The Middle Pleistocene site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni Basin, Central Italy) has yielded nearly 25,000 remains belonging to large and small vertebrates, including four isolated teeth of Homo sp., and a rich lithic assemblage containing bone tools. Here we provide new dental wear analyses of the ungulate community to improve the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for the site. Analyses indicate a mostly browsing diet for the cervids and a grazing diet for the perissodactyls Stephanorhinus sp. and Equus cf. E. mosbachensis, suggesting a range of habitats that spanned from forests to open grasslands. A discrepancy between mesowear and microwear results is observed in the case of the bovid, Bos primigenius; this can be tentatively explained as resulting from a temporal switch towards a sub-optimal diet, possibly reflecting the effects of marked seasonality. Findings shed new light on the structure of the 400 kyr ecosystems that existed during the early occupation of Homo in Europe

Ungulate dietary adaptations and palaeoecology of the middle pleistocene site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni, Central Italy) / Strani, Flavia; Demiguel, Daniel; Bona, F.; Sardella, R.; Biddittu, I.; Bruni, L.; De Castro, Adelaide; Guadagnoli, Francesco; Bellucci, Luca. - In: PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY. - ISSN 0031-0182. - STAMPA. - 496:(2018), pp. 238-247. [10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.041]

Ungulate dietary adaptations and palaeoecology of the middle pleistocene site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni, Central Italy)

Strani Flavia
;
Sardella R.;Bellucci Luca
2018

Abstract

The Middle Pleistocene site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni Basin, Central Italy) has yielded nearly 25,000 remains belonging to large and small vertebrates, including four isolated teeth of Homo sp., and a rich lithic assemblage containing bone tools. Here we provide new dental wear analyses of the ungulate community to improve the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for the site. Analyses indicate a mostly browsing diet for the cervids and a grazing diet for the perissodactyls Stephanorhinus sp. and Equus cf. E. mosbachensis, suggesting a range of habitats that spanned from forests to open grasslands. A discrepancy between mesowear and microwear results is observed in the case of the bovid, Bos primigenius; this can be tentatively explained as resulting from a temporal switch towards a sub-optimal diet, possibly reflecting the effects of marked seasonality. Findings shed new light on the structure of the 400 kyr ecosystems that existed during the early occupation of Homo in Europe
2018
galerian; mesowear; microwear; palaeoenvironment; ungulates
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Ungulate dietary adaptations and palaeoecology of the middle pleistocene site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni, Central Italy) / Strani, Flavia; Demiguel, Daniel; Bona, F.; Sardella, R.; Biddittu, I.; Bruni, L.; De Castro, Adelaide; Guadagnoli, Francesco; Bellucci, Luca. - In: PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY. - ISSN 0031-0182. - STAMPA. - 496:(2018), pp. 238-247. [10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.041]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1091688
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