Papers
Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology , 2024
Lithic use-wear analysis, through defining site function and allowing reconstructing of patterns ... more Lithic use-wear analysis, through defining site function and allowing reconstructing of patterns of human occupation, can contribute to our understanding of archaeological palimpsests. The Ciota Ciara cave represents an excellent case study for this methodology. Multidisciplinary research so far conducted on the materials recovered from the atrial sector of the cave distinguishes three archaeological units from a Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the site: stratigraphic units (SUs) 13, 14, and 15. Each unit is interpreted as referring to a period of numerous, superimposed episodes of human occupation, the characteristics of which we try to reconstruct and present in this work through use-wear studies. The functional analysis of lithic industries from the upper units (13 and 14) has already been published previously; here, we report corresponding new data from the lowest level, SU 15. By comparing the use-wear results from the three units and integrating the findings with data from the geoarchaeological, palaeontological, zooarchaeological, and technological studies, we attempt to reconstruct the different phases of human occupation represented in the site through time, contributing to current interpretations regarding settlement dynamics and human behaviour in the Middle Palaeolithic of north-western Italy.
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Quaternary International, 2023
Predictive spatial analysis in archaeology refers to the use of geostatistical and computational ... more Predictive spatial analysis in archaeology refers to the use of geostatistical and computational techniques to assess the relationships between the distribution of archaeological sites and the environmental context. It is increasingly becoming an essential tool in scientific-academic research and rescue archaeology. In the interconnection between these two working contexts, this study aims to explore the advantages of applying an inductive approach, combining Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and geostatistical methods, to identify areas with different degrees of probability for the preservation of the Palaeolithic record in the lower valley of the Lis River (Leiria region, central Portugal). Topographic, hydrographic, geological, and geomorphological data were collected, processed, and integrated into a spatial database, using a GIS, to define the environmental conditioning factors. After applying a spatial multicollinearity procedure, slope, topographical position index, cost-weighted distance to access the watercourses, heat load index and lithology were chosen as input variables for the predictive modelling. Archaeological data, corresponding to the location of known Palaeolithic sites, were also retrieved from the official records. Three models were implemented using regression and multi-criteria methods; for Model 1 a Generalised Additive Model (GAM) was applied, while for Model 2 and Model 3 two distinct combinations of Probabilistic Frequency Ratio (PFR) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) were used. The spatial cross-tabulation between the obtained predictive maps and the location of the known Palaeolithic sites shows that all the models are acceptable. However, the combinations of PFR + AHP seem to evidence greater efficacy compared to the GAM. Model 3 offers the best performance (90%), followed by Model 2 (87%) and Model 1 (68%). Possible sources of inaccuracies in the input data and the spatial modelling results were critically discussed. Model 3 generated the most robust and reliable predictive prototype map. The maps produced can serve local and regional agencies as a complement and aid decision-making in public policies for spatial planning, and in the conservation/management of cultural heritage. These cartographic representations can provide quicker identification of areas of interest, for example, in the context of rescue archaeology, along with a substantial reduction in time and costs for project promoters, as well as helping in the environmental impact assessments.
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Geoarchaeology, 2018
Monte Fenera is a mostly carbonate hill at the southern border of the Western Alps. It hosts seve... more Monte Fenera is a mostly carbonate hill at the southern border of the Western Alps. It hosts several archaeological sites, among them karstic caves bearing evidence of Palaeolithic occupation. These sites have a long history within Alpine archaeology-having been explored since the 19th century-but information on their stratigraphy, chronology, and formation remains incomplete. They are among the few cave-sites occupied before the Alpine Last Glacial Maximum in the area, and their study is crucial for understanding human occupation and regional environmental evolution during the Pleistocene. Here we focus on Ciota Ciara, a cave formed in Triassic dolostone, and in particular on the Middle-to-Upper Pleistocene succession unearthed at its southwestern entrance since 2009. This succession was analyzed by means of several geoarchaeological methods including stratigraphy, routine sediment analyses, and archaeological micromorphology. Our study shows that sediment accumulation was due to the repeated occurrence of concentrated flow and runoff events from the karstic system alternating with episodes of wall disintegration and short phases of surface stabilization. Post-depositional processes include frost action, hydromorphism, and diagenesis that have selectively affected the archaeological remains. The results of the study shed light on site formation and have relevance for Pleistocene cave archaeology more widely in the southern Western Alps.
