New Insights into Mousterian Faunal Assemblages from Uluzzo C (Apulia, Southern Italy)

Grotta-Riparo di Uluzzo C (Uluzzo Bay, Apulia, southern Italy) preserves a long and complex stratigraphic sequence spanning from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age, offering a valuable context for investigating depositional dynamics and human-environment interactions during the Late Pleistocene. Although recent multidisciplinary research has substantially advanced knowledge of the Uluzzian occupations, the Mousterian faunal record of the site has remained largely unexplored from zooarchaeological and taphonomic perspectives. This study examines the faunal assemblages from the Mousterian layers (E, F, and G), integrating material from historical excavations with those recovered during recent fieldwork. Zooarchaeological, taphonomic, and Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) analyses are combined to reconstruct local environmental conditions, evaluate the relative contribution of human and non-human agents to bone accumulation, and assess patterns of site use and deposit formation. The faunal spectrum indicates an ecologically heterogeneous landscape, consistent with a Mediterranean refugial setting during the Late Pleistocene. Taphonomic evidence points to complex and cumulative formation processes resulting from repeated, short-term human occupations interspersed with carnivore activity and natural depositional processes. The Mousterian deposits are therefore best interpreted as brief palimpsests rather than the result of continuous or intensive occupation. Placed within a regional framework, the Uluzzo C assemblages contribute to broader discussions on site formation processes and environmental variability in southern Italy and provide an important comparative baseline for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic period.