Early Levallois and the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in central Italy

In the second half of the 19th century Pleistocene faunas were discovered in two sites, Sedia del Diavolo and Monte delle Gioie, contained in deposits of the Aniene River in the area of Rome (Latium, Italy). Fieldwork by A.C. Blanc in the late 1930’s proved the association of fauna and lithic industry within fluvial deposits interbedded with volcanoclastic layers. A human femoral diaphysis and a metatarsal were later identified in the faunal assemblage from Sedia del Diavolo and evaluated as Neandertal. The lithic assemblages from these two sites were the basis of the definition of the Protopontinian by M. Taschini, which she viewed as a late Middle Pleistocene industry very similar to the later, Upper Pleistocene Pontinian industries, thought to be characteristic of the Latium Mousterian. The chronostratigraphic framework of the Aniene river deposits has been recently updated and the lithic assemblages from these two sites are now confidently dated between 295 and 290 ka, close to the transition from MIS 9 to MIS 8. They fit chronologically between the industries of layers m and d from Torre in Pietra, a site 26 km northwest of Rome. The presence of the Levallois debitage is indisputable yet it occurs within an original technical context, different from what is known in other early occurrences of the Levallois. The date confirms the proposed chronology for the early Levallois in Europe. More importantly these two assemblages demonstrate that this technology can emerge in more diversified contexts than usually described. This suggests that its dispersal in Europe may have been rapid.

19世纪下半叶，意大利拉齐奥大区罗马周边的阿涅内河（Aniene River）沉积层中，发现了两处产出更新世（Pleistocene）动物群的遗址：塞迪亚德尔迪亚沃洛（Sedia del Diavolo）与蒙特德莱乔耶（Monte delle Gioie）。1930年代末，A.C.布兰克（A.C. Blanc）的野外调查证实，动物群与石制品工业（lithic industry）共存于夹有火山碎屑层的河流沉积中。此后，研究人员从塞迪亚德尔迪亚沃洛的动物群组合中识别出一段股骨骨干（femoral diaphysis）与一块跖骨（metatarsal），经鉴定归属尼安德特人（Neandertal）。

这两处遗址的石制品组合，是M.塔斯奇尼（M. Taschini）定义原蓬蒂尼工业（Protopontinian）的核心依据；她将该工业体系归为中更新世晚期的技术遗存，认为其与后世晚更新世的蓬蒂尼工业（Pontinian industries）极为相似，而后者被视作拉齐奥莫斯特文化（Latium Mousterian）的典型代表。近期，阿涅内河沉积层的年代地层框架（chronostratigraphic framework）得到更新，如今可确定这两处遗址的石制品组合的绝对年代介于29.5万至29.0万年前，接近海洋同位素阶段9（Marine Isotope Stage 9，MIS 9）与海洋同位素阶段8（Marine Isotope Stage 8，MIS 8）的过渡时段。该年代恰好落在罗马西北26公里处的托雷因皮埃特拉（Torre in Pietra）遗址m层与d层的石制品工业年代范围之间。

勒瓦娄哇剥片技术（Levallois debitage）的存在确凿无疑，但其产出的技术背景独具特色，与欧洲其他已知的早期勒瓦娄哇技术遗存均存在差异。这一年代数据验证了欧洲早期勒瓦娄哇技术的相关年代假说。更为关键的是，这两处石制品组合表明，该技术的出现背景远比此前文献描述的更为多元，这暗示勒瓦娄哇技术在欧洲的传播速度可能相当迅捷。