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The Science of Nature, 2019
Recent functional and zooarchaeological studies conducted on the archeological finds of Pirro Nor... more Recent functional and zooarchaeological studies conducted on the archeological finds of Pirro Nord (PN13) produced new, reliable data on early European hominid subsistence activities. The age of the site is estimated to be ~ 1.3–1.6 Ma, based on bio-chronological data, and the archeological excavation of the Pirro Nord 13 fissure led to the discovery of more than 300 lithic artifacts associated with thousands of vertebrate fossil remains of the final Villafranchian (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit). The analysis of the fossil faunal remains allowed for the identification of anthropogenic traces linked to the exploitation of different animal carcass (cut marks and intentional bone breakages). Use-wear traces were also observed on some flint artifacts and have been interpreted as the result of the exploitation of animal resources by early hominids and carnivores. It has not been possible to identify the type of access that hominins developed on the carcasses, although it has been established that the hominins competed with carnivores for animal resources. The stone tools and faunal remains with anthropogenic traces recovered in the PN13 fissure represent among the earliest evidence of hominin faunal exploitation in Europe.
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Folder-478, 2020
Begun in 2019, the excavation project at the pre-Roman and Roman hilltop-site at the Doss Penede ... more Begun in 2019, the excavation project at the pre-Roman and Roman hilltop-site at the Doss Penede (Nago, TN) in the High Lake Garda is the result of a fruitful collaboration among the Department of Humanities of the University of Trento, the Superintendency for Cultural Heritage of the Autonomous Province of Trento and the Township of Nago-Torbole. The site has been known since the early 1990s when its outstanding buildings attracted local interest. However, no stratigraphic investigation has been promoted until 2019, when the site was chosen as the first case-study of a wider project aimed at analysing patterns of change occurred at settlements, economy and the cultural landscape between the second Iron Age and the late Roman period in the area of the High Garda Lake and the Sarca valley. The first excavation season, whose results are presented and discussed in this paper, uncovered a well-planned hilltop site characterised by a system of parallel large terrace-walls linked by monumental staircases and butted by buildings of various functions. Occupied uninterruptedly between the second Iron Age and the 3rd-4th centuries AD, the site likely experienced a process of monumentalisation in the early Roman period. The Doss Penede is a quintessential example of the resilience of pre-roman hilltop sites at the time of Romanisation of Cisalpine Gaul.
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Al-Madan Online, 2022
Em 2009, na abertura de uma vala para a rede desaneamento da Maceira (Leiria), foi identificado o... more Em 2009, na abertura de uma vala para a rede desaneamento da Maceira (Leiria), foi identificado o sítioarqueológico Portela 2, que forneceu artefactos líticosassociados ao Proto-Solutrense. O facto de se tratar de umafase de transição entre o Gravettense e o Solutrense (27 a 19 mil anos atrás, aproximadamente), mal conhecidano Sudoeste europeu, motivou e justificou uma novaescavação arqueológica em 2021. As observações efetuadaspermitiram contextualizar o sítio na paisagem, recuperar ummaior conjunto de artefactos e encetar procedimentos parareconstituir os processos de formação do sítio por meio deanálises sedimentológicas, petrográficas e geocronológicas.
The Portela 2 archaeological site, identified in 2009during work carried out to open a sewage ditch at Maceira(Leiria), supplied lithic artefacts associated toProto-Solutrean occupation. The fact that these artefactsdate from a transition phase between the Gravettian andSolutrean periods (27 to 19 thousand years ago,approximately) that is little known in south-western Europeprompted a new archaeological excavation in 2021.Field observations allowed archaeologists to put the site intoperspective within that landscape, recover a larger set ofartefacts and lay the ground for the investigation of the site’sformation processes by means of sedimentological,petrographic and geochronological analyses.
