Change fast or change slow? Late Glacial and Early Holocene cultures in a changing environment at Grotta Continenza, Central Italy

This work contextualises the sequence of Grotta Continenza, a cave with a rich sequence of Late Glacial to Early Holocene archaeological levels spanning from the Late Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, within the framework of southern Italy cultural adaptation to environmental change.The sequence is dated by Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates and event durations are computed, including hiatuses in sedimentation and gaps in culture development; these data are used in association with sedimentology and soil micromorphology to assess sedimentary models that can explain the environmental change.Techno-typological and behavioural aspects of Late Upper Palaeolithic populations are correlated with environmental change, mostly during Younger Dryas

Lost in transition: Between late pleistocene and Early Holocene around the adriatic

What happened at the transition between late Pleistocene and early Holocene in Italy and the Western Balkans remains up to now an unresolved question. While in recent years, research has been conducted in several re-gions, it is still difficult to propose a synthetic model for the changes that occurred in material cultures during this period. Multiple causes may explain this, but the apparent diversity of scenarios illustrated by each region seems to be the most explanatory. Terms such as terminal or final Epigravettian, Epipaleolithic, Romanelian and Sauveterrian, used in certain contexts, do not have a generally accepted definition. Some of these terms have been criticized and, at least, their definition should be reevaluated in accordance with modern methodological norms. Nevertheless, they indicate an actual diversity of regional and chronological expressions that we should describe precisely and integrate into a comprehensive model for the changes that occurred in this critical phase of the Late Upper Paleolithic. On a global scale, it has been argued that in contrast to what has been described in Western Europe for example, no discontinuity between the end of the Epigravettian and the first Mesolithic is evident. To better understand this period and its dynamics, it is necessary to initiate a hierarchical analysis of the elements of unit and variability across time and among the different regions. In order do to so, it is necessary to engage (1) a critical review of the available data and (2) a comparative technological analysis of different assemblages. This paper is a first step in this direction. We focus especially on the current study of two assemblages from Italy and the Western Balkans: grotta della Continenza (Central Italy) and Medena Stijena (Montenegro). We also include published data from the recent study of the sequence of grotta del Cavallo (Southern Italy). To sum up, we discuss the chronological and geographical variability in Italy and the Western Balkans based on a regional synthesis

Upper Pleistocene sea level changes and human peopling at the northern margin of the Mediterranean Sea: the S-P-Heritage Project

none20openAndrea Zerboni, Irene M. Bollati, Luca Forti, Silvia Gazzo, Abdelkader Moussous, Giovanni Muttoni, Fabio Negrino, Olivier Notter, Manuela Pelfini, Alessandro Perego, Serena Perini, Luca Ragaini, Eleonora Regattieri, Elena Rossoni-Notter, Alessio Rovere, Deirdre Ryan, Marco Serradimigni, Elisabetta Starnini, Matteo Vacchi, Marta PappalardoZerboni, Andrea; Bollati, Irene M.; Forti, Luca; Gazzo, Silvia; Moussous, Abdelkader; Muttoni, Giovanni; Negrino, Fabio; Notter, Olivier; Pelfini, Manuela; Perego, Alessandro; Perini, Serena; Ragaini, Luca; Regattieri, Eleonora; Rossoni-Notter, Elena; Rovere, Alessio; Ryan, Deirdre; Serradimigni, Marco; Starnini, Elisabetta; Vacchi, Matteo; Pappalardo, Mart

Changes in mobility patterns as a factor for site density variation in the recent Epigravettian of northern Italy and Southeastern France

This paper critically considers the use of radiocarbon dates as a demographic proxy for past population. Our goal is not to reject or valid this approach. We even did not focus on the various bias of this approach or on the several correction methods used to reduce them. We rather argue that when trying to interpret 14C dates in a demographic perspective, it is essential to analyze socio-economic parameters. Studying the case of the Late Glacial Upper Palaeolithic of Southeastern France and Northern Italy, we demonstrate that the use of techno-economic approaches allows discussing this way to interpret the radiocarbon data. From this analysis we argue that a change in the density of dates cannot be simply interpreted in term of demography. We demonstrate that these variations can be the result of changes in the way people organize themselves in a territory. In other word, we argue that mobility patterns are somehow responsible for the density of dates and sites