Original scientific paper

Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (NYT) from the Pleistocene sediments in Vela Spila on the island of Korčula: a valuable chronostratigraphic marker of the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Mesolithic

Dinko Radić ; Cultural Centre Vela Luka, Vela Luka, Croatia

Abstract

The layer of grey ash and ash-lens excavated in Vela
Spila Cave on the island of Korčula at a depth of approximately
5.8 m, and 6.25 m, consist respectively of volcanic
ash ejected during the eruption of Neapolitan Yellow Tuff
(NYT) roughly 15 ka ago and during eruption of the Ponti
Rossi pyroclastics 16 ka ago in the Phlegraean Fields near
Naples. In this area, and in other volcano zones, a number
of eruptions have been thoroughly examined and directly
dated by K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating methods, and their
distal deposited dust and ash (tephra) can serve to date
archaeological events more accurately than previously
customary methods. The NYT layer is stratigraphically
situated atop Pleistocene sediments rich in remains indicating
human activity. The composition and properties of
these sediments make them entirely different from the layers
deposited in the Early Holocene. In the cultural sense,
the NYT layer is placed at the end of the Palaeolithic. The
layer above it belongs to the uppermost Palaeolithic, while
the subsequent layer marks the beginning of the Mesolithic.
The end of the Pleistocene is particularly interesting
as it indicates an era when sea levels rose and the climate,
flora and fauna underwent changes, which in turn led to
significant change in the existence of human communities,
which had to adjust their survival strategies. A particular
question that arises is the impact of cataclysmic volcanic eruptions on the ecology of the environment and, consequently,
on the development of human communities and
individual prehistoric cultures.

Keywords

distal tephra; Neapolitan Yellow Tuff; Ponti Rossi pyroclastics; archaeological markers; Pleistocene; Epigravettien; Vela Spila; Korčula; Croatia

Hrčak ID:

26714

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/26714

Publication date:

22.8.2008.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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