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Strontium and stable isotope evidence of human mobility strategies across the Last Glacial Maximum in southern Italy

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 3, pages 905–911 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Understanding the reason(s) behind changes in human mobility strategies through space and time is a major challenge in palaeoanthropology. Most of the time this is due to the lack of suitable temporal sequences of human skeletal specimens during critical climatic or cultural shifts. Here, we present temporal variations in the Sr isotope composition of 14 human deciduous teeth and the N and C stable isotope ratios of four human remains from the Grotta Paglicci site (Apulia, southern Italy). The specimens were recovered from the Gravettian and Epigravettian layers, across the Last Glacial Maximum, and dated between 31210–33103 and 18334–19860 yr cal bp (2σ). The two groups of individuals exhibit different 87Sr/86Sr ratios and, while the Gravettians are similar to the local macro-fauna in terms of Sr isotopic signal, the Epigravettians are shifted towards higher radiogenic Sr ratios. These data, together with stable isotopes, can be explained by the adoption of different mobility strategies between the two groups, with the Gravettians exploiting logistical mobility strategies and the Epigravettians applying residential mobility.

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Fig. 1: Sr isotope ratios of Grotta Paglicci human teeth, with relative stratigraphic positions.
Fig. 2: Bone collagen N and C stable isotopes of four humans from Grotta Paglicci (filled circles).
Fig. 3: Simplified geological map of the surroundings of Grotta Paglicci (location No. 7).
Fig. 4: Sr isotope ratios of human deciduous teeth from Grotta Paglicci.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this paper and its Supplementary Information files.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement No. 724046—SUCCESS, awarded to S.B.). The Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia was funded through a grant from Programma Giovani Ricercatori Rita Levi Montalcini (to A.C.). We thank Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Barletta-Andria-Trani e Foggia for supporting researches at Grotta Paglicci, and A. Palma di Cesnola for his scientific rigour in carrying out studies at Grotta Paglicci. The authors acknowledge S. Conti for providing geological maps of the Apulia region and A. Florenzano for valuable discussions of the paleoclimate record.

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Author notes

  1. These authors jointly supervised this work: Anna Cipriani, Stefano Benazzi, Annamaria Ronchitelli.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy

    Federico Lugli, Federica Badino & Stefano Benazzi

  2. Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Federico Lugli & Anna Cipriani

  3. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA

    Anna Cipriani

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, Unità di Ricerca Preistoria e Antropologia, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy

    Giulia Capecchi, Stefano Ricci, Francesco Boschin, Paolo Boscato & Annamaria Ronchitelli

  5. Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Paola Iacumin

  6. Laboratory of Palynology and Palaeoecology, Istituto per la Dinamica dei Processi Ambientali – CNR, Milan, Italy

    Federica Badino

  7. Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Højbjerg, Denmark

    Marcello A. Mannino

  8. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

    Marcello A. Mannino, Sahra Talamo, Michael P. Richards & Stefano Benazzi

  9. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Michael P. Richards

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  1. Federico Lugli
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Contributions

F.L., A.C. and S.B. conceived the study and designed the experiments. F.L. and A.C. performed the laboratory work and Sr isotope analyses. M.A.M, S.T., P.I. and M.P.R. designed and performed the stable isotope analyses. G.C., S.R., F. Boschin, P.B. and A.R. provided the samples. F. Badino, F. Boschin and P.B. reviewed palaeoclimate data. S.B., A.C. and A.R. supervised the work. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Federico Lugli.

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Lugli, F., Cipriani, A., Capecchi, G. et al. Strontium and stable isotope evidence of human mobility strategies across the Last Glacial Maximum in southern Italy. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 905–911 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0900-8

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