The oldest lithic industries of the Agro Pontino (Latium, central Italy)

Abstract

Recent chronostratigraphic and paleoclimatic investigations carried out in the Pontine Plain (Agro Pontino) have made it possible to better specify the chronological position of the oldest lithic industries found in the area. The terrains in which the rare bifaces and choppers were found in the localities of Le Ferriere-Torre del Giglio and Valloncello as well as the microlitic industry from an excavation essay carried out in Quarto delle Cinfonare, have been correlated with the MIS 9 aggradational succession (340-320 ka). These lithic artifacts hold the oldest testimonies (late Lower Paleolithic) of the anthropic population of the Pontine territory. In Campoverde, on the other hand, the complex succession of deposits containing the archeological materials, including the MIS 7.5 aggradational succession and younger colluvial deposits, made it possible to hypothesize the coexistence of two lithic technocomplexes. The oldest lithic industry, attributable to the early Middle Paleolithic, is mainly characterized by denticulates, borers, and choppers while the most recent set, with a strong presence of sidescrapers, has significant similarities with the Pontinian Mousterian.