A stupendous new #ochre #burial from Grotta del Romito (Papasidero, northern Calabria, Italy) of a girl, approximately 11–12 years of age, associated with an archaeological layer dated to 16,129 ± 100 uncal BP (19,809–19,157 cal BP, 2σ), corresponding to the evolved phase of the local Epigravettian culture.

Romito 9 presents a richly furnished burial, featuring the use of red ochre and abundant ornamentation

#archaeology #UpperPalaeolithic

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618225003635

'A second female sexual figuration has been found in a cramped cavity shelter in a quartzitic sandstone megaclast at Courdimanche, some 10 km from that recently described in the La Ségognole 3 shelter at Noisy-sur-Ecole'

#UpperPalaeolithic #rockcarving

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X25003827

Necklaces from southern Spain, back to the #LastGlacialMaximum (c.20 Ka)
Made of scaphopod fossils, some shells covered with #red #ochre

#archaeology #UpperPalaeolithic #bodyart #ritual

https://www.iflscience.com/prehistoric-humans-made-necklaces-from-marine-mollusk-fossils-20000-years-ago-80831

Traces of #indigo processing in the #UpperPalaeolithic

#archaeology #pigments

https://phys.org/news/2025-09-blue-indigo-year-tools-paleolithic.html

A new face for the #Gravettian
'This article describes a sculpted head with a highly detailed face and headpiece, unearthed in 2021 at the Amiens-Renancourt 1 site. Since 2013, excavations at this Gravettian site have yielded one of the largest collections of female statuettes in Europe'

#archaeology #UpperPalaeolithic #figurine #chalk

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X25003189?via%3Dihub

Exciting new paper here assessing ages for #puberty onset and #menarche among #UpperPalaeolithic #huntergatherers (from Russia, Czechia, Italy).

'Our results revealed that while puberty had begun by 13.5 years of age for the majority of individuals, there was a lot of variability, with the adolescents from Arene Candide (AC1 and AC16), both aged around 16 years when they died, taking several years longer to progress through puberty than their peers. Assessing the age of menarche was challenging due to the paucity of female adolescents, but based on the available evidence, it appears to have occurred between 16 and 17 years of age. For some, full adulthood had been achieved by 17–22 years, similar to the patterns seen in modern wealthy countries and in advance of historic populations living in urbanized environments.'

#adolescence #lifehistory #humanevolution #anthropology #archaeology #burials

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004724842400085X?dgcid=raven_sd_via_email

Engravings of fishing nets at Gönnersdorf 15,800 years ago

'A total of 406 decorated schist slabs have been found at the site, and while these have all been extensively studied in the past, the fishy features had until now gone unnoticed. However, using advanced imaging technologies like Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), the authors of a new study were able to identify the netted creatures on eight of the plaquettes.'

#UpperPalaeolithic #plaquettes #mobiliaryart #archaeology

https://www.iflscience.com/15800-year-old-sketches-reveal-people-were-already-fishing-with-nets-76672

#Genome analysis of two skull fragments from the Buran Kaya III site in Crimea dating to 36,000 and 37,000 years ago show proximity to later #Gravettian populations. The Gravettian culture, known for producing female figurines referred to as "Venuses," stretched between 31,000 and 23,000 years ago.

#UpperPalaeolithic #Europe #Homosapiens
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-modern-humans-europe.html