In the scenario of the spread of the anatomically modern humans (AMHs) into Europe, the techno-co... more In the scenario of the spread of the anatomically modern humans (AMHs) into Europe, the techno-complex known as Protoaurignacian is defined by the production of blades and bladelets within a single and continuous stone knapping sequence from the same core as the result of its progressive reduction. However, the growing re-evaluation of some assemblages is revealing that bladelets are frequently obtained from independent reduction sequences, hence discouraging the direct application of the model developed in southwestern France. High-resolution regional signatures are thus needed to reconstruct a more accurate portrait of the AMH colonization dynamic. Northeastern Italy, with the key site of Fumane Cave, is one among the regions of Mediterranean Europe worthy of consideration for reconstructing this colonization process and its cultural dynamics. Within the framework of a critical discussion of the technological definition of the Protoaurignacian and its relationship with contemporaneous industries on a regional and supra-regional scale, we present the results of a detailed analysis of the lithic technology from units A2-A1 based on reduction sequence and attribute analyses. Results show that bladelets are the first goal of production and they do not originate from reduced blade cores but from a broad range of independent and simultaneous core reduction strategies. One implication is that the most commonly used technological trait that is said to define the Protoaurignacian has been over-emphasized and that the Protoaurignacian is technologically consistent across its geographical extent. Additional data based on carinated core technology imply that this techno-complex shares a common technological background with the Early Aurignacian and that no features are restricted to one of the two facies. Furthermore, the major difference between the Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian appears to be more typological in nature, with retouched bladelets being less common in the Early Aurignacian.
The Protoaurignacian is considered a cultural proxy for one of the first expansions of anatomical... more The Protoaurignacian is considered a cultural proxy for one of the first expansions of anatomically modern humans across Europe. The stabilization of bladelet industries that characterizes this techno-complex is therefore often used as supporting evidence for the break from previous stone knap-ping traditions and also for the increase of human mobility through wider territories. Despite the cultural importance that bladelets have gained, a careful interregional comparison, stressing similarities and differences, has not yet been attempted. Moreover, the use of traditional typologies has blurred the morpho-metrical variability that characterizes la-mellar tools. Here, a study has been carried out on retouched bladelets from three pivotal sites: Fumane (northeast Italy), Isturitz (southwest France),a n dL e sC o t t é s(n o r t h e r n France). By using morphological, dimensional, and retouching attributes, and by evaluating the statistical significance of the main differences, the first detailed analysis of the variability of retouched bladelets within the Protoaurignacian has been documented. The results indicate that the features that best discriminate the bladelet assemblages are the presence and the relative variability of bladelets with convergent retouch, although a reassessment of existing studies and new methodological approaches are required to test the latter hypothesis. Throughout this paper, we demonstrate the merits of using a unified classification of retouched bladelets for comparing behavior in between groups distant in space. We hope that this paper will be a new incentive to develop unified taxonomies for the study of Early Upper Paleolithic lithics in Western Eurasia.
rIassunto -Contesti, risorse e variabilità della presenza umana nel Paleolitico e nel Mesolitico ... more rIassunto -Contesti, risorse e variabilità della presenza umana nel Paleolitico e nel Mesolitico nei Colli Euganei -Inquadrati nello scenario nordpadano e alpino, i Colli euganei furono oggetto a più riprese di frequentazioni umane nel Paleolitico e nel Mesolitico. sulla base dei dati archeologici frutto principalmente di ritrovamenti di superficie, il primo popolamento si registra nel Paleolitico medio, in un ampio intervallo temporale non meglio precisabile in cui le frequentazioni neandertaliane si configurano genericamente per la loro finalità verso lo sfruttamento della selce, materia prima abbondante nel settore euganeo occidentale e destinata a un largo consumo nei distretti circostanti. Tuttavia, dalle caratteristiche di alcuni siti, si ravvisa una variabilità funzionale che definisce un sistema di sfruttamento delle risorse non limitato alla semplice estrazione, scheggiatura ed esportazione della materia prima litica, ma esteso alla sussistenza e ad altre attività connesse con la lavorazione dei materiali deperibili. In questa flessibilità funzionale si inquadra anche l'eccezionale evidenza dell'impiego di litologie vulcaniche euganee per la fabbricazione di utensili scheggiati, la più antica che si conosca allo stato attuale delle ricerche. Frequentazioni più recenti sono riferibili al Paleolitico superiore: pochi ma significativi reperti presumibilmente gravettiani e epigravettiani testimoniano l'esistenza di vasti sistemi insediativi gravitanti nell'area prealpina. di maggiore consistenza si presentano infine i dati più recenti, riconducibili alla presenza degli ultimi cacciatori-raccoglitori mesolitici sia lungo la dorsale euganea che nelle depressioni perieuganee. I rinvenimenti permettono di riconoscere alcuni criteri di scelta adottati per l'installazione degli accampamenti temporanei, come nel caso del paesaggio alluvionale della valcalaona.
