Paglicci Cave

Description

In the cave, situated near Rignano Garganico, there are more than 45,000 individual finds, including Paleolithic tools, human and animal bones. They are currently housed in Rignano Garganico's Museum. Evidence of Paleolithic oat harvesting dating to 30,600 BC was linked to a pestle recovered from the cave.

The cave contains also some Paleolithic mural paintings, depicting horses and handprints. Images of goats, cows, a serpent, a nest with eggs, and a hunting scene have also been found engraved on bone.

Two human skeletons have been found as well, belonging to a boy and a young woman, both wearing deer bone or teeth ornaments.

Paglicci cave contains the earliest Aurignacian and Gravettian remains of Italy, dated to c. 34,000 and 28,000 BP (uncalibrated).

Relevance in population genetics

Caramelli et al. (2008) tested human remains from Paglicci 23 dated 28,000 BP (before present), and found that the individual had the human mitochondrial haplogroup H, specifically the rather common Cambridge Reference Sequence. The result was exhaustively tested for possible contamination and replicated in a separate test.

Fu et al. (2016) found that 31-35 thousand years old human remains from Paglicci 133 carried Y-DNA haplogroup I (not I1) (CTS674+, CTS9269+) and mtDNA haplogroup U8c.