6533b870fe1ef96bd12cfb47
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Late Pleistocene vertebrate - bearing deposits at San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily): Preliminary data on faunal diversification and chronology
Daniela EsuMichele SoligoFederico MasiniLaura BonfiglioDaria PetrusoGabriella ManganoPaola Tuccimeisubject
molluscslate pleistocenegeographyTaphonomygeography.geographical_feature_categoryPleistocenebiologyVertebrateSettore GEO/01 - Paleontologia E PaleoecologiaArchaeologylate pleistocene; molluscs; sicily; vertebratesPaleontologyCavebiology.animalTrenchsicilyLate Pleistocene Sicily Vertebrates Chronology Cave depositsvertebratesMediterranean IslandsGeologyEarth-Surface ProcessesStratumChronologydescription
Abstract This paper deals with the chronology and the possible correlations among levels of different excavated areas in the Pleistocene vertebrate-bearing deposits at the large San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily). Two trenches have been excavated along the eastern side of the cave, located at a distance from the entrance, respectively, of 8 m ( α trench) and 28 m ( β trench) and at different depths. Lithological features, biometrical data from small mammals and ecological data from molluscs point to similar environmental conditions for the α trench deposits and those located along the eastern wall of the cave in the eastern part of the β trench. The same evidence, and the taphonomic features of large mammals, points to different environmental conditions and perhaps to different ages for the deposits located in the western part of the β trench. The survival of elephants in Sicily up to 32,000 years ago is a new significant result of the 230 Th/ 234 U dating carried out from a concretionary stratum from the β trench and represents the youngest elephant survival in the western Mediterranean islands.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-11-01 |