177,030 research outputs found
Riflessioni sull’evoluzione degli armamenti da caccia durante l’interstadio tardoglaciale: analisi tecno-tipo-funzionale delle armature litiche di Riparo Dalmeri (Trento) e risultati sperimentali.
No full textSuccess of a flexible behavior. Considerations on the manufacture of Late Epigravettian lithic projectile implements according to experimental tests
No full textIt is generally recognized that the function and modality of hafting are the main factors influencing mental templates, and consequently, stone tool standardization. But what role do technical knowledge and traditions play? In this study, we investigate the interaction between mental templates and technological choices in the manufacture of Late Epigravettian projectile implements. The examined specimens come from different dwelling phases of the Dalmeri rock shelter (Italian Alps). Technological analyses suggest that lithic production systems gradually simplified their structure over time, implying a shift in technical investment from shaping on the core to a subsequent shaping on the derived flake blank. However, correlations between the dimensions and morphological features among the armatures from the different units suggest that mental templates remained unchanged throughout the Alleröd. Experimentation attests to the frequent combined application of different retouching techniques. Further, the variability in their arrangement denotes the absence of strict rules and the Epigravettian capability to recognize the most situationally suitable method. In the Dalmeri rock shelter, the standardization of lithic projectile implements is therefore a result of flexibility in retouching, framed in a production system characterized by a progressive simplification. A such rapidly produced and responsive technology must have been encouraged by Late Glacial climatic and environmental changes and the occupation of alpine territories previously inaccessible. Thus, the flexibility of technical behaviors turns out to be a key element in the transformation of Late Epigravettian societies during this period, enabling them to adapt and evolve in response to environmental, social, and economic changes
Nuovi ritrovamenti litici del Paleolitico sui Colli Euganei
No full textLa nuova serie di ritrovamenti qui presentata rafforza il quadro insediativo del più antico popolamento dei Colli Euganei e conferma l’importanza di questo insieme collinare per gli studi sulle dinamiche insediative e sull’economia tra Paleolitico medio e Mesolitico. Per quanto riguarda il Paleolitico medio, le tracce di questi nuovi insediamenti manifestano una variabilità finora resa latente dalla parzialità delle scoperte effettuate in precedenza: i siti di Casa Ambrosi, Monte Cinto-Vegro e specialmente Colle Mattara, appaiono infatti diversi tra loro. Casa Ambrosi è interpretabile con buona sicurezza come un sito di raccolta e prelavorazione delle selci, raccolte nei depositi colluviali stesi lungo il versante Nord di Monte Versa. Colle Mattara, collocato su una selletta a mezza costa ed esposto a Sud-Ovest, presenta una posizione consueta per gli insediamenti paleolitici degli Euganei. Il fatto che sia localizzato su un substrato magmatico, ne esclude l’interpretazione come luogo di approvvigionamento di selci, e sembra piuttosto suggerire un sito a carattere più complesso. Questa interpretazione sembra confermata anche dall’elevato numero di strumenti che indicano l’espletazione in situ di varie attività artigianali legate a diversi aspetti della sussistenza.
Terme di Valcalaona risulta ubicato su un colle semisepolto dalle alluvioni dell’omonimo paleoalveo che qui disegna un’ansa nel suo percorso verso sud. É probabile che il colle, modellato nei calcari della Scaglia Rossa, rendesse disponibile materia prima litica per l’approvvigionamento. L’elevata percentuale di strumenti appare comunque significativa e non permette di escludere la possibilità di un sito stanziale.Estremamente singolare è invece la scheggia in latite rinvenuta a Villa Cavagnari, in quanto rappresenta a tutt’oggi il primo manufatto umano conosciuto in pietra silicatica euganea e sottolinea l’interesse da parte dei neandertaliani verso questo tipo di roccia. Per quanto riguarda il Paleolitico superiore, i nuovi ritrovamenti effettuati a Colle Mattara, Casa Ambrosi e Terme Ovest si aggiungono ai più famosi giacimenti situati sui Monti Berici (Grotta della Paina, Grotta del Broion e Riparo del Broion) e ad altre poche località segnalate sui Colli Euganei (Mondonego, Boara Nazaria e Le Basse nella Valcalaona) confermando come quest’area abbia rivestito una certa importanza anche durante il Paleolitico superiore, costituendo parte integrante dei più ampi sistemi insediativi delle Prealpi Venete
Primo rapporto sulla campagna di scavi 2010 nella Grotta del Rio Secco, Altopiano di Pradis.
