New human remains from the Late Epigravettian necropolis of Arene Candide (Liguria, northwestern Italy): Direct radiocarbon evidence and inferences on the funerary use of the cave during the Younger Dryas
Vitale Sparacello, Irene Dori, Stefano Rossi, Alessandra Varalli, Julien Riel‐Salvatore, Claudine Gravel‐Miguel, Alessandro Riga, Francesca Seghi, Gwénaëlle Goude, Sanne W.L. Palstra, Elisabetta Starnini, Vincenzo Formicola, Jacopo Moggi‐Cecchi
Abstract
. Arene Candide Cave was a highly-visible landmark in the landscape, and funerary gestures in the Epigravettian necropolis emphasized the ties with the ancestors. It is possible that funerary behavior at Arene Candide was a means of claiming territorial access to resources, as well as reinforcing and transmitting communal identity and values, through a period of climate-induced resource stress and competition. Isolation and small refugia during cooling events may have contributed to exacerbating genetic drift, and increased the frequency of cultural means to sanction "exceptional people and events".