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Ophiussa. Revista do Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa
O Rôdo, sítio arqueológico de ar livre, situado no Vale do Vouga foi identificado e escavado, em ... more O Rôdo, sítio arqueológico de ar livre, situado no Vale do Vouga foi identificado e escavado, em 2014, no âmbito dos trabalhos de minimização decorrentes da construção do Aproveitamento Hidroelétrico de Ribeiradio‑Ermida. Os estudos geoarqueológicos, paleobotânicos e da indústria lítica foram já alvo de publicação. As características tipo‑tecnológicas dos materiais líticos apontam para um sítio pouco especializado, em termos de funcionalidade, utilizado efémera mais repetidamente ao longo do Tardiglaciar. Por forma a testar estas ideias relativas à função, natureza e duração das ocupações humanas foi levado a cabo um exercício de análise espacial para os materiais da UE003. Recorrendo a SIG e a métodos estatísticos, por forma a visualizar os dados num mapa de densidade Kernel, foi possível identificar áreas de concentração de tipos de matérias‑primas com proveniências distintas, advogando no sentido de uma ocupação repetida desta plataforma sobranceira ao rio Vouga, ao longo do Tard...
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The Science of Nature, 2020
Recent functional and zooarchaeological studies conducted on the archeological finds of Pirro Nor... more Recent functional and zooarchaeological studies conducted on the archeological finds of Pirro Nord (PN13) produced new, reliable data on early European hominid subsistence activities. The age of the site is estimated to be ~ 1.3–1.6 Ma, based on bio-chronological data, and the archeological excavation of the Pirro Nord 13 fissure led to the discovery of more than 300 lithic artifacts associated with thousands of vertebrate fossil remains of the final Villafranchian (Pirro Nord Faunal Unit). The analysis of the fossil faunal remains allowed for the identification of anthropogenic traces linked to the exploitation of different animal carcass (cut marks and intentional bone breakages). Use-wear traces were also observed on some flint artifacts and have been interpreted as the result of the exploitation of animal resources by early hominids and carnivores. It has not been possible to identify the type of access that hominins developed on the carcasses, although it has been established that the hominins competed with carnivores for animal resources. The stone tools and faunal remains with anthropogenic traces recovered in the PN13 fissure represent among the earliest evidence of hominin faunal exploitation in Europe.
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Abstracts & Conference Poceedings
Annali dell'Università degli Studi di Ferrara, 2017
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In questo poster vengono presentati e discussi alcuni risultati dello studio geoarcheologico dell... more In questo poster vengono presentati e discussi alcuni risultati dello studio geoarcheologico della Ciota Ciara (Monte Fenera, Piemonte – v. Angelucci et alii 2015, Arzarello et alii 2012, Berto et alii 2016), con particolare riferimento ai dati derivanti dall’osservazione micromorfologica dei sedimenti della zona atriale della grotta, che permettono di approfondire alcuni aspetti già messi in luce in un precedente contributo (Zambaldi et alii 2016). Il Monte Fenera, posto al margine meridionale delle Alpi Occidentali, è un rilievo costituito prevalentemente da rocce carbonatiche; ospita numerosi siti di interesse archeologico o paleontologico, tra cui alcune grotte di origine carsica con evidenze di frequentazione umana risalente al Paleolitico Medio. Alla Ciota Ciara, una grotta attiva, aperta in dolomie triassiche e studiata fin dal XIX secolo per il suo contenuto archeologico, le campagne di scavo sono riprese nel 2009 e hanno finora indagato la successione pleistocenica che riempie l’ingresso sud-ovest della grotta. La grotta riveste particolare interesse essendo uno dei pochi contesti carsici con riempimenti di età precedente all’Ultimo Massimo Glaciale Alpino nella fascia meridionale delle Alpi Occidentali: il suo studio è quindi fondamentale per la ricostruzione delle modalità del popolamento umano e dell’evoluzione ambientale dell’area durante il Pleistocene. L’analisi geoarcheologica della successione messa in luce nella zona atriale della grotta ha compreso la descrizione di campo e la campionatura delle unità scavate e l’esecuzione di analisi sedimentologiche di routine, geochimiche e micromorfologiche, allo scopo di ricostruire l’assetto stratigrafico e i processi di formazione del deposito archeologico. La successione studiata è composta da sedimenti franco limosi, di colore prevalentemente marrone, con quantità variabile di elementi grossolani (soprattutto frammenti di dolomia) e aspetto massiccio, talora caotico; contiene intercalazioni di sabbia e unità legate a processi di erosione. I dati raccolti sul terreno e l’analisi micromorfologica mostrano che il suo accumulo si deve all’azione di più eventi di colata rapida e ruscellamento superficiale provenienti dall’interno della cavità (l’ingresso della grotta ha funzionato, in realtà, come ‘uscita’ del sistema carsico); a questi si alternano fasi di accumulo della frazione grossolana proveniente dalla grotta e brevi fasi di stabilizzazione della superficie. I principali processi postdeposizionali registrati sono dovuti all’ossidoriduzione e a una moderata alterazione, che ha interessato in maniera selettiva i resti archeologici (rilevanti i risultati dell’analisi semiquantitativa della diagenesi dei frammenti ossei). Nella parte inferiore della successione si riconoscono inoltre evidenti tracce dell’azione del gelo discontinuo. I risultati dello studio geoarcheologico permettono di stabilire la genesi della successione messa in luce alla Ciota Ciara e forniscono informazioni sulla sua integrità stratigrafica, sulla sua età e sul contesto paleoambientale durante e dopo la sua deposizione.