No full textVengono presentati i risultati preliminari del Laboratorio di Ricerca Archeologica aperto nei messi di settembre e ottobre a Grotta del Rio Secco sull’Altopiano di Pradis. Lo scavo ha confermato la presenza di livelli di occupazione antropica riferibili al Musteriano finale e all’Epigravettiano, ipotizzata nel precedente sondaggio 2002, che definiscono un’elevata potenzialità scientifica per questo giacimento. Il Musteriano è rappresentato da manufatti litici ricavati su selci locali e da numerosi resti faunistici di ungulati recanti tracce di modificazione antropica. La frequentazione epigravettiana è invece testimoniata da uno scarso numero di strumenti e armature finite, ricavate da selci alloctone. Ricche sono anche le evidenze di colonizzazione di questa cavità da parte di Marmota marmota
Copper age lithic workshop on Mount Doc (Segusino-Treviso, North-eastern Italy). Preliminary report on the new research
No full textThis paper presents a late prehistoric site associated with flint exploitation and the first stages of working lithics. The site was excavated in 2002-2003 on the ridge of Mount Doc (1394 m above sea level), one of the westernmost peaks of the Pre-Alps range of Treviso (North-eastern Italy). The site itself and some of the documentation obtained from surveys and from extensive excavations have already been the subject of preliminary reports. These have concluded that this site was used to supply and work flint between a later stage of the Neolithic Age and the Copper Age. Below are some preliminary observations on the analysis of the lithic assemblage found in sector III of the excavations. The activities documented in that sector could be placed within a much wider economic and environmental context, as these activities were probably carried out seasonally by specialised itinerant groups linked to pastoral farming
Lithic projectile technology in the western Late Epigravettian: The case study of north-eastern Italy
No full textProjectile implements are one of the most frequent transformed lithic blanks within the Upper Paleolithic assemblages. Since the first taxonomic studies, their morphological variability has been used as primary fossil director to define specific regional trends and diachronic phases. However, an exhaustive analysis of manufacturing methods and techniques applied to shape this gear category is extremely rare. In fact, during the Late Epigravettian, except for a certain typological variability, the lack of detailed studies resulted in an apparent homogeneity in armatures production. In this paper, a technological and traceological approach applied to reconstruct the whole cha & icirc;ne operatoire of armatures manufacture in three Northern Italian sites dated between 17,000 and 12,000 cal BP demonstrates important variations in how projectile implements are fashioned, concerning shape, production methods and retouch techniques. Moreover, a large-scale comparison suggests how renewals in projectile implements production in North-Eastern Italy may result from long-distance connections between human groups over the western Late Epigravettian territory
The Clusantin Cave and the specialised hunting and processing of marmots during the Epigravettian in Italy.
No full textScraping hide in the early Upper Paleolithic: insights into the life and function of the Protoaurignacian endscrapers at Fumane cave
No full textEndscrapers are specialized tools that are usually recovered in great quantities in every Upper Paleolithic site in Europe. Although they make their first ephemeral appearance in the Middle – late Middle Paleolithic transitional technocomplexes, endscrapers commonly appear in tool-kits from initial and early Upper Paleolithic traditions onwards. Nevertheless, endscrapers and, in general, domestic tools have attracted relatively little attention in debates revolving around the significance of technological change, tool-function and tool-specialization after the end of the Middle Paleolithic. With the aim to overcome this paucity of information, here, we present the results of a techno-functional study performed on the large endscraper assemblage recovered from the early and late Protoaurignacian layers at Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy. We analyzed these artefacts using technological, morpho-metrical, typological and functional approaches. Despite the large morphological variability, use-wear traces reveal functional consistency and high levels of specialization for these tools. Almost all the use-wear traces we recorded developed from hide working with transverse motion. Moreover, we find no evidence that endscrapers were involved in the production of bone and antler tools during the late Protoaurignacian. Macroscopic and microscopic wear on the lateral edges of tools point to a considerable number of hafted endscrapers, which implies systematic time investment and planning depth. Comparison with the few endscrapers from transitional industries that have been analyzed highlights marked differences in the production, morphology and use of these tools and reinforces our view of the Aurignacian as a complex not directly related with preceding European traditions
Siti mesolitici nella Valle delle Gombe (Teolo).
No full textQuesto ritrovamento, infatti, rappresenta un nuovo tassello che si va ad aggiungere alle scoperte che già precedentemente avevano suggerito come l’area dei Colli Euganei e le depressioni circostanti fossero percorse e abitate anche durante il Mesolitico. Le altre segnalazioni archeologiche si riferiscono a rinvenimenti superficiali in località sopraelevate all’interno del paesaggio alluvionale e pertanto ricercate quali sedi ottimali per l’installazione di accampamenti di caccia. I siti di Val delle Gombe arricchiscono dunque il quadro insediativo fino ad ora delineato, testimoniando come le aree collinari prospicienti le piane alluvionali costituissero parte integrante del ben più ampio fenomeno di popolamento che investì le pianure venete fino alla fascia costiera durante l’intero arco del Mesolitico
The use of bone retouchers in a Mousterian context of Discoid lithic technology
No full textBone retouchers are an important behavioural marker in the definition of several Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic cultural complexes. However, their relationship with the assemblages of knapped stone artefacts is still to be investigated particularly in specific but not uncommon lithic contexts of the Middle Palaeolithic in Europe. This paper offers insights to evaluate the use of bone retouchers in a context of Discoid lithic technology, a significant cultural expression largely spread in many regions during MIS3. The study case is the lithic and osseous assemblage of unit A9 at Fumane Cave, in north-eastern Italy. A detailed analysis of the bone retouchers is presented for the first time; their technological features are then correlated with the characteristic of the retouch observed on the lithic tools recovered in the same unit. The study contributes to complete a picture of Neandertal economic behaviour
- …