PERESANI M., 1993 -Flint Exploitation at Epigravettian Sites in the Asiago Plateau (Venetian Prea... more PERESANI M., 1993 -Flint Exploitation at Epigravettian Sites in the Asiago Plateau (Venetian Prealps). [Lo sfruttamento della selce nei siti epigravettiani dell' Altopiano di Asiago (Prealpi Venete)]. Preistoria Alpina, 28: 193-205.
Radiocarbon dating of material from Late Pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging. Small a... more Radiocarbon dating of material from Late Pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging. Small amounts of modern 14 C-labelled contamination will significantly affect the reliability of dates from the period, producing erroneous results. Recent developments in sample pre-treatment chemistry have shown that problems in reliable age determination during this period are surmountable. In this paper we provide an example of one such case, from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transitional site of the Grotta di Fumane, in northern Italy. We AMS dated two fractions of the same charcoal samples derived from a series of superimposed Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels excavated at the site. One fraction was treated using the routine acid-base-acid (ABA) method, the other with the more rigorous acid-baseoxidation/stepped combustion (ABOx-SC) method. The latter method produced consistently older, and almost certainly more reliable, results. The eruption of the known-age Campanian Ignimbrite from the Phlegrean Fields near present-day Naples at 39.3 ka yr BP seals Ulluzzian and Proto Aurignacian levels in the south of Italy. Equivalent cultural levels are present at Fumane and the results obtained with the ABOx-SC methods are consistent with the ages inferred for sites in the south of Italy based on the presence of the Campanian Ignimbrite. New results from a sample found beneath the Campanian Ignimbrite at the Russian site of Kostenki, obtained using both the ABA and ABOx-SC, methods are also presented. They support the conclusion reached at Fumane by demonstrating that, in many cases, the ABOX-SC treatment effectively removes contamination where the ABA treatment does not. The results of the work offer a sobering examination of the problems inherent in the current radiocarbon database relating to the period, and highlight the dangers of an uncritical use of the corpus of 14 C results obtained over the last few decades. Based on our results, we predict that more than 70% of the 53 previously available determinations from Fumane are erroneously young. A way forward is suggested, using these improved chemical preparation methods, applying analytical methods to characterise the material dated, and testing existing site chronologies to establish which previous determinations are liable to be inaccurate.
The introduction of Levallois technology in Europe marked the transition from the Lower to the ea... more The introduction of Levallois technology in Europe marked the transition from the Lower to the early Middle Paleolithic. This new method of flake production was accompanied by significant behavioral changes in hominin populations. The emergence of this technological advance is considered homogeneous in the European archaeological record at the Marine isotopic stage (MIS) 9/MIS 8 boundary. In this paper we report a series of combined electron spin resonance/U-series dates on mammal bones and teeth recovered from the lower units of San Bernardino Cave (Italy) and the technological analyses of the lithic assemblages. The San Bernardino Cave has yielded the earliest evidence of Levallois production on the Italian Peninsula recovered to date. In addition to our results and the review of the archaeological record, we describe the chronological and geographical differences between European territories and diversities in terms of technological developments. The belated emergence of Levallois technology in Italy compared to western Europe corresponds to the late Italian Neanderthal speciation event. The new radiometric dates and the technological analyses of San Bernardino Cave raise the issue of the different roles of glacial refugia in the peopling and the spread of innovative flaking strategies in Europe during the late Middle Pleistocene. Citation: Picin A, Peresani M, Falguères C, Gruppioni G, Bahain J-J (2013) San Bernardino Cave (Italy) and the Appearance of Levallois Technology in Europe: Results of a Radiometric and Technological Reassessment. PLoS ONE 8(10): e76182.
