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La moyenne vallée du Rhône, dans le sud-est de la France, offre la possibilité d’aborder la question de la mobilité des groupes néandertaliens et du statut de leurs occupations en comparant un large corpus de sites dans un cadre chronologique et géographique limité. L’étude combinée des niveaux d’occupation de dix gisements a permis de mettre en évidence trois types d’occupation définis au travers de la gestion et de l’utilisation des ressources animales. À cette diversité répondent des choix techniques ainsi que des corpus d’outillages diversifiés. Ce travail a comme objectif de mettre en parallèle, en plus des critères fauniques, d’autres paramètres (archéostratigraphie, matériel lithique, micro-usure dentaire, etc.) permettant de statuer sur la fonction du site et la durée d’occupation. L’ensemble F de Payre, daté du MIS 8/7, qui a été défini comme un campement régulier de courte durée, est pris comme exemple.

The middle Rhône Valley in the south east of France offers an opportunity to address the question of Neandertal mobility and the status of their occupations by comparing a broad corpus of sites in a limited chronological and geographic context. The combined study of occupation levels from ten deposits has revealed three occupation types defined based on the management and use of animal resources (Daujeard, 2008). This diversity is represented by technical choices and diverse tool assemblages. In addition to faunal criteria, this work compares other parameters, such as archaeostratigraphy, lithic artefacts and dental microwear to determine site function and occupation duration. We present the example of unit F at the site of Payre, dated to MIS 8/7 and defined as a recurring short-term camp.

Le site paléolithique ancien d’Atella en Basilicate a été fouillé et étudié de façon quasi continue depuis les années 1990, tout d’abord sous la direction d’E. Borzatti et depuis 2015 dans le cadre d’un nouveau projet. Les premières années du projet ont été consacrées à la révision du contexte chrono-stratigraphique et de l’attribution techno-culturelle des occupations de Cimitero di Atella. Si les précédents travaux avaient mené à l’identification de plusieurs occupations remobilisées à la suite de phénomènes post-dépositionnels, la fouille de cette année a permis d’entrevoir l’existence d’un niveau moins perturbé, offrant des perspectives d’études renouvelées. The Lower Paleolithic site of Atella in Basilicata has been excavated and studied almost continuously since the 1990s, first under the direction of E. Borzatti and since 2015 in a new project. The first years of the project were devoted to the revision of the chrono-stratigraphic context and the techno-cultural attribution of the occupations of Cimitero di Atella. While previous work had led to the identification of different secondary position occupations, result of post-depositional phenomena, this year’s excavation revealed the existence of a less disturbed level, offering renewed opportunities for study.

Le site de Cimitero di Atella, découvert et fouillé pendant plus de vingt ans par E. Borzatti et son équipe, a livré les indices de plusieurs occupations attribuées au Paléolithique ancien (environ 600 000 ans). Les précédentes études menées sur le matériel lithique ont conduit à attribuer ces occupations à l’Acheuléen ancien, sur la base de la présence de biface, outil qui émerge en Europe justement à cette période pour perdurer durant tout le Paléolithique ancien (jusqu’à 300 000 ans environ). La reprise des travaux à Atella, dans le cadre d’un nouveau projet de recherche de l’École française de Rome sur les dynamiques de peuplement au Paléolithique en Italie (programme quinquennal PALEO) a pour objectif de poursuivre les activités de terrain, de réétudier le matériel lithique et faunique, et de protéger et valoriser le gisement. En 2016 et 2017, les missions d’étude et de fouille nous ont conduit à nous interroger sur la place d’Atella dans le panorama du Paléolithique ancien en Méditerranée. La poursuite des activités permettra de préciser le cadre chronostratigraphique ainsi que les processus de formation du site. Cimitero di Atella, discovered and excavated for 20 year by E. Borzatti and his team, yielded evidence of several Lower Palaeolithic occupations (circa 600,000 years ago). The previous research on the lithic assemblage lead to the attribution of these occupations to Lower Acheulean because of the presence of Handaxes. This tool emergence properly at this period in Europe and will last up to the end of Lower Palaeolithic (circa 300,000 years ago). The resumption of activities at Atella is part of a new project of the French School of Rome on the settlement dynamic during the Palaeolithic in Italy (quinquennial program PALEO). The research at Atella focus on fieldwork, lithic and faunal remains study and protection and enhancement of the site. In 2016 and 2017, excavation and study lead us to question the role of Atella in the Mediterranean Lower Palaeolithic framework. Long-term work studies will allow also to precise the chronostratigraphic context and the site formation processes.

