A STABLE-ISOTOPE STUDY OF FOSSIL MAMMAL REMAINS FROM THE PAGLICCI CAVE, SOUTHERN ITALY, 13 TO 33 KA BP - PALEOCLIMATOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

A set of 102 samples of fossil skeletal remains of mammals from a sedi ment sequence from the Paglicci cave in southern Italy, was studied fo r the oxygen isotopic composition of bone and tooth phosphate. The sam ples belong to Cervus elaphus, Bos primigenius and Equus caballus and come from various levels of a succession spanning about 33 to 13 ka BP (calibrated C-14 ages). On the basis of X-ray diffraction studies on every sample, most of them show no evidence of recrystallisation and m ay thus be considered reliable for isotopic study. delta(18)O(p) value s range from 16.8 parts per thousand to 20.5 parts per thousand (V-SMO W). Cervus and Bos samples show trends in their isotopic values that a re similar to each other. The delta(18)O(w) calculated from their delt a(18)O(p) values, using previously established equations, form section s of a climatic curve that agree quite well with the palaeoclimatologi cal curve obtained from the GRIP ice core, despite minor differences i n the timing and intensity of some climatic events. Despite the relati vely low latitude of the area and its central position in the Mediterr anean basin, we may conclude that major climatic changes left their si gnature on the isotopic composition of the samples studied. (C) 1997 E lsevier Science B.V.