A stable isotope study of fossil mammal remains from the Paglicci cave, Southern Italy. N and C as palaeoenvironmental indicators

A set of 102 tooth and bone samples of Pleistocene age (32,600-13,300 yr BP) belonging to the species Cervus elaphus, Bos primigenius and Equus caballus and coming from the Paglicci cave (Southern Italy) was studied for the carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopic composition of bone and dentine collage and for the carbon (δ13Cc) isotopic composition of tooth enamel carbonate. The amount of collagen extracted from bone and tooth samples (mg/g) was rather variable, representing approximately only 0.5–15% of the collagen present in a fresh bone. However, the loss of an important fraction of the original collagen during diagenesis did not change the in vivo isotopic composition. In general, when the δ13C of both collagen and carbonate and the δ15N of collagen obtained from each level for the three species are compared, wild ox shows the most increased values, deer the most decreased values and horse shows intermediate results. These differences are probably related to distinct diets or to differences in their physiological behaviour. However, the isotopic results suggest that the three species considered lived in an open environment with a diet based on C3 plants. The stratigraphic sequence of light and heavy nitrogen isotope values between 19,000 and 15,000 may be related to shifts from arid to humid conditions, while the overall trend shown by δ13C toward lighter values may be related to a progressive development of a forest habitat.