The Oscurusciuto rock shelter, located in southern Italy (Puglia), has yielded a long Middle Palaeolithic stratigraphy rich in lithic assemblages, fireplaces and faunal remains, attesting Neanderthal occupation during the MIS 3. This paper is focused on the stratigraphic unit 13, consisting of a sandy compact deposit mixed with pyroclastic sediment above a thick level of tephra-US 14, identified as Mt. Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar ~ 55 ka).Level 13 represents the first stable human occupation after the deposition of tephra. Our goal was to examine the lithic assemblage of this stratigraphic unit by means of an interdisciplinary approach (technology, RMU, refitting program) in order to identify the economic behaviour and technical strategies of Neanderthals occupying the stratigraphic unit 13 of Oscurusciuto.The technical strategies applied indicate fragmentation of the reduction processes, as well as probable events of importation and exportation of objects. The lithic material were introduced at different stages of manufacturing. Pieces were introduced in the form of rough objects (pebbles), as well as semi-finished items, and as finished tools. This fragmentation of the chaîne opératoire also demonstrate the palimpsest nature of the level which is made up of different events happening one after another.The main concept of debitage was Levallois, generally realized on local jasper and siliceous limestone pebbles or cortical flakes. Jasper and siliceous limestone flakes, backed flakes and convergent flakes were the technological objectives of the debitage. A marginal volumetric debitage aimed at producing bladelets was also attested.

Si illustra l'evoluzione delle conoscenze tecnologiche nel corso del Paleolitico.

International audience

Les objectifs de la mission de terrain 2016 Valle Giumentina est un gisement des Abruzzes du Paléolithique ancien et moyen en plein air, connu grâce aux travaux approfondis des années 1950 menés par le préhistorien A. M. Radmilli et le géologue J. Demangeot. Sept horizons archéologiques avaient été mis au jour en contexte globalement lacustre, à la faveur d’une ravine profonde qui a incisé les dépôts du Pléistocène jusqu’à 25 m de profondeur. Les recherches pluridisciplinaires entreprises dan...

Le gisement Pléistocène de Valle Giumentina (Abruzzes, Italie centrale) constitue une référence pour la définition du Paléolithique ancien et moyen d’Italie et d’Europe. Le site a fait l’objet de fouilles archéologiques, dirigées par A. M. Radmilli et J. Demangeot, pendant les années 1950. Neuf niveaux d’occupations humaines du Paléolithique ont été identifiés au sein de la séquence stratigraphique, rapportée entre le Günz et le Würm.La reprise des recherches sur le Paléolithique des Abruzzes (Programme de l’École française de Rome 2012-2016) a permis une nouvelle étude de la séquence sédimentaire de Valle Giumentina, afin de préciser et de compléter les données issues des fouilles anciennes. Ces recherches pluridisciplinaires visent à préciser la chronostratigraphie de la séquence sédimentaire du site et à reconstruire l’évolution du contexte environnemental local pendant le Quaternaire.Les premiers résultats ont permis d’établir les corrélations entre les enregistrements des années 1950 et nos nouvelles données. Quatre ensembles sédimentaires ont été définis et ont fait l’objet d’analyse sédimentologiques et micromorphologiques dont les premiers résultats sont exposés ici. The Pleistocene site of Valle Giumentina (Abruzzo, Central Italy) is a reference for the definition of the Italian and European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. During the 1950s A. M. Radmilli and J. Demangeot directed the archaeological digging of the site. Nine human settlements were identified in the stratigraphic sequence, dated from the Günz to the Würm.New research on the Palaeolithic of Abruzzo (École Française de Rome project 2012-2016) permits a study of the sedimentological sequence of Valle Giumentina, to precise and complete the results of the ancient digging. This multidisciplinary research aims for defining the chronostratigraphy of the sedimentary sequence and describing the local evolution of the environment during Quaternary.Preliminary results allow the establishment of correlations between 1950 researches and our new data. Four sedimentary units have been defined thanks to sedimentological and micromorphological analyses. First results are described in this paper.

