The Acheulian and early Middle Paleolithic in Latium (Italy): Stability and innovation

We present here the results of a technological and typological analysis of the Acheulian and early Middle Paleolithic assemblages from Torre in Pietra (Latium, Italy) together with comparisons with the Acheulian small tools of Castel di Guido. The assemblages were never chronometrically dated before. We have now 40Ar/39Ar dates and ESR-U-series dates, within a geomorphological framework, which support correlations to marine isotope stages. The Acheulian (previously correlated to MIS 9) is now dated to MIS 10 while the Middle Paleolithic is dated to MIS 7. Lithic analyses are preceded by taphonomic evaluations. The Levallois method of the Middle Paleolithic assemblage is an innovation characterized by the production of thin flake blanks without cortex. In contrast, the small tool blanks of the Acheulian were either pebbles or thick flakes with some cortex. They provided a relatively easy manual prehension. The choice of Levallois thin flake blanks in the Middle Paleolithic assemblage suggest that the new technology is most likely related to the emergence of hafting. Accordingly, the oldest direct evidence of hafting technology is from the site of Campitello Quarry in Tuscany (Central Italy) where birch-bark tar, found on the proximal part of two flint flakes, is dated to the end of MIS 7. Nevertheless, a peculiar feature of the Middle Paleolithic at Torre in Pietra is the continuous presence of small tool blanks on pebbles and cores and on thick flake albeit at a much lower frequency than in the older Acheulian industries. The adoption of the new technology is thus characterized by innovation combined with a degree of stability. The persistence of these habits in spite of the introduction of an innovative technique underlies the importance of cultural transmission and conformity in the behavior of Neandertals

Recent studies of heavy ion transfer reactions using large solid angle spectrometers

We present selected results recently obtained in the study of heavy ion transfer reactions at energies close to the Coulomb barrier by employing the large solid angle magnetic spectrometer PRISMA. We discuss the production of neutron-rich heavy nuclei via multinucleon transfer processes and the related effects of secondary processes, in particular nucleon evaporation, studied in a high resolution kinematic coincidence experiment. We also present the recent results in the studies of neutron-neutron correlations for closed shell and superfluid systems

Evidence of proton-proton correlations in the 116Sn+60Ni transfer reactions

One and two proton transfer channels have been measured in 116Sn+60Ni with the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA by making an excitation function at several bombarding energies, from above to well below the Coulomb barrier. The total kinetic energy loss distributions show the predominance of quasi-elastic processes in the sub-barrier regime. The data have been compared with calculations performed with the GRAZING program, based on semiclassical formalism, and in the Distorted Wave Born Approximation (DWBA), which provided a good theoretical description of the extracted transfer probabilities for the one proton transfers. The much larger values of the experimental two proton transfers compared with those evaluated within an independent particle transfer mechanism, indicate the presence of strong proton-proton correlations. The results complement the ones of the previously analyzed one- and two-neutron transfers, providing significant new information on the subject compared to past works

Study of the neutron-rich region in the vicinity of 208Pb via multinucleon transfer reactions

The multinucleon transfer reaction mechanism was employed to populate isotopes around the doubly- magic 208 Pb nucleus. We used an unstable 94 Rb beam on 208 Pb targets of different thickness. Transfer channels were studied via the fragment-γ and γ-γ coincidences, by using MINIBALL γ spectrometer coupled to a particle detector. Gamma transitions associated to the different Pb isotopes, populated by the neutron transfers, are discussed in terms of excitation energy and spin. Fragment angular distributions were extracted, andcompared with the reaction model

Multinucleon transfer reactions and proton transfer channels

Transfer reactions have always been of great importance for nuclear structure and reaction mechanism studies. So far, in multinucleon transfer studies, proton pickup channels have been completely identified in atomic and mass numbers at energies close to the Coulomb barrier only in few cases. We measured the multinucleon transfer reactions in the 40Ar+208Pb system near the Coulomb barrier, by employing the PRISMA magnetic spectrometer. By using the most neutron-rich stable 40Ar beam we could populate, besidesneutron pickup and proton stripping channels, also neutron stripping and proton pickup channels. Comparison ofcross sections between different systems with the 208Pb target and with projectiles going from neutron-poor to neutron-rich nuclei, as well as between the data and GRAZING calculations, was carried out.Finally, recent results concerning the measurement of the excitation function from the Coulomb barrier to far below for the 92Mo+54Fe system, where both proton stripping and pickup channels were populated with similar strength, will be discussed

Light and heavy fragments mass correlation in the 197Au+130Te transfer reaction

We studied multinucleon transfer (MNT) processes in the 197Au+130Te at Elab=1.07 GeV system coupling the PRISMA magnetic spectrometer to NOSE, an ancillary particle detector. We constructed a mass correlation matrix associating to each light fragment identified in PRISMA the corresponding mass distribution of the heavy partner detected in NOSE and, through the comparison with Monte Carlo simulations, we could infer about the role of neutron evaporation in multinucleon transfer reactions for the population of neutron-rich heavy nuclei

Role of Transfer Channels in Heavy-ion Reactions

Abstract. Transfer reactions constitute the dominant contribution to the back-angles quasi-elastic excitation functions measured in collisions between heavy-ions. This is shown by using a semiclassical model that incorporates both the excitation of surface modes and the particle transfer degrees of freedom