3 research outputs found
Technological behaviour of Homo erectus in Beds II, III and IV, Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)
No full textTechnological behaviours of Homo erectus are discussed following a comprehensive technological analysis of stone tool assemblages from FC East, JK, and WK sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Until recently, most research into the hominin behaviour at Olduvai have focused on Beds I and II sequences, with little focus on the hominin behaviour in upper beds. In addition, most previous studies relied heavily on the interpretation of stone tool types without conducting a full technological analysis of the assemblages. Through a first-hand reanalysis of previously excavated lithic collections by Mary Leakey and the Olduvai Gorge Archaeology Project (OGAP), this study provides evidence of hominin technological behaviour in Beds II, III, and IV, a crucial time period for the existence of the Acheulean technology at Olduvai Gorge. This technological analysis shows occurrence of reduction sequence that indicates that hominins aimed at producing small flakes and cores. Exploitation of cores appears to be expedient and low to medium intensity. Retouched tools are mostly notches, alongside other retouched tool types such as denticulates and sidescrapers. Results on the comparison of technological aspects between sites reveal a well-defined and standardised procedure, ranging from raw material selection to tool making, maintenance and discarding. This technological organisation of the Acheulean sites of Olduvai is indicative of a remarkable technological advancement and organisational skills. This strongly suggests the existence of technical procedures that were systematically executed by hominins at these sites and underscores the organised technological behaviour of the Acheulean hominins at Olduvai Gorge
AIDA (Archive of Italian radiocarbon DAtes)
No full textThe archive AIDA provides a collation of 4,005 radiocarbon dates from 946 archaeological sites in Italy from the Late Mesolithic until Late Antiquity (11 - 1.5 kya BP). These dates have been collected from existing online digital archives, and electronic and print original publications.
List of versions:
1.0 3 August 2021 — First public release of the dataset on Zenodo
2.0 13 January 2022 — Removal of some duplicates and 4 new dates added (update of the files 'References.txt', 'nerd.csv', and 'Readme.md')
Long-Term Demographic Trends in Prehistoric Italy: Climate Impacts and Regionalised Socio-Ecological Trajectories
No full textThe Italian peninsula offers an excellent case study within which to investigate long-term regional demographic trends and their response to climate fluctuations, especially given its diverse landscapes, latitudinal range and varied elevations. In the past two decades, summed probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates have become an important method for inferring population dynamics in prehistory. Recent advances in this approach also allow for statistical assessment of spatio-temporal patterning in demographic trends. In this paper we reconstruct population change for the whole Italian peninsula from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age (10,000–2800 cal yr BP). How did population patterns vary across time and space? Were fluctuations in human population related to climate change? In order to answer these questions, we have collated a large list of published radiocarbon dates (n = 4010) and use this list firstly to infer the demographic trends for the Italian peninsula as a whole, before addressing each of five sub-regions in turn (northern, central, and southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia). We also compare population fluctuations with local paleoclimate proxies (cave, lake, marine records). At a pan-regional scale, the results show a general rapid and substantial increase in population in the Early Neolithic with the introduction of farming at around 8000 cal yr BP and further dramatic increases during the Bronze and Iron Age (~ 3800–2800 cal yr BP). However, different regional demographic trajectories exist across different regions of Italy, suggesting a variety of localised human responses to climate shifts. Population and climate appear to have been more closely correlated during the early–mid Holocene (Mesolithic–Neolithic), while later in the Holocene (Bronze–Iron Ages) they decouple. Overall, across the Holocene the population dynamics varied by region and depended on the long-term socio-ecological dynamics prevailing in a given area. Finally, we include a brief response to the paper ‘Radiocarbon dated trends and central Mediterranean prehistory’ by Parkinson et al. (J Word Prehist 34(3), 2021)—synchronously published by Journal of World Prehistory but wholly independently developed—indicating how our conclusions accord with or differ from one another
