Ripari Villabruna is a small rock shelter in northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

burial remains. It contains several

Cro-Magnon Cro-Magnons or European early modern humans (EEMH) were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They in ...

burials, with bodies and grave goods dated to 14,000 years BP. The site has added greatly to the understanding of the Mesolithic development of medical and

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

practices in early

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

communities.

History

The ablation and removal of debris in the Cismon valley, in the Sovramonte municipality, province of

Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the Capital (political), capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. W ...

, Italy during the late 1980s led to the discovery of several rock shelters (abris). Located at a height of above sea level they show impressive traces of settlement by prehistoric people and their activities. The rock shelters, named after their discoverer "Ripari Villabruna", are part of a complex system of sites that reach from the lowest points of the valley to alpine heights. Excavations confirm that humans frequently occupied the site for short periods in a late

Epigravettian The Epigravettian (Greek: ''epi'' "above, on top of", and Gravettian) was one of the last archaeological industries and cultures of the European Upper Paleolithic. It emerged after the Last Glacial Maximum around ~21,000 cal. BP or 19,050 BC ...

cultural context, carbon dated to begin around 14,000 years ago and continuing to the middle of the ensuing

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

Villabruna 1

A grave that contained a well-preserved skeleton was discovered at the base of the archaeological layers in 1988. Direct AMS dating of the skeletal remains revealed a date 14,160 to 13,820 years before present. The burial took place during the first stages of the human settlement in the rock shelters. The corpse was placed into a narrow, shallow pit in depth, the head turned to the left with arms stretched touching the body, and were of an adult male, about twenty-five years old, characterized by a relatively tall stature for the time period. Six grave attachments were placed to the body's left. The typical equipment of a hunter-gatherer included a flint (fire stone) knife, a flint core, another stone as hammer, a blade of flint, a bone tip, a pellet of

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

and

Propolis Propolis or bee glue is a resinous mixture that honey bees produce by mixing saliva and beeswax with exudate gathered from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the beehive. Pro ...

(a resinous matter, produced by bees). Limestone platelets decorated with

drawings had been placed on top of the tomb. The excellent preservation of the Villabruna 1 skeleton helped to thoroughly investigate various aspects of skeletal biology, such as body size, craniofacial morphology, tooth wear, functional anatomy, and nutritional and pathological aspects. Comparing Villabruna 1 and similar finds with today's people widened the understanding of biocultural adjustments, the living conditions and survival strategies of the Paleolithic population of Europe. Villabruna 1 is significant in terms of the

genetic history of Europe The genetic history of Europe includes information around the formation, ethnogenesis, and other DNA-specific information about populations indigenous, or living in Europe. European early modern human (EEMH) lineages between 40 and 26 ka (A ...

: the remains were found to carry Y-DNA haplogroup R1b1a-L754* (xL389,V88). This is the oldest documented example of haplogroup R1b found anywhere.

References

External links

Ripari Villabruna, Italien (in German)
{{Navbox prehistoric caves Archaeological sites in Veneto