Il rilievo del riparo Bombrini: tecniche di fotogrammetria SFM ed analisi di densità per la gestione 3D di un contesto di scavo

This paper focuses on some spatial analyses performed on the dataset collected from the “Riparo Bombrini” in the Balzi Rossi archaeological area (Liguria, Italy). Documented during several campaigns using non-digital techniques, the excavation area has been surveyed in 2017 using a completely open source SFM photogrammetry operating chain (Python Photogrammetry Toolbox GUI for the point cloud computing and Meshlab for the mesh creation) and all the paper works relating to the positions of the findings has been digitized in a spreadsheet (LibreOffice Calc) and then imported into a GIS environment (QGIS). The positioning of all the findings in a GIS allowed us, for the first time since the beginning of the project, to start planning our postexcavation spatial analyses: the excavation area has been divided into a 10 cm squares grid and a presence/absence raster has been created (the cell value ranging from 0 to 18 findings). A second, and more appealing, approach tested has been the density analysis one: first a set of raster has been interpolated using the Nearest Neighbour algorithm for each archaeological horizon and then the KDE algorithm has been applied to the same dataset to create a second set of raster. The comparison between the two sets of raster clearly shows how the KDE algorithm (available both in ArcGIS and in QGIS) gives a more immediate visual perception of the different clusters of findings. Since the excavation is still on-going it is too early for any other analysis but the simple test of the methodology, but the ability shown to highlight any clustering of our findings is more than promising

The ‘Hidden Foods’ project: new research into the role of plant foods in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic societies of South-east Europe and Italy

The ‘Hidden Foods’ project is a new research programme aimed at reconstructing the importance of plant foods in prehistoric forager subsistence in Southern Europe, with a particular focus on Italy and the Balkans. The role of plant foods in pre-agrarian societies remains one of the major issues of world prehistory. Popular narratives still envisage ancient foragers as primarily ‘meat-eaters’, mainly as a consequence of the poor preservation of plant remains in early prehistoric contexts, and due to the employment of methods particularly focused on the contribution of animal protein to human diet (e.g. isotope analysis) (e.g. Bocherens 2009; Jones 2009; Richards 2009). Recently, new methods applied to archaeological evidence have provided a different understanding of hunter-gatherer dietary preference and interaction with the environment. Harvesting and processing might not have been the sole prerogative of agricultural societies, and plant foods seem to have played an important role amongst hunter-gatherers (e.g. Revedin et al. 2010

Icno-archeology of a human palaeolithic ecosystem: The human and animal footprints in the Grotta Della Basura (Toirano, Northern Italy)

The footprints of human and animal trackmakers, which around 12,000 years B.P. attended the Cave of B\ue1sura (Toirano, Liguria, Northern Italy), were studied through morpho-classificatory and morphometric approaches. First results indicate at least three different human producers, two youths and the third of tender age, bears and wolves (or dogs). Analysis of the data demonstrate the power of 3D, of landmark based morphometrics and the utility to use the methods of forensic anthropology in the determination of human foot-prints. The analysis of the number of trackmakers using the PCA analysis on 'multi-trampling' surfaces could represent a model in the study of cave sites

An overview of Alpine and Mediterranean palaeogeography, terrestrial ecosystems and climate history during MIS 3 with focus on the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

This paper summarizes the current state of knowledge about the millennial scale climate variability characterizing Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) in S-Europe and the Mediterranean area and its effects on terrestrial ecosystems. The sequence of Dansgaard-Oeschger events, as recorded by Greenland ice cores and recognizable in isotope profiles from speleothems and high-resolution palaeoecological records, led to dramatic variations in glacier extent and sea level configuration with major impacts on the physiography and vegetation patterns, both latitudinally and altitudinally. The recurrent succession of (open) woodlands, including temperate taxa, and grasslands with xerophytic elements, have been tentatively correlated to GIs in Greenland ice cores. Concerning colder phases, the Greenland Stadials (GSs) related to Heinrich events (HEs) appear to have a more pronounced effect than other GSs on woodland withdrawal and xerophytes expansion. Notably, GS 9-HE4 phase corresponds to the most severe reduction of tree cover in a number of Mediterranean records. On a long-term scale, a reduction/opening of forests throughout MIS 3 started from Greenland Interstadials (GIs) 14/13 (ca. 55\u201348 ka), which show a maximum in woodland density. At that time, natural environments were favourable for Anatomically Modern Humans (AMHs) to migrate from Africa into Europe as documented by industries associated with modern hominin remains in the Levant. Afterwards, a variety of early Upper Palaeolithic cultures emerged (e.g., Uluzzian and Proto-Aurignacian). In this chronostratigraphic framework, attention is paid to the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra marker, as a pivotal tool for deciphering and correlating several temporal-spatial issues crucial for understanding the interaction between AMHs and Neandertals at the time of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

Inorganic Raw Materials Economy and Provenance of Chipped Industry in Some Stone Age Sites of Northern and Central Italy

An opportunistic and local choice of raw materials is typically attested in the Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries throughout Italy. The quality of the raw material usually affected the flaking technology and quality of the products. In the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic, raw material procurement strategies were more complex. Flint was exploited both locally, in areas where abundant outcrops of raw materials were available (such as the Lessini mountains), and in distant localities, after which it was transported or exchanged over medium/long distances. Different routes of exchange were thus followed in the various periods; good reconstruction of these routes have been provided by a study of the Garfagnana sites in Northern Tuscany, and the Mesolithic deposit of Mondeval de Sora (Dolomites). An interesting example of a Late Upper Paleolithic flint quarry and workshop were found in Abruzzo, in the San Bartolomeo shelter. The extended trade of obsidian from Lipari, Palmarola and Sardinia to the Italian Peninsula is attested in the Neolithic, with some differences concerning the age and different areas

An infant burial from Arma Veirana in northwestern Italy provides insights into funerary practices and female personhood in early Mesolithic Europe

The evolution and development of human mortuary behaviors is of enormous cultural significance. Here we report a richly-decorated young infant burial (AVH-1) from Arma Veirana (Liguria, northwestern Italy) that is directly dated to 10,211–9910 cal BP (95.4% probability), placing it within the early Holocene and therefore attributable to the early Mesolithic, a cultural period from which well-documented burials are exceedingly rare. Virtual dental histology, proteomics, and aDNA indicate that the infant was a 40–50 days old female. Associated artifacts indicate significant material and emotional investment in the child’s interment. The detailed biological profile of AVH-1 establishes the child as the earliest European near-neonate documented to be female. The Arma Veirana burial thus provides insight into sex/gender-based social status, funerary treatment, and the attribution of personhood to the youngest individuals among prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups and adds substantially to the scant data on mortuary practices from an important period in prehistory shortly following the end of the last Ice Age