Following the father steps in the bowels of the Earth: the ichnological record from the Bàsura Cave (Upper Palaeolithic, Italy).

AVANZINI, MARCO; AROBBA, DANIELE; CITTON, PAOLO; MARTA ZUNINO; ELISABETTA STARNINI; ROMANO, MARCO; FIRPO, MARCO; ISABELLA SALVADOR; ROSANNA CARAMIELLO; IVANO RELLINI; NEGRINO, FABIO

Reading Prehistoric Human Tracks: methods and material

Springer - Nature

Año: 2021; p. 251 - 276

The chapter summarizes the new results of the Bàsura Revisited InterdisciplinaryResearch Project. The integrated interpretation of recent archaeologicaldata and palaeosurface laser scans, along with geoarchaeological, sedimentological,geochemical and archaeobotanical analyses, geometric morphometrics and digital photogrammetry, enabled us to reconstruct some activities that an Upper Palaeolithichuman group led inside a deep cave in northern Italy within a single explorationevent about 14 ka calBP. A complex and diverse track records of humans and otheranimals shed light on individual- and group-level behaviour, social relationship andmode of exploration of the uneven terrain. Five individuals, composed of two adults,an adolescent and two children, entered the cave barefoot lightening the way with abunch of wooden sticks (Pinus t. sylvestris/mugo bundles). While proceeding,humans were forced to move on all fours, and the traces they left represent thefirst report of crawling locomotion in the global human ichnological record. Anatomicaldetails recognizable in the crawling traces show that no clothing was presentbetween limbs and the trampled sediments. Our study demonstrates that very youngchildren (the youngest about 3 years old) were active members of the human groups,even in apparently dangerous and social activities, shedding light on behaviouralhabits of Upper Palaeolithic populations.