Le gisement paléolithique de plein air de Valle Giumentina, sur le versant adriatique des Abruzzes, en Italie centrale, a fait l’objet de fouilles et d’études lithostratigraphiques dans les années 1950 par A. M. Radmilli et J. Demangeot. Ces derniers ont mis en évidence l’importance du site pour la compréhension du Paléolithique ancien et moyen et pour l’étude du Quaternaire en Italie. Neuf niveaux d’occupations se succèdent à l’intérieur d’une séquence stratigraphique de plus de 25 mètres de puissance. L’industrie lithique a été attribuée sur la base de la typologie par A. M. Radmilli aux cultures du Paléolithique ancien et moyen (Clactonien, Acheuléen, Levalloisien). Nous livrons ici une étude préliminaire des systèmes techniques de production lithique d’après le mobilier des fouilles de 1954-55 et proposons des rapprochements avec des sites italiens et européens. Le renouvellement des questionnements et méthodes d’analyse en Préhistoire et en Quaternaire nous a engagé à reprendre les recherches sur Valle Giumentina afin de déterminer précisément l’âge et la nature des occupations humaines, dans le cadre d’un programme pluridisciplinaire de l’École française de Rome (2012-2016). Valle Giumentina is an open air Palaeolithic site located in Abruzzo on the Adriatic side of Central Italy. An excavation and geostratigraphic studies took place in the 1950’ led by A. M. Radmilli and J. Demangeot. They showed the importance of Valle Giumentina for the understanding of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic as well as for the study of Quaternary in Italy. Nine archaeological layers appear within a sequence of 25 m high. Based on typological studies, the industry is called Clactonian, Acheulean and Levalloisian, three cultures of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. In this paper, we propose a technical analysis of the lithic production from the 1954-55 excavation. Thanks to the emergence of new questions and methods in Prehistory and in Quaternary studies we began a new research program at Valle Giumentina to date and describe precisely the settlements dynamics. We introduce in this paper the issues of the interdisciplinary project of the École française de Rome (2012-2016).

International audience; Valle Giumentina is a Pleistocene open-air site in Central Italy (Abruzzo). Nine archaeological layers occur in the last 25 m of a 70 m thick sedimentary sequence. In the 1950s, the various archaeological layers were attributed to the Clactonian, Acheulian and Levalloisian traditions. Recent multidisciplinary fieldwork and studies (2012–2016) acquired new archaeological, chronostratigraphical and paleoenvironmental data. This contribution presents the preliminary results of the ongoing excavation of layer 42-ALB. This is a paleosol located at 4 m depth, at the top of a lacustrine deposit directly below the coarse deposits associated with the last major erosive event. Faunal remains consisted essentially by Cervus elaphus. The lithic series is characterized by a specific flake production system: only a part of the block is reduced, and platforms and surfaces are not prepared. Several methods are used, including the SSDA (système par surfaces de débitage alternées). Backed flakes are frequent. Numerous blanks are transformed by intensive or marginal retouch. Functional objectives are multiple, as shown by different tool structures and use-wear traces. Valle Giumentina 42-ALB is a butchery site used briefly but frequently during warmer substages occurring during an overall cold period. The “Clactonian” industry of Valle Giumentina is often considered as simple or expedient: we demonstrate its real technical complexity and its functional significance. Comparisons are made with other European sites.

The Ficoncella site in northern Latium (Italy) represents a unique opportunity to investigate the modalities of a short occupation in an alluvial setting during the Lower Palaeolithic. The small excavation area yielded a lithic assemblage, a carcass of Palaeoloxodon antiquus, and some other faunal remains. The main objectives of the study are to better characterize the depositional context where the Palaeoloxodonand the lithic assemblage occur, and to evaluate with greater precision the occupation dynamics. A 25 m-long well was drilled just above the top of the terrace of the Ficoncella site and faunal and lithic remains were analyzed with current and innovative techniques. The archaeological site contains floodplain deposits as it is located next to a small incised valley that feeds into a larger valley of the Mignone River. A tephra layer capping the site is 40Ar/39Ar dated to 441±8 ka. Collectively, the geochronologic, tephrochronologic and geologic data, suggest the site was occupied during MIS 13. The new results should prompt further research at Ficoncella in order to improve our understanding of the dynamics of human settlement in Europe during the Early to Middle Pleistocene.

Les objectifs de la mission de terrain 2013 Valle Giumentina est un gisement des Abruzzes du Paléolithique ancien et moyen en plein air, fouillé brièvement dans les années 1950 par le Professeur A. M. Radmilli de l’Université de Pise, en collaboration avec le géologue J. Demangeot. Sept horizons archéologiques ont été mis au jour en contexte globalement lacustre, à la faveur d’une ravine profonde qui a incisé les dépôts du pléistocène jusqu’à 25 m de profondeur. Dans le cadre du programme qui...

