Tephro-stratigraphy and the age of ancient Southern Italian Acheulean settlements: the sites of Loreto and Notarchirico (Venosa, Basilicata, Italy)

David Lefevre (1) , Jean-Paul Raynal (2) , Gérard Vernet (3, 4) , Guy Kieffer (3) , Marcello Piperno (5)

1 ASM - Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes
2 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
3 GEOLAB - Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale
4 Inrap - Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives
5 Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche, Archeologiche e Antropologiche dell'Antichità

The stratigraphic and chronological positions of the Palaeolithic sites of Loreto and Notarchirico have been revised by adopting a litho-tephro-stratigraphic approach applied to the deposits of the Venosa basin, relating them to the evolution of volcanic eruptions of Mount Vulture. The Notarchirico tephra, dated to around 640 ka, is a geological marker of paramount importance in the study of ancient Southern Italia settlements and identifies the assemblage from level F at Notarchirico as one of the oldest Acheulean in Europe.

Mots clés: Italy; Venosa; Monte Vulture; Tephro-stratigraphy; Acheulean; Early Middle Pleistocene

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Volcanologie; Milieux et Changements globaux

David Lefevre, Jean-Paul Raynal, Gérard Vernet, Guy Kieffer, Marcello Piperno. Tephro-stratigraphy and the age of ancient Southern Italian Acheulean settlements: the sites of Loreto and Notarchirico (Venosa, Basilicata, Italy). Quaternary International, 2010, 223-224, pp.360-368. ⟨10.1016/j.quaint.2010.02.020⟩. ⟨halshs-00470281⟩