doie-pub 10.4436/jass.96003 ahead of print JASs Reports doi: 10.4436/jass.89003 Journal of Anthropological Sciences Vol. 96 (2018), pp. 161-184 New insights on Final Epigravettian funerary behavior at Arene Candide Cave (Western Liguria, Italy) Vitale Stefano Sparacello1, 2, Stefano Rossi3, 4, Paul Pettitt2, Charlotte Roberts2, Julien Riel-Salvatore5 & Vincenzo Formicola6 1) Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, PACEA, UMR 5199, Batiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac cedex e-mail:
[email protected] 2) Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom 3) Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la città metropolitana di Genova e le province di Imperia, La Spezia e Savona, Via Balbi, 10, 16126 Genova, Italy 4) DISTAV, Università di Genova, Corso Europa, 26, 16132 Genova, Italy 5) Département d’Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150 rue Jean-Brillant, H3T 1N8 Montréal (QC), Canada 6) Department of Biology, Università di Pisa, Via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy Summary - We gained new insights on Epigravettian funerary behavior at the Arene Candide cave through the osteological and spatial analysis of the burials and human bone accumulations found in the cave during past excavations. Archaeothanathological information on the human skeletal remains was recovered from diaries, field pictures and notes, and data from recent excavations was integrated. The secondary deposits have traditionally been interpreted as older burials that were disturbed to make space for new inhumations. Our results suggest that those disturbances were not casual: older burials were intentionally displaced to bury younger inhumations. Subsequently, some skeletal elements, especially crania, were arranged around the new burial; these were often placed within stone niches.