. This site includes four distinct human occupation levels. In two of them both "shaping-faconnage" and "knapping-debitage" technologies are highlighted, placing this site at the Lower/Middle Palaeolithic transition.
In the present study, geochronological analyses by Ar-$^{40}$/$^{39}$Ar on single-crystal and ESR/U-series on teeth were performed to precise the chronological framework of the occupations. The $^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar data obtained securely bracket the human occupation levels at the transition between the interglacial and glacial marine isotopic stages MIS 11 (i.e. 400 $\pm$ 9 ka) and MIS 10 (i.e. 345 $\pm$ 91 ka). The weighted mean age obtained from ESR/U-series dating of six teeth (i.e. 364 $\pm$ 36 ka) is in very good agreement with the $^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar results. The radio-isotopic constraints we presented place the Guado San Nicola site as one of the earliest testimonies of Levallois debitage in Western Europe and confirm the potential and accuracy of paleo-dosimetric methods to date Middle Pleistocene sites.
Auteur(s)
Alison Pereira1
, Sébastien Nomade2, 3
, Qingfeng Shao1
, Jean-Jacques Bahain1
, Marta Arzarello4
, Eric Douville2, 5
, Christophe Falguères1
, Norbert Frank2
, Tristan Garcia6
, Giuseppe Lembo7
, Brunella Muttillo7
, Vincent Scao2, 3
, Carlo Peretto7
1
HNHP -
Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique
( 121947 )
- Institut de Paléontologie Humaine - 1, rue René Panhard - 75013 Paris
- France
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle ( 7512 )
;
Université de Perpignan Via Domitia ( 101475 )
;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR7194 ( 441569 )
2
LSCE -
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
( 518 )
- Bât. 12,
avenue de la Terrasse,
F-91198 GIF-SUR-YVETTE CEDEX
- France
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines UMR8212 ( 81173 )
;
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers UMR8212 ( 300045 )
;
Université Paris-Saclay ( 419361 )
;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR8212 ( 441569 )
;
Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) ( 465913 )
;
Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives ( 300016 )
3
PALEOCEAN -
Paléocéanographie
( 1007946 )
-
LSCE. CEA Paris-Saclay. Orme des merisiers. 91190 Saint-Aubin.
- France
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] DRF/LSCE ( 518 )
;
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines UMR8212 ( 81173 )
;
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers UMR8212 ( 300045 )
;
Université Paris-Saclay ( 419361 )
;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR8212 ( 441569 )
;
Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) ( 465913 )
;
Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives ( 300016 )
4
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici [Ferrare]
( 457166 )
- Universita degli Studi di Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d'Este 32, 44121 Ferrara
- Italie
Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara ( 304516 )
5
GEOTRAC -
Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie
( 578523 )
- LSCE. CEA Paris-Saclay. Orme des merisiers. 91190 Saint-Aubin.
- France
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette] DRF/LSCE ( 518 )
;
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines UMR8212 ( 81173 )
;
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers UMR8212 ( 300045 )
;
Université Paris-Saclay ( 419361 )
;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR8212 ( 441569 )
;
Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) ( 465913 )
;
Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives ( 300016 )
6
LNHB (CEA, LIST) -
Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (CEA, LIST)
( 40138 )
- CEA LIST F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex
- France
Département Métrologie Instrumentation & Information (CEA, LIST) ( 528161 )
;
Laboratoire d'Intégration des Systèmes et des Technologies DRT/LIST ( 40217 )
;
Direction de Recherche Technologique (CEA) DRT/LIST ( 440043 )
;
Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives DRT ( 300016 )
Université Paris-Saclay ( 419361 )
;
Département d'instrumentation Numérique (CEA, LIST) DRT/LIST/DIN/SIMRI/LNHB ( 1160658 )
;
Laboratoire d'Intégration des Systèmes et des Technologies DRT/LIST/DIN ( 40217 )
;
Direction de Recherche Technologique (CEA) DRT/LIST ( 440043 )
;
Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives DRT ( 300016 )
Université Paris-Saclay ( 419361 )
7
UniFE -
Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara
( 304516 )
- via Ludovico Ariosto, 35, 44121 Ferrara
- Italie
Langue du document
Anglais
Nom de la revue
Quaternary Geochronology
(ISSN : 1871-1014)
Publié par Elsevier
Revue non référencée dans Sherpa-Romeo
Ecole française de Rome
ATM « Les dynamiques socio-ecosystémiques, entre perturbations et résiliences environnementales et culturelles » of the MNHN (project « Acheulean and volcanism in Italy »
PHC Galileo project no. 28237WA ‘l’Acheuléen en Italie méridionale: Chronologie, Paléoanthropologie, Cultures'
Alison Pereira, Sébastien Nomade, Qingfeng Shao, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Marta Arzarello, et al.. $^{40}$Ar/$^{39}$Ar and ESR/U-series dates for Guado San Nicola, Middle Pleistocene key site at the Lower/Middle Palaeolithic transition in Italy. Quaternary Geochronology, 2016, 36, pp.67 - 75. ⟨10.1016/j.quageo.2016.08.005⟩. ⟨hal-01587432⟩