Recensioni

Raffaella Leproni, Tra il dire e il fare. L’innovazione educativo-pedagogica dell’opera di Maria Edgeworth, Firenze University Press, Firenze 2015, pp. 215 di Federica FranceschelliG. Alessandrini (a cura di), La “pedagogia” di Martha Nussbaum, approccio allecapacità e sfide educative, Franco Angeli editore, Milano, 2014, pp. 234 di Cristiana SimonettiAlison M. Thompson, The Boy from Hell? Life with a Child with ADHD Paperback,Marzo 13, 2013 di Clarissa SorrentinoOsservare per includere. Metodi di intervento nei contesti socio-educativicon saggi di: Elena Bortolotti, Paolo Sorzio, Federico Mucelli, Sara Bergamo, Corinna Davanzo, Elisabetta Basso, Federica Caruso, Beatrice Belleri, Carocci Editore – Studi Superiori, 2014, pp. 174 di Giusi Zamarr

Exploring Ground Stone Tools: A case study from Ayia Varvara Asprokremmos (Cyprus)

Stones were used since early stages of humankind as tools for pounding and grinding processes of raw resources. Identifying this type of instruments and distinguishing them from manuports is not a simple task. Good results can be achieved studying the entire surface of the material with traditional microscopic methods; however, this is very time consuming and usually these analyses focus on specific areas of the surface only. The objective of this study is to set up an effective and efficient multidisciplinary approach for visual analysis of the tool’s surface at various levels of resolution. The methodology is applied on a sample of eleven ground stone tools from the late Pre Pottery Neolithic A archaeological site of Ayia Varvara Asprokremnos, in central Cyprus. The site was in a strategic position for raw material exploitation especially connected to coloured rocks, as demonstrated by numerous traces of these materials processing, as well as an abundant number of ground stone tools most likely used for this purpose. The approach relies on high-resolution 3D documentation of the stone’s surfaces with a structured light scanner and their following post-processing. The latter includes the application of various approaches for the calculation of surface curvatures and roughness of the stone surfaces. Irregularities in the surface rugosity are used as first evidences for the identification of potential functional areas, interpreted as human inflicted anomalies. The identified potential functional areas are analysed with the use of a digital microscope to confirm the presence of use-wear traces and residues. The study of the residues is performed using different elemental analytical techniques, namely X-Ray florescence (XRF) and Raman spectroscopy. The results from XRF measurements of the colored residues are compared with the spectra acquired from colored rock samples collected during a survey of the region around Ayia Varvara Asprokremmos to locate the source area of the grinded materials

Digital twin models of replicative ground stones: insight into simulating usage of Upper Paleolithic tools

This work presents the first attempt to create a physics-based digital twin model for predictive analysis of damage evolution during the use of ground stone tools (GSTs) in transformative tasks, encompassing the processing of raw resources for nutritional and non-alimentary purposes. The proposed methodology introduces a digital twin of the GSTs developed from 3D models generated using a photogrammetric technique based on Structure-from-Motion and Multi-View Stereo reconstruction. These models serve as the foundation for the development of the finite element (FE)-based digital twin model of the GSTs that exploits a contact formulation and the phase-field approach to simulate tool damage during pounding and grinding tasks. Defining the initial relative positions of the stones, their mechanical behaviour, and controlling the movement of the active stone in a way as close as possible to the real one, the digital twin model has been devised to evaluate how the surface damage is affected by perturbations in the loading conditions. The simulated damage is compared with the surface traces observed from experiments. The developed digital twin model aims at demonstrating its potentials for the GSTs investigations, as a supporting tool for experiments and for simulated tests on the archaeological records

Pi di un semplice ciottolo: Un protocollo sperimentale per la comprensione del ruolo di strumenti macrolitici nella trasformazione delle risorse vegetali nel Paleolitico Superiore in Eurasia

Si presenta la procedura metodologica individuata per la creazione di una collezione sperimentale di pietre non scheggiateusate per lavorare gli organi vegetali ricchi di amido. La sperimentazione tiene conto delle principali variabili che possonoinfluenzare il grado di sviluppo e le caratteristiche morfologiche delle tracce d’uso, quali l’impiego di litologie compatibili conquelle rinvenute nel sito archeologico, il tipo di vegetali lavorati e i tempi di lavorazione, prevede inoltre la documentazionecontrollata dell’esperimento a tempi determinati e in condizioni stabilite.Lo scopo   il confronto tra le modificazioni riprodotte sperimentalmente e le morfologie identificate sui ciottoli rinvenuti nellivello III della grotta di Br nzeni I (Moldavia). Il fine dell’analisi   verificare se alcuni di questi siano stati impiegati nellatrasformazione di piante disponibili nella Steppa Pontica durante lo Stadio Isotopico Marino 3 (MIS 3: 60-25 ka). Br nzeni I  un sito rappresentativo della cultura del Prutt e attribuito all’Aurignaziano, una fase cruciale per la diffusione di Homo sapiensalle latitudini boreali

Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Prevalence among Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review

In light of the alarming results emerging from some studies and reports on the significant increase in aggressive online behaviors among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, the current research aimed at providing a more detailed evaluation of the investigations focusing on the cyberbullying prevalence rates published between 2020 and 2023. To this purpose, systematic searches were conducted on four databases (Web of Science, APA PsycInfo, Scopus and Google Scholar), and following PRISMA guidelines, 16 studies were included and qualitatively reviewed. Although studies were characterized by a large variety in cyberbullying operationalization and measurement, and by different methodologies used for data collection, the prevalence rates of the involvement in cyberbullying and/or cybervictimization generally revealed opposite trends: an increase in many Asian countries and Australia and a decrease in Western countries. The findings were also discussed by considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, some suggestions were provided to policy makers for promoting prevention and intervention anti-cyberbullying programs in school contexts

Tracing Old Gestures: A Multiscale Analysis of Ground Stone Tools Developed on Sequential Lab-Controlled Replicative Experiments

This article presents an analytical procedure developed to replicate, document, and analyse the formation and evolution of use-wear traces on task-specific ground stone tools. The purpose of this study is to build a reference collection for wear patterns that occurred during the processing of vegetal resources, specifically those compatible with the MIS 3 period. To create the collection, riverine slabs and pebbles were utilised and various aspects related to their use in the transformation of aerial and underground plant organs were explored. Moreover, the feasibility of using perishable supports, such as a wooden base, for processing tasks was examined. The experiments explored the transformation of pebble stone surfaces during repeated cycles of processing plant organs by monitoring and recording the features at fixed intervals. Several variables that affect the surface texture, morphology, distribution, and extent of use-wear traces are identified and discussed. The influential factors under control included the petrographic and morphological characteristics of the unused stones, the type and amount of transformed vegetables, and the duration of the process, as well as monitoring human factors. The documentation strategy applied at various stages of the experiment was found to be suitable for tracing the cumulative development of wear. The replicative collection was tailored to the morphological and petrographic characteristics of the ground stone tools retrieved from the level attributed to the Prut River culture of Brînzeni I, a cave site located in NW Moldova