Abstract
Human dispersals have always been characterized by multiple waves of people exploring new territories and landscapes, with the initial attempts often failing and only the latest succeeding. Nevertheless, the earliest peopling of Europe by Homo sapiens has so far been described as a steady process of modern human groups arriving from Africa and the Levant about 45,000 years ago (45ka), replacing the authoctonous archaic ones. Today, few though important discoveries are challenging this simplistic model. New evidence suggests that groups of H. sapiens arrived in Europe much earlier, and that the Mediterranean basin played a major role during this expansion in Western Eurasia. However, these traces are not sufficiently strong to build a new and more consistent interpretative scenario. In this context, Italy plays a pivotal role due to its geographic position, ecological variability and key archaeological sites dated between 250-45ka. Starting from the PI’s experience and scientific achievements in leading an ERC CoG (n. 724046) and a FARE 2018 grant (MIUR) – both aimed at understanding the biocultural processes that favoured the successful dispersal of modern humans in Europe around 45ka – the interdisciplinary TRACE project aims to track potential earlier waves of H. sapiens’ dispersal in southern Europe. In particular, since H. sapiens was recently attested in Greece at ca. 200ka and in southern France at ca. 54ka, did Homo sapiens arrive in Italy before 45ka as well? Are there cultural/technological differences between 250-45ka that might account for an earlier arrival of H. sapiens in Italy? In order to answer these questions, the TRACE project will investigate key Italian archaeological sites dated between 250-45ka, some of which seem to present anomalous features both in technology and in lithic raw material procurement areas, if compared to the classic coeval Mousterian sites. Besides fieldwork, paleoanthropological analyses, and the study of lithic tools, emphasis will be given to the screening of undiagnostic fragmented bone assemblages through paleoproteomics (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry - ZooMS), a recently developed cutting-edge method that maximizes the chance of identifying human remains in fragmented bone assemblages. Once determined, human remains will undergo paleogenetic analysis to discriminate between Neanderthal and H. sapiens, ultimately identifying the human groups living in Italy between 250-45ka. The results of this work will shed new light on the earliest moments of H. sapiens in Europe and the potential biocultural relationship with the autochthonous Neanderthals. Given the growing public attention to the contemporary sensitive topic of populations' dispersal and migrations, this project will provide to the largest audience possible concrete examples of our intrinsic nature as explorers, travellers, and social beings, which shaped our present through long-lasting networks of movements and migrations.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Stefano Benazzi
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Beni Culturali
Coordinator:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 205.728,00
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 106.327,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
05/10/2023
End Date:
15/02/2026