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The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic in Italy: new research and perspectives - Abstract Book
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“Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole” (ALPES)
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We here report and discuss some results of the geoarchaeological study of Ciota Ciara, a cave loc... more We here report and discuss some results of the geoarchaeological study of Ciota Ciara, a cave located in the Monte Fenera hill (Piedmont, Italy – see Angelucci et alii 2015, Arzarello et alii 2012, Berto et alii 2016), with special reference to archaeological micromorphology data collected from the cave entrance, which corroborate former geoarchaeological information presented by Zambaldi et alii (2016). Monte Fenera is a mostly carbonate-built hill located at the southern border of the Western Alps. The massif hosts several palaeontological and archaeological sites, among them karstic caves featuring evidence of Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. Ciota Ciara is an active cave modelled in Triassic dolostone that has been investigated since the 19th century due to its archaeological content. Systematic fieldwork carried out at the site since 2009 has explored the Pleistocene succession filling the south-western entrance of the cave. Ciota Ciara is particularly relevant as it is one of the few cave-sites featuring deposits that predate the Alpine Last Glacial Maximum in the southern sector of the Western Alps: its study is thus critical for understanding human peopling and regional environmental evolution during the Pleistocene. The geoarchaeological study of the succession exposed at the cave entrance has included field description, sampling, routine sedimentological analyses, basic geochemical characterisation and micromorphological observation, in order to understand the stratigraphy of the site and its formation. The succession of the Ciota Ciara entrance consists of mostly brownish, silty-loam sediments with variable quantity of coarser components (mostly fragments of dolostone) and massive, often chaotic arrangement; occasional intercalations of sand as well as erosional scours also occur. The data collected in the field and under the microscope indicate that the succession was laid down through consecutive events of concentrated-flow and runoff coming from the inner karstic system – as a matter of fact, the cave entrance worked as a cave ‘exit’ – alternating with episodes of éboulis accumulation (derived from the disintegration of the cave walls and roof), as well as short phases of surface stabilization. Post-depositional dynamics are mainly related to hydromorphic processes and slight weathering, the latter selectively affecting some archaeological components – the semi-quantitative analysis of the diagenesis of bone fragments is of particular interest. Clear evidence of frost action has also been detected in the lower part of the deposit. The results of this study shed light on the Ciota Ciara formation and give relevant information as far as the integrity of the collected assemblages, their age and environmental context are concerned.
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The Portela 2 archaeological site, identified in 2009during work carried out to open a sewage ditch at Maceira(Leiria), supplied lithic artefacts associated toProto-Solutrean occupation. The fact that these artefactsdate from a transition phase between the Gravettian andSolutrean periods (27 to 19 thousand years ago,approximately) that is little known in south-western Europeprompted a new archaeological excavation in 2021.Field observations allowed archaeologists to put the site intoperspective within that landscape, recover a larger set ofartefacts and lay the ground for the investigation of the site’sformation processes by means of sedimentological,petrographic and geochronological analyses.
Abstracts & Conference Poceedings
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Thesis Chapters
The Portela 2 archaeological site, identified in 2009during work carried out to open a sewage ditch at Maceira(Leiria), supplied lithic artefacts associated toProto-Solutrean occupation. The fact that these artefactsdate from a transition phase between the Gravettian andSolutrean periods (27 to 19 thousand years ago,approximately) that is little known in south-western Europeprompted a new archaeological excavation in 2021.Field observations allowed archaeologists to put the site intoperspective within that landscape, recover a larger set ofartefacts and lay the ground for the investigation of the site’sformation processes by means of sedimentological,petrographic and geochronological analyses.