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A.P. Anzidei

Bio: A.P. Anzidei is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Archaeological record. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 91 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an overview of the use of Proboscidean remains in every day Palaeolithic life is presented, in an attempt to illuminate some aspects of the relationship between proboscideans and humans from an archaeological perspective.

95 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These tools are from a Neandertal context proceeding the replacement period and are the oldest specialized bone tools in Europe, and are either a demonstration of independent invention by Ne andertals or an indication that modern humans started influencing European NeAndertals much earlier than previously believed.
Abstract: Modern humans replaced Neandertals ∼40,000 y ago. Close to the time of replacement, Neandertals show behaviors similar to those of the modern humans arriving into Europe, including the use of specialized bone tools, body ornaments, and small blades. It is highly debated whether these modern behaviors developed before or as a result of contact with modern humans. Here we report the identification of a type of specialized bone tool, lissoir, previously only associated with modern humans. The microwear preserved on one of these lissoir is consistent with the use of lissoir in modern times to obtain supple, lustrous, and more impermeable hides. These tools are from a Neandertal context proceeding the replacement period and are the oldest specialized bone tools in Europe. As such, they are either a demonstration of independent invention by Neandertals or an indication that modern humans started influencing European Neandertals much earlier than previously believed. Because these finds clearly predate the oldest known age for the use of similar objects in Europe by anatomically modern humans, they could also be evidence for cultural diffusion from Neandertals to modern humans.

180 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
09 Dec 2011-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: It is shown that rather than a matter of preference, H. erectus in the Levant was dependent on both elephants and fat for his survival, and a bio-energetic model is employed to present a hypothesis that the disappearance of the elephants was the evolutionary drive behind the emergence of the lighter, more agile, and cognitively capable hominins.
Abstract: The worldwide association of H. erectus with elephants is well documented and so is the preference of humans for fat as a source of energy. We show that rather than a matter of preference, H. erectus in the Levant was dependent on both elephants and fat for his survival. The disappearance of elephants from the Levant some 400 kyr ago coincides with the appearance of a new and innovative local cultural complex – the Levantine Acheulo-Yabrudian and, as is evident from teeth recently found in the Acheulo-Yabrudian 400-200 kyr site of Qesem Cave, the replacement of H. erectus by a new hominin. We employ a bio-energetic model to present a hypothesis that the disappearance of the elephants, which created a need to hunt an increased number of smaller and faster animals while maintaining an adequate fat content in the diet, was the evolutionary drive behind the emergence of the lighter, more agile, and cognitively capable hominins. Qesem Cave thus provides a rare opportunity to study the mechanisms that underlie the emergence of our post-erectus ancestors, the fat hunters.

136 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
27 Apr 2017-Nature
TL;DR: These findings confirm the presence of an unidentified species of Homo at the CM site during the last interglacial period (MIS 5e; early late Pleistocene), indicating that humans with manual dexterity and the experiential knowledge to use hammerstones and anvils processed mastodon limb bones for marrow extraction and/or raw material for tool production.
Abstract: The earliest dispersal of humans into North America is a contentious subject, and proposed early sites are required to meet the following criteria for acceptance: (1) archaeological evidence is found in a clearly defined and undisturbed geologic context; (2) age is determined by reliable radiometric dating; (3) multiple lines of evidence from interdisciplinary studies provide consistent results; and (4) unquestionable artefacts are found in primary context. Here we describe the Cerutti Mastodon (CM) site, an archaeological site from the early late Pleistocene epoch, where in situ hammerstones and stone anvils occur in spatio-temporal association with fragmentary remains of a single mastodon (Mammut americanum). The CM site contains spiral-fractured bone and molar fragments, indicating that breakage occured while fresh. Several of these fragments also preserve evidence of percussion. The occurrence and distribution of bone, molar and stone refits suggest that breakage occurred at the site of burial. Five large cobbles (hammerstones and anvils) in the CM bone bed display use-wear and impact marks, and are hydraulically anomalous relative to the low-energy context of the enclosing sandy silt stratum. 230Th/U radiometric analysis of multiple bone specimens using diffusion-adsorption-decay dating models indicates a burial date of 130.7 ± 9.4 thousand years ago. These findings confirm the presence of an unidentified species of Homo at the CM site during the last interglacial period (MIS 5e; early late Pleistocene), indicating that humans with manual dexterity and the experiential knowledge to use hammerstones and anvils processed mastodon limb bones for marrow extraction and/or raw material for tool production. Systematic proboscidean bone reduction, evident at the CM site, fits within a broader pattern of Palaeolithic bone percussion technology in Africa, Eurasia and North America. The CM site is, to our knowledge, the oldest in situ, well-documented archaeological site in North America and, as such, substantially revises the timing of arrival of Homo into the Americas.

123 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the taphonomic study of the elephant remains of Aridos 2 is presented, which provides more evidence of large carcass exploitation by hominins during this period.

115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the presumed scales of residential mobility, the role of high-quality lithics in these movements, and the extent to which First Americans hunted large game as a fundamental part of their food-getting activities.

100 citations