Présentation du gisement Valle Giumentina est située à 740 m d’altitude sur les contreforts septentrionaux du massif calcaire de la Majella. Située à un carrefour de failles, cette petite vallée a été colmatée par différents matériaux durant le Quaternaire, notamment lacustres, puis vidée partiellement par l’érosion régressive d’un affluent du vallon perpendiculaire « Santo Spirito » (fig. 1). Fig. 1 - Localisation de Valle Giumentina (Abbateggio, Abruzzo) et des interventions de 2012 : caro...

International audience

Grotta dei Santi represents a very suitable investigation field for carrying out an inquiry into the Neandertal behaviour at a high-resolution time scale, in order to obtain data useful for the “functional” reading of the economic and settling strategies. This cave opens into the Monte Argentario Promontory (southern coast of Tuscany, central Italy), almost at sea-level, at the base of a limestone falaise about 50 m high. During MIS 3, when Neandertals occupied the site, there was a wide plain in front of the cave. Excavations carried out by the University of Siena over the last 13 years brought to light several Mousterian occupation phases represented, most of the times, by thin living floors separated from one another by sterile sediments. However, another “occupant”, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), left clear traces in the cave in layers other than those occupied by humans. Although there usually is a clear-cut stratigraphic separation, a partial overlapping between the human and hyena occupations is sometimes documented, owing to their closeness in time. This is the case for the uppermost “living floor” of layer 150, which is the object of our study. A multidisciplinary integrated analytic methodology was applied, including lithic technology, taxonomic analysis of faunal remains, taphonomy, use-wear analysis and spatial analysis by means of a GIS platform. This approach allowed us to detect a set of parameters useful for identifying activities due to each of these two predators individually, which provided substantial information about their behaviours.

The Oscurusciuto rock shelter, located in the ravine of Ginosa (Taranto), is one of the key sites for the study of Neanderthal groups in Southern Italy. The rich stratigraphic sequence of the site, which is ascribable entirely to the Middle Palaeolithic, is rich in anthropic remains and combustion structures, attesting occupation by Neanderthals during MIS 3. This paper is focused on the study of Stratigraphic Unit (SU) 13, made up of a compact sandy sediment mixed with pyroclastic sediment derived from the underlying tephra level (SU 14). The latter has been identified as Monte Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar 55 ± 2 ka). The first stable human occupation of the shelter after tephra deposition is represented by unit 13. Our aim here is that of separating the Stratigraphic Unit into its main components so as to obtain a high temporal resolution on the activities which took place in this SU, and to reconstruct the individual events which formed the palimpsest. In order to fulfil these objectives, a multidisciplinary approach was needed through which data could be integrated from the microstratigraphy of the hearths; from the technological study of the lithic industries; from the individuation of the Raw Material Units (RMUs); from refitting and co-joining and from spatial analysis (GIS science/tool). The integration of these analytical methods reveals that SU 13 of the Oscurusciuto rock shelter was the product of a series of events ascribable to a short time span. This layer was formed by sediment aggradation and cementation (e.g., brecciation) processes. Human activities contributed to the sediment build up with the introduction of wood ash, lithic raw materials and bones. The results show the importance of using integrated research methods in order to identify short anthropic events within a palimpsest.

The Uluzzian techno-complex is commonly considered to be a “transitional industry” mostly on the basis of some inferred characteristics such as a chiefly flake-based production, a small amount of Upper Palaeolithic-like tools and a combination of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic elements both in the toolkit and in the technical systems. Following its discovery, the Uluzzian was identified as the Italian counterpart of the French Châtelperronian and attributed to Neandertals. However, a study issued in 2011 has established the modern character of the two deciduous teeth found in 1964 in the Uluzzian deposit of Grotta del Cavallo, fostering renewed interests to the Uluzzian culture, which real nature is almost unknown to the international scientific community. Here we provide preliminary results of the study on the lithic assemblage from the earliest Uluzzian layer and on backed pieces from the whole Uluzzian sequence of Grotta del Cavallo (Apulia, Italy), the type site of the Uluzzian. Moreover, besides a thorough review on the stratigraphy of Grotta del Cavallo (Supplementary Materials), we provide updated information on the human remains by presenting two unpublished teeth from the reworked deposit of the same cave. We conclude that the early Uluzzians demonstrate original technological behavior and innovations devoid of any features deriving or directly linked with the late Mousterian of Southern Italy. Therefore, the novelty nature of the Uluzzian techno-complex (with respect to the preceding Mousterian) complies with the recent reassessment of the two deciduous teeth from Grotta del Cavallo in suggesting an earliest migration of modern humans in southern Europe around 45,000 years ago.

