Deciphering sedimentary archives of Neanderthals and Early Anatomically Modern Humans - A micromorphological study at the key site of Fumane cave, Northern Italy

富曼洞穴是研究旧石器时代中晚期（MP/UP）的重要地点，拥有非常丰富的莫斯特纪、乌鲁齐纪和奥里尼亚纪时期的考古组合。相应的地层提供了关于晚期尼安德特人和解剖学上的现代人的行为以及他们在海洋同位素阶段（MIS） 3（一个千年尺度的强烈环境变化时期）的生活条件的丰富信息。文化变迁在一个暴露良好的沉积物序列中以非常高的时间分辨率记录下来，大约两米厚。它被挖掘的面积很大。这种特殊的情况在欧洲其他地区是未知的，为MP/UP过渡的深入和非常详细的研究提供了独特的机会。此外，MIS 3期间的气候变化特征可以从沉积物组成和结构特征中识别出来，从而使人类活动与气候变化直接相关。微地层方法也可以为了解该遗址的年代地层提供重要信息。在Fumane，尚未对MP/UP过渡的沉积物进行详细研究。本提案旨在对富曼遗址形成过程、微地层学和洞穴使用进行全面的微形态学研究。将评估气候变化的指标，如风沙输入或霜冻的历时变化。最重要的问题是，人类活动的连续性或非连续性是否可以从沉积记录中推断出来，以及这些是否可以与古环境变化相关联。调查将受益于从富曼沉积物层制备的170多个薄片的大量收集，这些薄片可用于我们的调查。微形态研究将由薄片的数字图像分析支持，旨在更可靠地估计沉积物成分的相对丰度。进一步计划建立薄切片在线数据库，以改善微形态学结果的传播。地质考古方法将在关键地点富曼的微地层学和沉积物性质的空间变异性方面产生开创性的数据。基于这一深刻的见解，我们期望对地中海北部旧石器时代中期到晚期的过渡以及人类活动与古环境变化之间的可能关系有一个全面的了解

Fumane cave is a key site for the study of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (MP/UP) with extraordinary rich archaeological assemblages of Mousterian, Uluzzian and Aurignacian periods involved. The corresponding layers provide a wealth of information on the behaviour of Late Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans and on their living conditions during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, a period of strong millennial-scale environmental changes. The cultural transition is documented with very high temporal resolution in a well-exposed sediment sequence, about two meter thick. It has been excavated over a large surface area. This exceptional situation is unknown from other sites in Europe and provides the unique opportunity for an in-depth and highly detailed study of the MP/UP transition. In addition, signatures of climate change during MIS 3 may be identified in sediment composition and structural features allowing for direct correlation of human occupation and climate change. The microstratigraphic approach can also provide important information for understanding chronostratigraphy of this site. At Fumane, sediments of the MP/UP transition have not yet been investigated in detail. This proposal applies for a comprehensive micromorphological study aiming at a thorough understanding of site formation processes, microstratigraphy and cave use at Fumane. Indicators of climate change, such as diachronic changes in aeolian input or frost will be assessed. The most important questions are whether continuity or discontinuity in human occupation can be deduced from the sedimentary record and whether these can be correlated with palaeoenvironmental change. The investigation will benefit from an exceptionally large collection of more than 170 thin sections prepared from sediment layers of Fumane, which are available for our investigation. The micromorphological study will be supported by digital image analyses of thin sections aiming at more reliable estimates of the relative abundance of sediment components. It is further planned to establish an online database for thin sections in order to improve dissemination of micromorphological results. The gearchaeological approach will yield seminal data on microstratigraphy and spatial variability of sediment properties at the key site Fumane. Based on this deep insight we expect a thorough understanding of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Northern Mediterranean and of the possible relation between human occupation and palaeo-environmental change