Fate of cave bear in northeastern italy: anthropic impact, extinction chronology, stable isotope and genetic evidence

Identifier:  TDX:2992

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2992

Authors:  Terlato, Gabriele

Abstract:
Cave bears was one of the most impressive animals of the Late Pleistocene in Europe and are well known from many caves. Despite the enormous quantities fossils unearthed, some aspects of their history/habits, such as interaction with humans, ecology and extinction chronology, are still little known from the Mediterranean area in the Southern Alps. This research aims at revisiting the debate about the extinction and paleoecology of cave bear, Ursus spelaeus (sensu lato), through archaeozoological, taphonomic and chemical analysis of the bones of this species, from Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites of northeastern Italy. Key sites for this purpose are Rio Secco, Fumane, Buso doppio del Broion, Paina and Trene caves. Cave bear remains are very often found in these caves and, in several cases are the most frequent fossils found in the assemblages. The remains of cave bear analyzed came from layers dated 49 – 42 ky cal. BP (Rio Secco and Fumane) and 33 – 23 ky cal. BP (Buso doppio del Broion, Trene and Paina), most of them associated with evidence of human presence. Archaeozoological and taphonomic analysis were performed to better understand the role of human impact on cave bear populations during a wide span of time. Further techniques, such as a stable isotope, radiometric and ancient DNA analysis were applied to cave bear bones, selected from Buso doppio del Broion, Paina and Trene caves, in order to acquire a detailed picture of the ecology, diet, population dynamics and extinction chronology of cave bears. Only thanks this cross-disciplinary perspective was it possible to significantly improve our understanding of the difficult issue of extinction of this “iconic” animal. The articles made during this research indicate that the disappearance of these animals in Northeast Italy occurred between 24-23 ky cal. BP. This study supports the idea of a potential human impact as one of the most significant factors in the disappearance of this animal, not only in this geographical area, but throughout Europe.