Several signatures like butchering traces, burned bones, the type of fragmentation and the scanty... more Several signatures like butchering traces, burned bones, the type of fragmentation and the scanty carnivore traces prove that the faunal remains from the Uluzzian layers (A4 and A3) of Grotta di Fumane are a product of human activity. Human modifications are also present on the bones of birds like black grouse, Alpine chough and large raptors like golden eagle. Hunting focused on red deer and ibex, but also on giant-deer, roe buck, bison and chamois. Wolf, fox and brown bear show evidence of exploitation as well. Predation concerned all age classes of red deer and adult ibex. Young ungulates suggest that the cave was used throughout the year. The faunal assemblage of the final Uluzzian layers chronicles climate cooling with respect to the previous Mousterian period, and modifications in game hunting comparable to that of the Aurignacian occupation.
A scanty but varied ensemble of finds challenges the idea that Neandertal material culture was es... more A scanty but varied ensemble of finds challenges the idea that Neandertal material culture was essentially static and
did not include symbolic items. In this study we report on a fragmentary Miocene-Pliocene fossil marine shell, Aspa
marginata, discovered in a Discoid Mousterian layer of the Fumane Cave, northern Italy, dated to at least 47.6-45.0
Cal ky BP. The shell was collected by Neandertals at a fossil exposure probably located more than 100 kms from the
site. Microscopic analysis of the shell surface identifies clusters of striations on the inner lip. A dark red substance,
trapped inside micropits produced by bioeroders, is interpreted as pigment that was homogeneously smeared on the
outer shell surface. Dispersive X-ray and Raman analysis identify the pigment as pure hematite. Of the four
hypotheses we considered to explain the presence of this object at the site, two (tool, pigment container) are
discarded because in contradiction with observations. Although the other two (“manuport”, personal ornament) are
both possible, we favor the hypothesis that the object was modified and suspended by a ‘thread’ for visual display as
a pendant. Together with contextual and chronometric data, our results support the hypothesis that deliberate
transport and coloring of an exotic object, and perhaps its use as pendant, was a component of Neandertal symbolic
culture, well before the earliest appearance of the anatomically modern humans in Europe.
In the scenario of the spread of the anatomically modern humans (AMHs) into Europe, the techno-co... more In the scenario of the spread of the anatomically modern humans (AMHs) into Europe, the techno-complex known as Protoaurignacian is defined by the production of blades and bladelets within a single and continuous stone knapping sequence from the same core as the result of its progressive reduction. However, the growing re-evaluation of some assemblages is revealing that bladelets are frequently obtained from independent reduction sequences, hence discouraging the direct application of the model developed in southwestern France. High-resolution regional signatures are thus needed to reconstruct a more accurate portrait of the AMH colonization dynamic. Northeastern Italy, with the key site of Fumane Cave, is one among the regions of Mediterranean Europe worthy of consideration for reconstructing this colonization process and its cultural dynamics. Within the framework of a critical discussion of the technological definition of the Protoaurignacian and its relationship with contemporaneous industries on a regional and supra-regional scale, we present the results of a detailed analysis of the lithic technology from units A2-A1 based on reduction sequence and attribute analyses. Results show that bladelets are the first goal of production and they do not originate from reduced blade cores but from a broad range of independent and simultaneous core reduction strategies. One implication is that the most commonly used technological trait that is said to define the Protoaurignacian has been over-emphasized and that the Protoaurignacian is technologically consistent across its geographical extent. Additional data based on carinated core technology imply that this techno-complex shares a common technological background with the Early Aurignacian and that no features are restricted to one of the two facies. Furthermore, the major difference between the Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian appears to be more typological in nature, with retouched bladelets being less common in the Early Aurignacian.
