LATE PLEISTOCENE MAMMAL FAUNAL ASSEMBLAGE FROM CAVA SPAGNULO (GROTTAGLIE, APULIA, SE ITALY)

Abstract

The Quaternary sedimentary succession exposed at Cava Spagnulo, nearby the town of Grottaglie (Apulia, Southern Italy), is described for the first time. A preliminary list of the mammal remains from the upper part of the succession, has been compared with other Pleistocene Apulian sites. The identified taxa are represented by cranial and postcranial fragments and isolated teeth of bovids, cervids, equids, canids and lagomorph. In the same deposit also few Mousterian stone tools have been found. The study of the mammal assemblage and the lithic tools suggest that the upper part of the succession exposed at Cava Spagnulo could be referred to the second part of the marine isotopic stage 3.