Abstract
At Grotta di Fumane, signatures such as butchering traces, burned bones, fragmentation and scanty carnivore traces prove that the faunal remains from the Uluzzian layers (A4 and A3) are the product of human activity. Human modifications are also present on the bones of birds like black grouse, Alpine chough, and large raptors like the golden eagle. Faunal evidence indicates that human hunting focused on red deer and ibex, but also on giant deer, roe deer, bison and chamois. Wolf, fox and brown bear were exploited as well. All age classes of red deer and adult ibex were preyed upon. The presence of young ungulates suggests that the cave was used throughout the year. The faunal assemblage of the final Uluzzian layers chronicles climatic cooling with respect to the previous Mousterian period, and modifications in hunting comparable to those characteristic of the Aurignacian occupation.
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Acknowledgments
Research at Fumane is supported by the Superintendent for Archaeological Heritage of Veneto, the Venetian Region, the Cariverona Foundation, the Comunità Montana della Lessinia, the Fumane Municipality and several private companies (Roberto Gardina, Albino Armani winegrovers, Banca di Credito Cooperativo della Valpolicella). The authors are grateful to E. M., M. V. and A. J. S. for their help with the English translation of the manuscript. Most of the data achieved in this research are taken from the Masters thesis of M. Romandini (2007–2008).
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Tagliacozzo, A., Romandini, M., Fiore, I., Gala, M., Peresani, M. (2013). Animal Exploitation Strategies during the Uluzzian at Grotta di Fumane (Verona, Italy). In: Clark, J., Speth, J. (eds) Zooarchaeology and Modern Human Origins. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6766-9_8
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