The Protoaurignacian is considered a cultural proxy for one of the first expansions of anatomical... more The Protoaurignacian is considered a cultural proxy for one of the first expansions of anatomically modern humans across Europe. The stabilization of bladelet industries that characterizes this techno-complex is therefore often used as supporting evidence for the break from previous stone knap-ping traditions and also for the increase of human mobility through wider territories. Despite the cultural importance that bladelets have gained, a careful interregional comparison, stressing similarities and differences, has not yet been attempted. Moreover, the use of traditional typologies has blurred the morpho-metrical variability that characterizes la-mellar tools. Here, a study has been carried out on retouched bladelets from three pivotal sites: Fumane (northeast Italy), Isturitz (southwest France),a n dL e sC o t t é s(n o r t h e r n France). By using morphological, dimensional, and retouching attributes, and by evaluating the statistical significance of the main differences, the first detailed analysis of the variability of retouched bladelets within the Protoaurignacian has been documented. The results indicate that the features that best discriminate the bladelet assemblages are the presence and the relative variability of bladelets with convergent retouch, although a reassessment of existing studies and new methodological approaches are required to test the latter hypothesis. Throughout this paper, we demonstrate the merits of using a unified classification of retouched bladelets for comparing behavior in between groups distant in space. We hope that this paper will be a new incentive to develop unified taxonomies for the study of Early Upper Paleolithic lithics in Western Eurasia.
rIassunto -Contesti, risorse e variabilità della presenza umana nel Paleolitico e nel Mesolitico ... more rIassunto -Contesti, risorse e variabilità della presenza umana nel Paleolitico e nel Mesolitico nei Colli Euganei -Inquadrati nello scenario nordpadano e alpino, i Colli euganei furono oggetto a più riprese di frequentazioni umane nel Paleolitico e nel Mesolitico. sulla base dei dati archeologici frutto principalmente di ritrovamenti di superficie, il primo popolamento si registra nel Paleolitico medio, in un ampio intervallo temporale non meglio precisabile in cui le frequentazioni neandertaliane si configurano genericamente per la loro finalità verso lo sfruttamento della selce, materia prima abbondante nel settore euganeo occidentale e destinata a un largo consumo nei distretti circostanti. Tuttavia, dalle caratteristiche di alcuni siti, si ravvisa una variabilità funzionale che definisce un sistema di sfruttamento delle risorse non limitato alla semplice estrazione, scheggiatura ed esportazione della materia prima litica, ma esteso alla sussistenza e ad altre attività connesse con la lavorazione dei materiali deperibili. In questa flessibilità funzionale si inquadra anche l'eccezionale evidenza dell'impiego di litologie vulcaniche euganee per la fabbricazione di utensili scheggiati, la più antica che si conosca allo stato attuale delle ricerche. Frequentazioni più recenti sono riferibili al Paleolitico superiore: pochi ma significativi reperti presumibilmente gravettiani e epigravettiani testimoniano l'esistenza di vasti sistemi insediativi gravitanti nell'area prealpina. di maggiore consistenza si presentano infine i dati più recenti, riconducibili alla presenza degli ultimi cacciatori-raccoglitori mesolitici sia lungo la dorsale euganea che nelle depressioni perieuganee. I rinvenimenti permettono di riconoscere alcuni criteri di scelta adottati per l'installazione degli accampamenti temporanei, come nel caso del paesaggio alluvionale della valcalaona.