We carried out a multidisciplinary study on the sedimentary succession of Valle Giumentina, a small intermountain basin located in the Central Apennine. Studied in the 1950s, this 70 m-thick succession, including nine Palaeolithic occupation layers, was con- sidered to be of Rissian and Würmian age. However, recent 40Ar/39Ar geochronological and tephrochronological investigations constrained the sedimentary history of the whole succession to the MIS 15-MIS 12 interval (Villa et al. 2016). Geophysical investigations (Electrical Resistivity Tomography) allow detecting the contact between bedrock and Quaternary infilling of the basin. No master fault was identified along the flank of the basin, suggesting that tectonics played a marginal role in the formation and evolution of the basin. Indeed, the basin sedimentary processes appear to be mainly climate-driven, with the deposition of glacio-fluvial sediments during colder glacial periods of MIS 14 and MIS 12 and alluvial sedimentation and/or pedogenesis processes active during warmer interglacial (MIS 15 and MIS 13) and interstadial phases (during MIS 12). Based on the available chronological data, the capture of the basin by a tributary stream of the San Bartolomeo canyon and its definitive extinction, occurred in MIS 12 glacial; i.e., when the uplift of the Apennine chain induced the reorgani- sation of the regional drainage system and the capture of almost all the lakes hosted in the intermountain basins.

This study uses a combination of digital microscopic analysis and experimental archaeology to assess stone tool cut marks on animal bones. We used two un-retouched flint flakes and two burins to inflict cut marks on fresh, boiled, and dry ungulate bones. The experiment produced three series of three engravings on each bone with each of the experimental tools. The first series involved one single stroke; the second, two strokes in the same direction; and the third, multiple strokes using a to-and-fro movement. We analyzed the striations using a Hirox 3D digital microscope (KH-7700) and collected metric and profile data on the morphology of the cut marks. In order to describe the shape of each cross section, we calculated the ratio between the breadth at the top and the breadth at the floor of cut marks. Preliminary results show that both the tool type and the method of creating the cut mark influence the shape of the resulting groove. In our experiment, morphological parameters can be used to differentiate between marks produced using un-retouched flint flakes and those produced using burins. However, neither morphological nor morphometric analysis allows us to identify the mechanical motion used to produce the cuts, nor the state of the bone (fresh, boiled, or dry) at the moment of marking.

Master Erasmus Mundus em Quaternário e Pré-História Submitted by Maria do Céu Tuna (ceutuna@ipt.pt) on 2014-03-07T16:52:15Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Thesis GIULIA MARCIANI.pdf: 22643057 bytes, checksum: 7ca6d0777fbf757fc4f7be3cecc6540c (MD5) Annex.pdf: 28140518 bytes, checksum: 9ab0192e3b2b09f94c540bf0e4d9850b (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2014-03-07T16:52:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Thesis GIULIA MARCIANI.pdf: 22643057 bytes, checksum: 7ca6d0777fbf757fc4f7be3cecc6540c (MD5) Annex.pdf: 28140518 bytes, checksum: 9ab0192e3b2b09f94c540bf0e4d9850b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013

Hammerstones and anvils are among the oldest tools used by hominins to perform a variety of tasks including knapping activities. The bipolar technique on anvil is well documented in Prehistory since the Lower Palaeolithic and is usually considered to be an expedient technique in comparison to other knapping systems. This technique plays a pivotal role in the Uluzzian techno-complex lithic production where it is largely used. In the present study, we analyse the anvils and hammerstones recovered in the Mousterian and Uluzzian layers of the site of Castelcivita (Campania region-southern Italy) by a multi-disciplinary approach. Our aim is to investigate the function and functioning of anvils and hammerstones by evaluating the presence and the role of bipolar knapping in these two assemblages. To do this, we integrated techno-functional analysis (sensu Boeda) and use-wear study, by defining each techno-functional unit (transformative and prehensile unities) of anvils and hammerstones and identifying the specific use-wear left by the bipolar technique by means of a dedicated experimental programme. The obtained results allowed us to observe different technical behaviours, concerning both the production and the use of hammerstones and anvils, between Mousterian and Uluzzian. Differences were encountered in the selection of raw material (limestone in the Uluzzian, sandstone in the Mousterian) and in the technical way of approaching the tool as well as in the function: the Mousterian anvil was used ‘as is’ for crushing materials, unlike the Uluzzian anvils which were exclusively employed for bipolar knapping, after adapting their original volume. Hammerstones were mainly used as pestles or retouchers in the Mousterian and for direct percussion in knapping activities during the Uluzzian.