MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE CAVE SEDIMENT RECORD OF GROTTA ROMANELLI, ITALY

During the last century, Grotta Romanelli (southern Italy) has been considered as a reference site for the

European Late Pleistocene stratigraphy, due to its geomorphological setting and its rich archaeological and

palaeontological content. The beginning of the sedimentation inside the cave has been attributed so far to

MISs 5e, and the oldest unearthed evidence of human occupation, including evidence of use of fire, was

therefore referred to the Middle Palaeolithic. Broad range geoarchaeological investigations were recently

carried out in the site: geological/geomorphological surveys and analysis, micromorphology,

micropalaeontology, palynology, palaeomagnetism, U/Th, radiocarbon and OSL dating are among the main

methods already applied or in progress. The results led to the re-assessment of the litho-, morpho- and

chrono-stratigraphical setting, highlighting an earlier human frequentation of the cave (Middle Pleistocene,

between MIS 9 and MIS 7), embracing Glacial and Interglacial cycles. These new data provide evidence that

the sea reached the cave during the Middle Pleistocene and human occupation occurred long before MISs

5e and persisted beyond the Pleistocene- Holocene boundary providing a new insight within the

chronology and characteristics of the human occupation and the terrestrial ecosystem evolution in the

Mediterranean area.