PERESANI M., 1993 -Flint Exploitation at Epigravettian Sites in the Asiago Plateau (Venetian Prea... more PERESANI M., 1993 -Flint Exploitation at Epigravettian Sites in the Asiago Plateau (Venetian Prealps). [Lo sfruttamento della selce nei siti epigravettiani dell' Altopiano di Asiago (Prealpi Venete)]. Preistoria Alpina, 28: 193-205.
Radiocarbon dating of material from Late Pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging. Small a... more Radiocarbon dating of material from Late Pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging. Small amounts of modern 14 C-labelled contamination will significantly affect the reliability of dates from the period, producing erroneous results. Recent developments in sample pre-treatment chemistry have shown that problems in reliable age determination during this period are surmountable. In this paper we provide an example of one such case, from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transitional site of the Grotta di Fumane, in northern Italy. We AMS dated two fractions of the same charcoal samples derived from a series of superimposed Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels excavated at the site. One fraction was treated using the routine acid-base-acid (ABA) method, the other with the more rigorous acid-baseoxidation/stepped combustion (ABOx-SC) method. The latter method produced consistently older, and almost certainly more reliable, results. The eruption of the known-age Campanian Ignimbrite from the Phlegrean Fields near present-day Naples at 39.3 ka yr BP seals Ulluzzian and Proto Aurignacian levels in the south of Italy. Equivalent cultural levels are present at Fumane and the results obtained with the ABOx-SC methods are consistent with the ages inferred for sites in the south of Italy based on the presence of the Campanian Ignimbrite. New results from a sample found beneath the Campanian Ignimbrite at the Russian site of Kostenki, obtained using both the ABA and ABOx-SC, methods are also presented. They support the conclusion reached at Fumane by demonstrating that, in many cases, the ABOX-SC treatment effectively removes contamination where the ABA treatment does not. The results of the work offer a sobering examination of the problems inherent in the current radiocarbon database relating to the period, and highlight the dangers of an uncritical use of the corpus of 14 C results obtained over the last few decades. Based on our results, we predict that more than 70% of the 53 previously available determinations from Fumane are erroneously young. A way forward is suggested, using these improved chemical preparation methods, applying analytical methods to characterise the material dated, and testing existing site chronologies to establish which previous determinations are liable to be inaccurate.
The introduction of Levallois technology in Europe marked the transition from the Lower to the ea... more The introduction of Levallois technology in Europe marked the transition from the Lower to the early Middle Paleolithic. This new method of flake production was accompanied by significant behavioral changes in hominin populations. The emergence of this technological advance is considered homogeneous in the European archaeological record at the Marine isotopic stage (MIS) 9/MIS 8 boundary. In this paper we report a series of combined electron spin resonance/U-series dates on mammal bones and teeth recovered from the lower units of San Bernardino Cave (Italy) and the technological analyses of the lithic assemblages. The San Bernardino Cave has yielded the earliest evidence of Levallois production on the Italian Peninsula recovered to date. In addition to our results and the review of the archaeological record, we describe the chronological and geographical differences between European territories and diversities in terms of technological developments. The belated emergence of Levallois technology in Italy compared to western Europe corresponds to the late Italian Neanderthal speciation event. The new radiometric dates and the technological analyses of San Bernardino Cave raise the issue of the different roles of glacial refugia in the peopling and the spread of innovative flaking strategies in Europe during the late Middle Pleistocene. Citation: Picin A, Peresani M, Falguères C, Gruppioni G, Bahain J-J (2013) San Bernardino Cave (Italy) and the Appearance of Levallois Technology in Europe: Results of a Radiometric and Technological Reassessment. PLoS ONE 8(10): e76182.
Several signatures like butchering traces, burned bones, the type of fragmentation and the scanty... more Several signatures like butchering traces, burned bones, the type of fragmentation and the scanty carnivore traces prove that the faunal remains from the Uluzzian layers (A4 and A3) of Grotta di Fumane are a product of human activity. Human modifications are also present on the bones of birds like black grouse, Alpine chough and large raptors like golden eagle. Hunting focused on red deer and ibex, but also on giant-deer, roe buck, bison and chamois. Wolf, fox and brown bear show evidence of exploitation as well. Predation concerned all age classes of red deer and adult ibex. Young ungulates suggest that the cave was used throughout the year. The faunal assemblage of the final Uluzzian layers chronicles climate cooling with respect to the previous Mousterian period, and modifications in game hunting comparable to that of the Aurignacian occupation.
