Skeletons in Cave Reveal Mediterranean Secrets

Science Daily ^ | 11-28-2012 | Marcello A. Mannino, et al

[Renfield]

Skeletal remains in an island cave in Favignana, Italy, reveal that modern humans first settled in Sicily around the time of the last ice age and despite living on Mediterranean islands, ate little seafood. The research is published November 28 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Marcello Mannino and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany.

Genetic analysis of the bones discovered in caves on the Egadi islands provides some of the first mitochondrial DNA data available for early humans from the Mediterranean region, a crucial piece of evidence in ancestry analysis. This analysis reveals the time when modern humans reached these islands. Mannino says, "The definitive peopling of Sicily by modern humans only occurred at the peak of the last ice age, around 19,000 -26,500 years ago, when sea levels were low enough to expose a land bridge between the island and the Italian peninsula."....

[Renfield]

Location of Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites on the Ègadi Islands and in NW Sicily. These cave sites include: Grotta d’Oriente (1) and Grotta dell’Ucceria (2) on the island of Favignana; Grotta di Punta Capperi (3), Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi (3), Grotta Schiacciata (4) and Grotta di Cala Calcara (5) on the island of Levanzo; Grotta Maiorana (6), Riparo San Francesco (7), Grotta Martogna (8), Grotta Emiliana (9) and Grotta Maltese (9) on the mainland of Sicily. (Credit: Mannino et al. Origin and Diet of the Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers on the Mediterranean Island of Favignana (Ègadi Islands, Sicily). PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (11): e49802 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049802)

[Renfield]

Ping

[svcw]

Thanks for posting, very interesting.

[BenLurkin]

How much more lies between -50 meters and moder day sea level?

[Verginius Rufus]

There was a naval battle near these islands in 241 B.C. which the Romans won under the leadership of Gaius Lutatius Catulus. The Carthaginian government then sued for peace, ending the First Punic War.

[SMARTY]

Maybe seafood didn’t taste good because no one invented olive oil or garlic, yet

[JRios1968]

Skeletons in Cave Reveal Mediterranean Secrets

Such as Death by Snu-snu

[blam]

If the Mediterranean had just refilled after the Ice Age...there wouldn't be much seafood in the new and expanded body of water.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Renfield for the topic, thanks BenLurkin for that comment, and thanks both for the pings.

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[SunkenCiv]

Whoops. Forgot the actual ping.

Being on one of the ping lists I manage must be a lot like watching the vignettes on Rocky & Bullwinkle.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks Renfield for the topic, thanks BenLurkin for that comment, and thanks both for the pings. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[TheOldLady]

What? You have great ping lists, Civ!

[fanfan]

Being on one of the ping lists I manage must be a lot like watching the vignettes on Rocky & Bullwinkle.

You're so sweet Civ. It's actually more like watching the vignettes on Chip 'N Dale. ;-)

[fanfan]

Isn’t it possible that they didn’t eat much seafood because at that time they weren’t actually living close to the coast?

(Or the coast wasn’t close to them, I guess, depending on your perspective.)

[SunkenCiv]

Maybe there was no fuel with which to cook, and they didn’t like sushi. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRW7pITY5Cg