A scanty but varied ensemble of finds challenges the idea that Neandertal material culture was es... more A scanty but varied ensemble of finds challenges the idea that Neandertal material culture was essentially static and
did not include symbolic items. In this study we report on a fragmentary Miocene-Pliocene fossil marine shell, Aspa
marginata, discovered in a Discoid Mousterian layer of the Fumane Cave, northern Italy, dated to at least 47.6-45.0
Cal ky BP. The shell was collected by Neandertals at a fossil exposure probably located more than 100 kms from the
site. Microscopic analysis of the shell surface identifies clusters of striations on the inner lip. A dark red substance,
trapped inside micropits produced by bioeroders, is interpreted as pigment that was homogeneously smeared on the
outer shell surface. Dispersive X-ray and Raman analysis identify the pigment as pure hematite. Of the four
hypotheses we considered to explain the presence of this object at the site, two (tool, pigment container) are
discarded because in contradiction with observations. Although the other two (“manuport”, personal ornament) are
both possible, we favor the hypothesis that the object was modified and suspended by a ‘thread’ for visual display as
a pendant. Together with contextual and chronometric data, our results support the hypothesis that deliberate
transport and coloring of an exotic object, and perhaps its use as pendant, was a component of Neandertal symbolic
culture, well before the earliest appearance of the anatomically modern humans in Europe.
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Papers by Marco Peresani
did not include symbolic items. In this study we report on a fragmentary Miocene-Pliocene fossil marine shell, Aspa
marginata, discovered in a Discoid Mousterian layer of the Fumane Cave, northern Italy, dated to at least 47.6-45.0
Cal ky BP. The shell was collected by Neandertals at a fossil exposure probably located more than 100 kms from the
site. Microscopic analysis of the shell surface identifies clusters of striations on the inner lip. A dark red substance,
trapped inside micropits produced by bioeroders, is interpreted as pigment that was homogeneously smeared on the
outer shell surface. Dispersive X-ray and Raman analysis identify the pigment as pure hematite. Of the four
hypotheses we considered to explain the presence of this object at the site, two (tool, pigment container) are
discarded because in contradiction with observations. Although the other two (“manuport”, personal ornament) are
both possible, we favor the hypothesis that the object was modified and suspended by a ‘thread’ for visual display as
a pendant. Together with contextual and chronometric data, our results support the hypothesis that deliberate
transport and coloring of an exotic object, and perhaps its use as pendant, was a component of Neandertal symbolic
culture, well before the earliest appearance of the anatomically modern humans in Europe.
did not include symbolic items. In this study we report on a fragmentary Miocene-Pliocene fossil marine shell, Aspa
marginata, discovered in a Discoid Mousterian layer of the Fumane Cave, northern Italy, dated to at least 47.6-45.0
Cal ky BP. The shell was collected by Neandertals at a fossil exposure probably located more than 100 kms from the
site. Microscopic analysis of the shell surface identifies clusters of striations on the inner lip. A dark red substance,
trapped inside micropits produced by bioeroders, is interpreted as pigment that was homogeneously smeared on the
outer shell surface. Dispersive X-ray and Raman analysis identify the pigment as pure hematite. Of the four
hypotheses we considered to explain the presence of this object at the site, two (tool, pigment container) are
discarded because in contradiction with observations. Although the other two (“manuport”, personal ornament) are
both possible, we favor the hypothesis that the object was modified and suspended by a ‘thread’ for visual display as
a pendant. Together with contextual and chronometric data, our results support the hypothesis that deliberate
transport and coloring of an exotic object, and perhaps its use as pendant, was a component of Neandertal symbolic
culture, well before the earliest appearance of the anatomically modern humans in Europe.